Artist Spotlight: Meet Simona-Valentina
How did you come up with the theme?
My very first album, ‘Mirrors & Feathers,’ has been the end result of many years of creation, writing and re-writing, recording and re-recording, mixing and re-mixing, and so on. It's been a long journey, very creative and reflective, at times, painful, as many tears were shed in the songwriting process, while reflecting on some very sensitive and personal experiences and thoughts. It's been a beautiful journey of love, a perfect reflection of my life, my inner thoughts and fears, confessions of love and lust, happiness and pain alike. Hence, songs are like tiny 'mirrors' inside the most vulnerable corners of my soul. Furthermore, these songs have been perfectly honest confessions to the world and a way to set myself free, hence, the idea of 'Feathers' which symbolically means 'freedom."
How did you work with the producer or engineers to bring your vision for 'Mirrors & Feathers' to life?
The songs in the album have undergone some changes, some have been completely re-recorded, remixed and mastered, new instrumentation was introduced and so on. I was the producer of my own songs, and Riccardo Poole, an incredibly talented musician that I collaborated with for a few years, who helped me with many of the instruments on this album, such as piano, keyboard, bass, percussion and so on. We worked in our former home studio, and shared our creativity and artistry together for a couple of years. Was a great process and journey that I will forever cherish. The engineer that mixed and mastered my album was Aki at Savo-Karelian Productions, we worked online, he was incredibly professional, patient and brought all the tracks to the final result I always wanted. It was a great collaboration, he loved my music and that speaks volumes when trying to get the best out of an album, EP, track, etc.
Can you talk about any standout tracks on 'Mirrors & Feathers' and what makes them special to you?
All the songs on the album tell a story, an emotion, a time from my life and it's quite hard to pick up my favourites from that, but I will talk about the ones that seemed to have been more popular with the listeners and the ones that had more success. Hence, a favourite for many of my fans is “Blue Tattoo,” one of the oldest songs I wrote and recorded, which won a Semi-Finalist award in the 2019 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). This is a song about a past love story that did not last too long, was painful and sticky kike a mark within me that I called a blue tattoo. First track on the album, “Love is Written in the Tears,” is one of my favourite in terms of the melody and instrumentation and also the emotion I managed to squeeze out while recording. It is a sad song that talks about the passing of time, about the fear of losing the family and remembering the ones I have already lost, my grandparents. Another song that I absolutely enjoyed writing and recording was “Thorns,” a country tune, full of vibrance and happiness that talks about life from a happy and optimistic perspective, looking at the bride side of things and appreciating the beauty even when things seem wrong and broken. And probably one of my absolute favourite songs from the album is “Whispers,” a song that I wrote after contemplating on the meaning of life and love. This is a very meditative and almost ghost sounding track that a lot of people found fascinating and captivating and I personally enjoyed every second of its creation.
Can you share a bit about your musical background and the journey that led you to where you are today?
I originally came from a little town called Victoria, in the heart of Transylvania, Romania. Yes, indeed, I am from the land of Dracula, bears, wild wolves, foxes, Lynxes, red squirrels and other wildlife marvels. I love nature and I grew up surrounded by it. The picturesque sightseeing close to my hometown has always inspired my artistic side and since a very young age I discovered that music, painting and dancing made me the happiest person in the world. I should also blame my parents for always listening to good music on the radio, on the record and cassette players. I have a very funny story to tell and a song called, Head Outta Washing Machine, that talks about how my singing started when I was a child. I used to sing with the head in the washing machine.. "Wait what?" this is probably what you will ask yourselves with total confusion and surprise when reading this. We've all done silly things when we were little and so did I, haha. The intimate and reverb-like effect found when singing with the head in the washing machine made it so appealing to me. It also made it possible for me to shout and sing as loud as I could and feel like I'm on a big stage, same like those my idols at that time, Celine Dion, Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston, were performing on.
And that's how my music journey started... After settling in London, United Kingdom, many years ago, I began recording covers in my little home studio and shared these on my social media. Then started writing songs, learnt to play the guitar, released songs under my name and in collaboration with other artists and I played a few gigs around London in pubs, private functions, events, local festivals, busking, and so on. I absolutely love performing and sharing my love for music with my audience.
How do you approach collaborations with other musicians and maintain creative synergy?
I absolutely love collaborations with other artists as they foster my own creativity and artistry. I have built beautiful friendships with all the musicians I collaborated with, songwriters, instrumentalists, producers, engineers, etc, and shared some really lovely memories that I will forever cherish and always keep my doors open for the future, willing to collaborate with any of them in the future again. I personally prefer to collaborate in person, in studios, as I feel I can be most productive there, but I also love working on my own, in my own home studio, or in a park with other musicians, an artistic corner somewhere, etc. The last few songs I wrote were produced in the South of London, in a studio with Will Whisson, a really talented musician and artist himself. We had a really great time recording some of my latest tracks, some of which have not been shared yet with the public, however, cannot wait to share them with the fans soon.
