I’ve been a long time fan of Sylvie Simmons writing, literally going back decades. She is an extraordinary journalist and author based in San Francisco and has an amazing history of interviewing many of the world’s greatest artists including Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed and many others.
I first approached her to interview me about GER and she did an amazing job, asking all the tough questions. We grew up in a similar era and have a mutual love of many artists, so its been a real joy to discuss music with her. Our initial conversations were by phone and it was an absolute joy to talk to somebody with such a love of music. We recently recorded an hour’s interview by zoom, which will go out as an audio podcast with some short video clips. The reason for opting for audio is that most people will not sit and watch video for an hour plus and also there are often technical issues with video freezing on zoom, especially in international exchanges.
I’m delighted that she has agreed to take part in these musical discussions and these fit perfectly with the whole GER concept which is sharing inspirations and creativity through collaboration. Our discussions have also reinforced my view that the life of a musician is not an easy one. As well talking about artist interviews, Sylvie talked extensively about the reality of being a world class music journalist and it also reconfirms that this requires a huge amount of work and dedication.