A Conversation with Ted Simmons

What initially sparked your interest in pursuing a career in the arts for those who may not be familiar with your background?

I always loved music, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t trying to make up songs or play a musical instrument. I found an old guitar in the house that I lived in, I don’t think it had all the strings, and I didn’t know anything about playing it, but I tied a bathrobe belt to it and would walk around my house trying to make music with it.

So, I guess it was my dream from the time I was a little kid to be a professional singer/songwriter, but I did not take the direct route, more like the scenic one. I wasn’t raised in a situation necessarily conducive to a life in the arts, even though I started playing music when I was a little kid. I came from a some what conservative background, so what I was told was I had to pursue some sort of profession, which I did, I went to business school, got an MBA, but my heart was never in it. My dream was to make records and perform in front of people. After a futile attempt to fit in with regular people, I picked up my guitar and started doing what I always wanted to do. I started performing in coffee shops and street corners and it just grew from there.

Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest single?

My most recent single is a song called Some Things Are Never the Same, which was the lead up single to my new album Dark and Dirty World, which was released in January 2023. There wasn’t a whole lot of inspiration per se, it was just a song I pulled from some writing I was doing on an airline flight.

What themes or emotions are explored in this song?

I guess at the time I was exploring the idea of longing for that which cannot be, which is really at the core of the song. The story is of two lovers whose fate was to separate due to circumstances beyond their control.

How does this single fit into the larger narrative of your music career or your upcoming
projects?

It is included on my new album, Dark and Dirty World, and fits into the overall narrative of the album which is a complete story of a character searching for happiness, acceptance, and a secure place in the world.

Could you describe the creative process behind this single, from concept to production?

After I had written the lyrics, I sat down with a guitar and made some music to go with it, at that time it was a guitar ballad type of thing. When I decided to record it, I felt it needed something else, so I rearranged the song on a piano, and at that point it changed to a sort of boozy/jazzy kind of romp. To do the recording, I enlisted a couple of friends to “invent” a rhythm section for it. I sent them a rough demo of the song and told them just to use the basic chord progression as a guide. What they came back with was fantastic, so at that point I started thinking about the different layers I wanted. The saxophone and the backing vocals were next, then my parts which are the piano, harmonica and of course my vocal track. Then I spent a long time mixing and editing to try and capture just the essence of the song.

What can listeners expect to experience or feel when they listen to this track?

I hope they feel like they want to dance in around in their living room.

Are there any interesting stories or anecdotes from the recording or writing of this song that you’d like to share?

I guess the most interesting thing about the recording is that it was done in so many different places around Nova Scotia. The rhythm section was recorded in a different town, the saxophone was recorded in the person’s house, the backing vocal in an apartment, and then the rest of the song at Ocean Floor Recording in Halifax.

As an artist, can you identify three key traits that define you?

First and foremost, I am curious; I am always searching for new ideas. Second, I am not afraid to try new things, to experiment. Last, I would say I am determined, once I set my sites on a project, I see it through all the way until the end, regardless of the obstacles.

What can we anticipate in terms of your upcoming projects?

Sync placement is something I am currently working on, so in the next year or so I hope to have at least one placement. I also really want to make more video content, I have two ideas, one is for a music video for my song called Susanna, but I want it to be more like the videos that used to be on MTV, more like a movie, with sets and actors and things. The second thing is I have this idea to make a documentary about Dark and Dirty World, like VH1 Behind the Music, which I don’t really see people do nowadays. I am also itching to get back into the studio and do some recording. So I have a lot going on.