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We’ve got a very special guest today, respected songwriter and producer Simon “CYMO” Adrian; welcome to our humble pages, CYMO! Before we begin kicking the proverbial tin can down the dirt road, how has your New Year been treating you thus far?
The year has really started great: I’ve been writing songs with writers like Sandro Cavazza (Avicii, Kygo), Sophie Simmons, Robin Stjernberg (Robin Schulz, Dennis Lloyd) , Gustav Nyström (ALMA, Rehab), Kristin Carpenter (Alan Walker, Shy Martin) and many more. I’ve been working on great new songs for a few months, which are all going to be released this year, and I went live with my first music NFT, selling out within 30 min.
Congratulations are very much in order for the upcoming release of the new single Jetlag! Can you walk us through the genesis of Jetlag and how it came into being?
I wrote the song together with U.S.-singer/songwriter Tyler Sjöström during a writing camp in Frankfurt last year and felt already in love with the song during the session. I spend a couple of weeks on the production because I really wanted to nail it, without destroying the original vibe. It’s hard to work on a song, if you’re already in love with the demo, but in the end I’m super proud of the result and still don’t get tired of listening to it.
You’re incredibly well known in the music industry as an accomplished producer. That being said, did you serve as your own producer in the studio on Jetlag, or did you rely on someone else’s good ear to do the producing duties?
Jetlag is fully produced and mixed by myself, but I asked my buddy Loris Cimino (Part of Late9) to help me with the mastering.
How would you describe Jetlag to music lovers?
When we sat down to write Jetlag, my co-writer and vocalist Tyler had just flown into Frankfurt from the USA. It didn’t take long for us to take that feeling and use it to write this song. Falling in love can feel a lot like having jetlag – you loose all sense of time, judgement and balance, making every moment more confusing and intense than normal.
Is Jetlag the opening volley on what will be an eventual full-length album release?
I’m not planning to do an album this year for my own artist project, but who knows. 🙂 A lot of things that happened to me were not planned, so I’m used to go with the flow and not plan too much.
For the immediate future, will you be dividing your time professionally between producing and recording your own music?
Actually that’s exactly what I’m doing for years. Apart from producing, I spend a lot of time on songwriting – not only for my project, but also for other artists.
To give an example, I just released a few weeks ago not only my own single Game Over, but also 2 songs I co-wrote: Madonna by HUGEL and The Spell remains by Scooter.
I really enjoy all sides of music. I like being a producer and a songwriter, but I also like to be an artist.
What do you hope fans walk away feeling after listening to Jetlag?
First and foremost, I hope that my fans will listen to the song at least 2 times. No seriously, I wish that the people who listen to the song will find the perfect soundtrack for the moment they are in.
You’re a recognized and respected songwriter. For you, which comes first: The lyrics or the music?
That’s a tough question. Both are equally important. But to me, mostly the music is the inspiration for the lyrics. So I would say the music comes first.
You’ve kept chronically busy over the last few years, with credits on 160 releases and no less than 10 albums. As an artist, do you thrive on keeping a busy pace?
Right now it’s actually more than 180 songs. I love working with and for other artists and will continue writing and producing for them, but I hope that I will be able to spend even more time on my own artist project in the future.
With the release of Jetlag, can fans anticipate a tour from you in the near future?
A tour is not planned yet. I’ld rather write and release a couple of more songs before I consider to go on stage. I want to make sure that my fans really know and understand me and my story from my songs.
You hail from the beautiful country of Germany and you were born in Trier. How does Trier inform who you are musically?
I honestly don’t know what Trier stands for musically. I just feel connected to the city because I grew up there. I made my very first serious steps, when I left my hometown and started working with my bro Shuko in Sigmaringen in the southern part of Germany. Therefore my music is mostly influenced by hiphop and urban pop.
You’re releasing your new music via the brand new biddz app. What can you tell us about this biddz app and why you chose to go this route in releasing your work?
For me as an independent musician, it is often difficult to get the necessary attention for my releases. This also has to do with the placements in playlists on streaming services. My manager and I wanted to try something new. I also have an extreme affinity for new technologies and have been interested in cryptocurrencies, blockchain, NFTs and Metaverse for a long time. When we found out about biddz.io, we didn’t have to think twice and joined the great team of this platform.
How does it work: Fans are able to buy biddz(song shares) for a song. Each single biddz is one ten-thousandth (or 0.01%) of the song’s master rights royalties generated on digital streaming platforms. Those who did buy biddz are then given an official digital biddzCard which makes the purchase official and can be shared across social media to help promote the upcoming single release and which can be transferred in any Solana wallet.
When the song is released, fans will then start to receive regular royalty payments from the single, the same way anyone with master rights would. The more successful the single is, the more royalties fans receive. biddz owners can track the progress of the song via their online biddz dashboard, keeping an eye on the single’s movement across the DSPs, even jumping on socials to give the single an extra push if they feel it warrants it.
It’s a unique, new way of involving the most important people in the music industry – the fans.
What are you most proud of when it comes to Jetlag?
I’m proud of the fact that the song was not only written by me but also produced. I also dealt a lot with the marketing and promotion of the song. I was simply part of all the steps, from the creation process, to the distribution and marketing.
Final – SILLY! – Question: Favorite film about the music scene – Almost Famous or This Is Spinal Tap?
To me, the most entertaining film about the music industry is definitely “Kill Your Friends”. 🙂
