BenSimon

"I like to consider myself a Power Pop song writer. That being said, I tend to straddle the fence from AAA /Americana, to Hard Rock muscle, but always my center of gravity is generated by Power Pop hooks and sensibilities".

I've been chasing music for as long as I can remember.

One of my earliest memories is singing "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." before I was old enough to know it was Please Please Me by The Beatles. Long before I understood what a songwriter was, my mother believed music was my calling. She raised me with the conviction that one day it would become my life's work, even if that path took decades to unfold.

Looking back, I realize I've never really chosen music. I've simply kept answering its call.

Over the years I've worn a lot of hats—bass player, singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, bandleader, studio owner. I've played school orchestras, jazz gigs, backyard parties, nightclub stages, the Sunset Strip, and Americana festivals. Every chapter taught me something different, but none of them answered the biggest question: Why am I here doing music?

Today, I think I understand a little better.

"Where The Songs Come From." 

I don't feel like I invent songs. I feel like I discover them.

Some arrive in a lucid dream state. Others appear as fragments of melodies, images, or stories that refuse to leave me alone. They can stay with me for days, weeks, months, sometimes even years, until I finally stop what I'm doing and listen. Only then do they begin to reveal themselves.

I've learned not to force them.

The songs seem to know what they want to become long before I do. Some grow into Americana stories rooted in the desert Southwest. Others become hard rock anthems, melodic pop ballads, or stripped-down acoustic confessions. My job isn't to tell them what they are. My job is to recognize them, nurture them, and give them the best voice I can.

In many ways, I feel less like the author than the caretaker.

After decades of performing, recording, producing, and learning my craft, I've finally reached a place where I can hear these ideas a little more clearly and translate and articulate them into something tangible. That's what drives me today—not chasing trends or writing to fit a genre, but serving the song wherever it leads.

If there's one thing I hope people hear in my music, it's truth and honesty.

Whether it's a story about the American borderlands, an old family feud, heartbreak, redemption, or simply gratitude for the people we love, I want every song to feel lived in, human, and true.

I'm still walking the same road I started on all those years ago. I don't know exactly where it leads, but I still believe there's a reason to keep following it—one song at a time.