We recently connected with Csaba Simon and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Csaba thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

My very first band was called Gordius, we played metal music, mostly covering Hungarian metal bands as well as Metallica, I was playing the drums in that one. We were rather limited in our musical skills – to say the least – but we enjoyed what we were doing and many people actually came to our shows thanks to the tight and supportive metal community of my hometown, Pecs in Hungary. I believe for our second show – in an underground pub called Toxic – we collectively earned 10 000 Hungariant Forints – which is around 28 dollars. So I earned about 7 dollars for my second gig, which is nothing but incredible success from the perspective of a 16-year-old’.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I guess I’d define myself as an occasional music maker man. I write, produce and release my own music under the name ‘Nite Chimp’ . Although I’ve been always coming up with song ideas and been planning to release albums for a long time, it was only during the Covid-times when I finally got to make it happen. I’ve been in several bands before, mostly as a drummer, which was great, but I always felt like composing as well. I record alone either at home or at a band’s rehearsal room and I’m also capable of mixing and mastering music, but if I don’t want it to sound absolute crap then I reach out to friends who know how to do this right. I believe in the DIY attitude though so I’m trying to improve on those skills as well. I’m okayish on guitar, bass, and keys but I’m primarily a drummer. Not really planning on learning to play better any of those instruments as I like to keep surprising myself. I read somewhere that Lennon and McCartney towards the end of their Beatles-era would ditch the guitar for the piano for songwriting purposes as none of them could really play the latter very well, however, this lack ok skills would keep them inspired, it would bring the element of unpredictability into their songwriting game. Whether this story is true or not, it does make a lot of sense to me and it definitely changed my views on creating music. Many of the themes I come up with are coming from just noodling on any instruments and landing on unexpected territories. Not knowing what you’re doing can be fun. God save me from becoming a pro guitarist!

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Well any profession and any activity could have its creative side to it, and it might sound way too corny but I’m quite convinced now that there’s no such thing as a creative person, or non-creatives. And the fact that I used to see this the other way round was the main reason for my rather late start in pursuing creative projects, finishing songs, releasing music. We’re creative creatures, as far as I know this is a scientific fact, only difference is that some practice their creativity and some don’t. I can still struggle sometimes though, because eventhough I know I’m capable of creating good stuff I still might end up writing the lamest shit ever. I guess in a way the journey is about the constant battle between your insecure-self and the one with the God complex. But you might just be a normal person and can find a way of creating things and staying mentally stable. Good luck! (Oh and maybe watch the Shia LaBeouf video where he keeps shouting ‘Just Do It!’, it’s just really funny, and well..he’s not wrong)

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

One main goal is to finally produce something that I’m 100% satisfied with and proud of. Each song I’ve ever released has moments that slightly embarrass me, whether due to the production, the songwriting, or the performance. And, of course, I only realize this after releasing them. When mixing the songs, I’m trying to perfect them, but some mistakes only reveal themselves later on, after I’ve already distanced myself from the project. It would be great to finally have a song out there that I think rocks flawlessly. I haven’t felt this way about any of them yet, but that’s fine; it keeps me going.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nitechimp/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nitechimp7933
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1OmNqAzOhQAl8uOGyJtZG6?si=KChVnWJ8SIqQ3mNpj13MlQ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nitechimp?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Image Credits
Tami Pereira Marquez, Yuan Wang, and Carolina Pereira