We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Simon Mansa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Simon below.
Simon , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
What’s been happening recently?
Recently I’ve been working on writing a body of new music to release and I’m scoring a short film which I’m looking forward to. One of the things I’m most proud of is the single I released recently called “Indefinite War”. It was my first single release where I completed every aspect myself. I wrote the song, played all instruments, performed all vocals, mixed and mastered it, as well as organized the independent release. It was pulled together at the last minute for S3 Ep7 of Powerbook II: Ghost from the Power TV series. It ended up working amazingly well with the scene that it was placed in. I actually coincidentally bumped into the actor Lovell Adams-Gray in NYC just last week who did an amazing job in the scene as Dru Tejada and it’s always a pleasure to work with the talented Director Joy T. Lane, as well as the licensing team at STARZ/Lionsgate. You can find Indefinite War streaming across all music streaming platforms.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
This is a great question, especially with all of the fear about AI replacing creatives these days and the lack of compensation from streaming services. The challenges to build a thriving creative ecosystem are many. Society and fans of artists can support by reconstructing their perception of the value of the artistic ecosystems that their favorite artists and bands have created. Things like taking up an interest in physical mediums like vinyl, merchandise, or going to live shows is an experience free streaming can never compare to. Small purchases in the digital realm of high-fidelity audio downloads of favorite songs or albums to arrange in personal playlists, investing in high quality DAC’s or speaker systems to enhance the experience. Even small gestures such as sharing an artist’s work on social platforms is a great way to show appreciation. There are many ways to invest in the success of artists and creative industries in general. It’s also a time where artists can rethink how they connect, provide new experiences, and value to fans. Rethinking how we can utilize AI to enhance the experience for lovers of music.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
This is actually something I think about often. Of course as a creative, making quality music is always at the forefront. And goals do evolve and change over time but typically the mission stays the same. What I learnt from touring to over 20 countries and 6 continents is that music resonates, inspires, and brings people together no matter their culture or background. We all have so much more in common than not. With that said, the mission is to bring people together, spread joy, love, and somehow make people’s lives better through the power of music. With so many forces trying to divide us, bringing people together in the name of love and understanding really is the answer and more urgent than ever.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.simonmansa.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesimonmansa/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesimonmansa
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonolsenprofile/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonmansa
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@simonmansa
- Other: https://arkocreative.com/
Image Credits
Aisha Kamara, Delphine Diallo