We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Simon Miles a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Simon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Yes I’m very happy as an artist or creative. In fact, I’m working a regular job right now to fund my music so that I can make music for a living. Working retail jobs, I realized really quickly that they weren’t for me. The idea of waking up and making money and paying my bills from the things that I love to do (i.e. making music) is something I dream about and is what I consider success for me at the moment
Simon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Smiles. I’m a 24 year old artist from Atlanta, Georgia. I make soulful, indie, funk, and alternative inspired music. I was first inspired to make music after seeing my dad make music himself. Watching him make instrumentals on his computer and rapping over them looked really inspiring. It inspired me at a young age to make my own raps. I would ask him to make beats for me and though he said that he would, he never did. But that’s what inspired me to make my own beats. As soon as I started doing that, I started to fall in love with producing and the recording of music and I’ve been progressing with it ever since.
I believe that what sets me apart from everyone else is that in a world that focuses mainly on the consistency of quantity of work, I like to focus on the consistency of quality of work. I may not be able to give content continuously and consistently. For instance, putting out a new song every few months or new content every day or every week. However, I can guarantee that what I put out will always be quality.
This also plays into what I’m most proud of. Throughout making music and trying to be successful in the music industry, many people around me tell me that it’s important to stay consistent. All around me, people stress the importance of just dropping the music. Even if you feel like the art that you created is something you don’t like, just drop it. The more you drop, the bigger the chance of the algorithm playing in your favor. Though I understand why people feel like this is the best way to attack it, I never felt like that was an end-all-be-all way of doing things. I’ve been a proud believer of just being yourself. Do whatever feels right to you and that’s what’s going to lead you to whatever kind of contentment you seek. So throughout my career, I’ve done not just what folks tell me to do, but what feels right to me. I live by the motto “Be You” and it’s gotten me this far and I’m proud of myself for it.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
understand that artists are not machines. The greatest pieces of art take time to create. If a baker were to bake for you, would you rather the baker make 5 different cakes that would probably be mediocre at best or would you want the baker to spend that time to make one fantastic cake that tastes better than any cake you’ve ever tasted? It’s quality over quantity. In a world of algorithms and shortened attention spans, we have to be patient with artists if we want the quality of music to continue to be high.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being able to touch people’s hearts and souls with whatever you create. You can save people’s lives by putting sounds together and talking about whatever is on your mind. In a sense, we’re audio heroes. I used to be someone who listened to music to feel less alone. The fact that I can make that kind of music for other people feels insanely rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: yesimsmiles
- Twitter: yupimsmiles
- Youtube: Smiles Music
- Other: tiktok: @yesimsmiles
Image Credits
Jahne Wallace Alex Otway Bishop Lloyd Broderick Armbrister