Sid Simons @sidsimonsofficial photographed by Anna Henderson @annahenders0n Interviewed by Jess Abene @212212212.212
I met Sid at a Halloween party at the Boom Boom Room. He had just finished his set - one of the best live moments I have experienced in 2025 - and was cooling off on the edge of the costumed crowd. New York has the tendency of doing this holiday right. Not a single person was without a masterfully executed outfit. Not a single person was sober. I was luckily with a dear friend of mine who frequented Studio 151 every week (which happened to be his chosen Tuesday venue). Shout out Bianca Buchel. As she caught up with him about so and so it was clear that, from his beyond kind demeanor and undeniable humor, he would be an incredible subject for VFiles.
I’d seen him play before this encounter but it was always in the context of a DJ booth. In my head, he was simply a DJ. An extremely talented one who consistently kept a crowd going, but nothing that alluded to him being a musician himself.
Around the same time as this legendary Boom Boom Room set, I was sent a song from someone whose music taste, I’ll admit, outperformed mine - a difficult fact to swallow given how much I pride myself on my own. They sent me Darling by Girl Skin, Sid’s project before he stepped out under his own name. The first time I listened to it, there was a feeling almost identical to hearing the Beatles for the first time. 10000/10 track.
That song, alongside his performance, made it obvious that he was someone whose next move needed to be watched very closely. Attention was no longer optional.
We thankfully got to visit his studio in Brooklyn.
Vfiles: How long have you been in this area?
Sid: Uhh well.. this is Dan's apartment hehe but I guess 8 months now. We’ve been on tour for most of the year so it feels like I haven’t been here that long.
Vfiles: When was the tour?
Sid: June 11th / July 5th - that was the last European tour we just did.
Vfiles: What was your favorite place that you guys played?
Sid: I’d say Bordeaux. It was this thing called Music Day. There was like 5000 people there and it was all day, all night. There were raves on each corner. We saw a dude just pull up and play a set out of his car.
Vfiles: Whats your favorite food?
Sid: I am really obsessed with Thai food - whenever we are on tour I immediately need to know where the thai foods at!!
Vfiles: Its good at any point in the day
Sid: ANYTIME. We should just tour in Thailand
Vfiles: Lowkey they will arrest you over anything in Thailand. Like even something as small as vaping
Sid: That's like Singapore - it's illegal to chew gum but the streets are so clean. I lived in Shanghai for a few years. My dad worked in advertising and we all moved out there from ages 16 - 18.
Vfiles: PIVOTAL YEARS
Sid: Pivotal years and when I moved there, there was pretty much no drinking age. So I’d be going to clubs and staying out til 5 in the morning at a pretty young age. That's when I started making music because I had no friends. I was like fine I’ll just be with my guitar… everyday
Vfiles: Are you bilingual?
Sid: I learned a bit but its a hard language ahaahha I had it down when I was in the country but also when you are 16, you are kinda rebellious over learning anything
Vfiles: Do you have siblings?
Sid: Yeah 2 brothers, middle child
Vfiles: Do you have middle child syndrome?
Sid: I think I do now hahahaha
Vfiles: Are you closer to one versus the other?
Sid: We are pretty equal right now - they both live in Brooklyn. My younger is an actor and my older is an editor in film.
Vfiles: Oh woooah - do your parents also do creative stuff?
Sid: My mom is a film producer and my dad was a creative director in advertising.
Vfiles: So you have always been surrounded by creativity - do you think that pushed you to do something in a similar field?
Sid: There was no consideration in doing anything else to the point in which me going to college would be rebellious. I had so much freedom growing up - especially when we moved back to the states. All I wanted to do, specifically my entire senior year of high school, was to make music and to be in a band. It felt like a waste of time to do anything else…. They kinda were like “Alright drop out, if you are excited just go for it.”
Vfiles: Woooah were you shocked when they said that?
Sid: A little bit! Definitely!
Vfiles: But do you think that lit a fire under you? Did you think to yourself now I really have to go balls to the wall
Sid: Totally, there was no plan B. After that I was living in my parents basement writing music and I realized I needed more stories. My idols, specifically Bob Dylan, had all of these amazing stories and it made me realize that I needed to really go live my life. I decided to run around the world, jumping into a pretty torn up van and just seeing what would happen. Everyone thought I would be back in 2 weeks - I ended up staying out there for 2 months.
Vfiles: Where did you stay the longest?
Sid: SANTA CRUZ!!! I stopped there and it was fucking heaven… I was right on the beach, got a surf board, had my little shitty guitar. Eating bread and cheese everyday.
Vfiles: Where are you from?
Sid: I grew up in Australia - so it was pretty close to the lifestyle I had growing up with
Vfiles: How old were you when you came to the states?
Sid: I was 12. I started the road trip in New York. From Santa Cruz, I went to San Francisco and then drove through the rest of the country to go back to New York. There were a couple of roughhhh nights from that. Roughest was in Alabama.
Vfiles: Whats your zodiac sign?
Sid: Taurus
Vfiles: (Jess gets excited) Me Too :00 When is your birthday?
Sid: May 19th
Vfiles: Would you consider yourself really hard working? (One of the defining characteristics of a Taurus)
Sid: Very.
Vfiles: You played at Boom Boom Room, how was that? That's a crazy venue to play at?
Sid: It was sick - the line was INSANE. It was super fun, a gooood party
Vfiles: How did that come about?
Sid: This guy Orson just put the entire thing together and I have played there before - he really organized it. Might be running it back for New Yearssss y’all should come
Vfiles: Do you get anxious before a show?
Sid: Like 20 minutes before but when I walk on stage I’m ready to go. I have some weird little ticks. Occasionally I’ll have to lock the door a couple times, things of that nature. The anxiety really comes around when I record. I’ll run over keys or push this, that, this, this, that, that. Gotta eat a ton of pistachios…
Vfiles: With or without the shells?
Sid: Always with the shells - the whole thing. I need to crack the shell.
Vfiles: What do you think of the JP Morgan building?
Sid: (He gets really confused) What do I think of JP Morgan?
Vfiles: No - the new building
Sid: *Laughs*
Vfiles: Your mom was a film producer you mentioned - what's your favorite movie?
Sid: Into the Wild. My favorite book and movie - such a good one. That kinda inspired my roadtrip. He wanted to live off the grid, burnt all of his money, moved to Alaska and really exist off of the land. In the end he regrets it because he realizes human connection is most important.
Vfiles: So good - It's one of those movies, along with Interstellar, where you just need to sit with it.
Sid: Do you guys wanna hear my new song?
*We all listen to his new song, jaws on the floor*
*Dan comes in an drops off a zine they were in that features a story about the band*
Sid: Woooah this looks sick - Oh my god they added the story in!!
*The image for the zine is Sid surrounded by cops with a taser in their hands. The headline is about Sid taking on the police*
Sid: Yeah I was arrested… I was in jail for two days, kinda sucked
Vfiles: When you are creating music - specifically the song you just played - what does that process look like?
Sid: For this particular song, I was reading a ton of these poetry books and became obsessed with Leonard Cohen. I was curious to see what a modern Leonard Cohen song would sound like if it were written right now.
Vfiles: That line, 200 kisses deep, was WOW
Sid: That's sooo Cohen. I wanted to write from a different character. Someone who is so overly confident.
Vfiles: That's one of the coolest things with making songs is that you can take on a role.
Sid: Totally - and I haven’t really done that before but have been enjoying doing that with new songs. There is this one poem, you guys HAVE to read this.
Quiet World by Jeffrey McDaniel
In an effort to get people to look
into each other’s eyes more,
and also to appease the mutes,
the government has decided
to allot each person exactly one hundred
and sixty-seven words, per day.
When the phone rings, I put it to my ear
without saying hello. In the restaurant
I point at chicken noodle soup.
I am adjusting well to the new way.
Late at night, I call my long distance lover,
proudly say I only used fifty-nine today.
I saved the rest for you.
When she doesn’t respond,
I know she’s used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.
*Jess starts to cry*
Sid: How beautiful is that? It is insane!! He wrote something else called My Last American Valentine and I used that as the title of my EP. This guy is amazing.
Vfiles: Have you ever written for other people?
Sid: I’ve written with people but I’ve never been like “Use this.”
Vfiles: Your song writing is so strong. I feel like most people forget the art of writing a song
Sid: It is so important
Vfiles: So important!! It feels like more people are leaning on autotune to make the simplest words sound cool where as your lyrics are fully formed poetry
Sid: That wasn’t always the case!! For a while it was music first and the words didn’t matter but now they are the most important thing to me… so so crucial.
Vfiles: How long does it take for you to develop a song?
Sid: Hmmmmm it all depends… it’s really all about how strong the idea is and the identity behind it. When you come up with something and you know exactly how it should sound, what I should say, what's the message… I could just do it in one sitting ya know. Well, then there are certain ideas, like the song I played earlier that was just the instrumental, it takes awhile to know what you want to say. Once the idea is in place though it is almost like the pen just writes itself.
Vfiles: The idea of something just pouring out of you is an insane concept
Sid: Those are the best songs
Vfiles: You mentioned Bob
Sid: Bob Dylan?? BOB AYE
Vfiles: Your lyricism reminds me of Bob
Sid: I mean.. He is one of my favorites
Vfiles: I can tell!! The way you both are so tied to poetry - What is your favorite song of his?
Sid: Thats fucked…. Um well… this song I Was Young When I Left Home is so good. There are certain artists and songs that are hard for me to go back to because they make me so emotional. It reminds me of my friend group that I had in Shanghai - we were all obsessed with Bob Dylan. It was kinda weird, just a bunch of 16 year olds super into him, but it was cool. We all came from different countries, this weird eclectic crew that were all best friends just worshipping Bob Dylan. This reminds me of them so much.
Vfiles: Do you still talk to them?
Sid: Yeah actually when we were touring Europe, one of them (Charles) came along and stayed with us for a day or two. He lives in Germany. This guy… people should write a book about him. You guys would love him.
Vfiles: Tell us about him!!
Sid: He is the most interesting guy I’ve ever met. When I got to Shanghai - I met him at a skate park. He was always dirty as shit. He came there with his dad on a business trip and he loved it so much that he kinda refused to leave. They ended up putting him in boarding school there, only German guy there with around 15 other Chinese kids. Didn't speak either Chinese or English - learned how to speak both languages, Chinese from the school and English from listening to Bob Dylan. The boarding schools are super strict in China so whenever he wanted to leave the grounds, he had to sign out for the entire weekend. Well when he did this, he didn’t know where to go so he would just skate all night and go sleep in the McDonalds then come back Monday morning for school. When I met him, he had been doing that for around a year. I offered up my house to him and he ended up staying at mine every weekend for around two years. He was basically my brother. We used to shave his head all the time. He ended up marrying a Chinese woman and living in Germany.
Vfiles: Sounds like a legend. Sleeping in McDonalds and waking up to the hashbrowns. Do friends like him inspire your music?
Sid: 100% The stories that he brings, his experiences that I just tag along.
Vfiles: Who has influenced most of your songs?
Sid: Phew I don't know - people in general. There are a few people that I’ve written about a few times.
Vfiles: What is a belief about yourself that you have had to unlearn to become the artist that you are now?
Sid: That's a fucking amazing question. I think dropping out of school and not having a plan B but I want to have a better answer for that.
Vfiles: Is there a lyric that you have written in the past that hits way harder now?
Sid: Mmm yeah - there is a song from my old band Girl Skin called Bite Real Hard. It was about my uncle who had just got diagnosed with cancer and he had taught me so much. He showed me so much music and taught me guitar. When he got sick it was a really emotional time, so it was one of those songs that just sort of happened. He died a year ago. Now listening back to that song… it's emotional. He hung on for a while. It was throat cancer. He was the only one in my family who had guitars and banjos which I have now. He was the musician in my family that was badass. He just didn’t give a fuck.
Vfiles: Is that one of your muses?
Sid: Yeah I guess so!! I was really close with him until I was like 12 and of course saw him whenever I went back to visit Australia.
Vfiles: Do you use voice memos?
Sid: All the time. I use it to scat lyrics to instrumentals. To find how the lyrics are supposed to sound.
Vfiles: Do you use the notes app? If so, what is your last note?
Sid: All the time - my last note says Take a Pill and Go to Sleep which is a line from a Yung Lean song. I don’t know why I wrote that down but I am obsessed with him.
Vfiles: How long have you been listening to him?
Sid: Like a day. My younger brother sent it to me.
Vfiles: What should we expect next from Sid Simons?
Sid: There is a lot coming - all new music, all new singles. Might just release my entire catalog for 2026. I actually gotta keep recording so I love you guys but you guys gotta go!! Thank you!!!!!!!
Vfiles: Goodbye Sid :) THANK YOUUU
Thank you Sid Simons for being a solid guy. I’m really excited to see what comes next for you - I think you are on the highway to becoming one of the greats!!
Stream The Lie by Sid Simons