|
Who?
A performance poet, singer, writer and sometime
radio presenter from Newcastle. Simma is one of the
best-known performers on his home town scene, and
is a self confessed performaholic.
Simma's first collection of poetry – Last Night I
Married The Audience was published by Zebra
Publishing in March 2009, at one of the busiest live
literature launches the city has ever seen.
2010 sees him performing with John Hegley, John
Cooper Clarke and at 'Utter' at Edinburgh Festival, as
well as at York's Pink India Festival.
Simma is the founder and chairman of Acoustic
Circus , an organisation for songwriters in Newcastle,
and runs various Musicians' Nights in the city.
A performance poet, singer, writer and sometime
radio presenter from Newcastle. Simma is one of the
best-known performers on his home town scene, and
is a self confessed performaholic.
Simma's first collection of poetry – Last Night I
Married The Audience was published by Zebra
Publishing in March 2009, at one of the busiest live
literature launches the city has ever seen.
2010 sees him performing with John Hegley, John
Cooper Clarke and at 'Utter' at Edinburgh Festival, as
well as at York's Pink India Festival.
Simma is the founder and chairman of Acoustic
Circus , an organisation for songwriters in Newcastle,
and runs various Musicians' Nights in the city.
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Q & A (interview By Sarah Winters for The Journal)
When did you first start writing?
I pretty much started as soon as I heard song lyrics. Like lots of others I started writing new lyrics to existing songs. I
always wrote poetry but it never seemed appropriate to call myself a poet. It was much easier to call myself a
songwriter as there's a much stronger tradition of songwriters from backgrounds like mine, and I grew up loving playing
music anyway. I ended up doing very well out of the music and it's still what puts the pennies in my pocket more than
anything else.
When I met Kate Fox she encouraged me to break out of the songwriter thing and start performing poetry. I'd always
had an idea that it was possible to entertain with just words, but had seen very few actual poets perform. I loved
standup comedy but knew I wasn't a comic. As soon as I saw there was an outlet for performance poetry I ran at it
head first.
How did you come to get your first book published?
I was doing an early poetry gig, with a mixture of songs and spoken word bits, and was approached by Jeff from Zebra
Publishing about the possibility of putting a collection out. I coincidentally ran in to him the next day so was able to
check he meant it! I kind of thought I wasn't ready, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. It's turned
out to be the most successful thing I've ever done.
What are you up to now?
I am working on some poems for a spoken word and music album I want to put out later in the year. I'm working with a
couple of other poets on performance projects, but mostly just trying to be on stage as much as possible. Thinking
about book two...
You've become well known in Newcastle for performing at venues other than the usual poetry haunts.
How did that come about?
I think there are a lot of people who appreciate funny or interesting spoken word but think it's not for them, almost as if
you have to have some kind of qualification to listen to someone read. That said it’s hard to tread the line between
being someone who is unexpectedly entertaining with words and the local crazy who writes any nonsense down, calls it
a poem and expects the world to listen. We've all met and avoided them. I'm lucky, being a working musician, to have
access to lots of audiences. It's very much about choosing your room.
What's been the highlight of your poetry career so far?
I've been told that the book launch was the most successful live literature event in Newcastle for years, and it certainly
shocked me. Nearly three times as many people as we were expecting turned up. It was a really special event.
Performing with John Hegley was very cool, as he was the first performance poet I can remember seeing when I was a
kid. Performing at the Baltic and the Morden Tower, both are pretty special Newcastle venues. Being asked to support
John Cooper Clark is brilliant too. It may sound horrifically corny, but just being on stage and speaking to an audience
is the best thing about all of it.
What are you ambitions?
To be on stage as much as possible. If I could be on stage from morning till bedtime, I would be happy.
What are your main inspirations?
I'm completely obsessed with the relationship between the performer and the audience. The first book has that theme,
I think it's endlessly fascinating. I am currently writing a lot about the way that people use emotional crutches and the
motivation that people ascribe to their social behavior, versus their actual motivations . This doesn't sound very funny
when put like that, but it's actually fascinating and makes me laugh a lot. Being at a gig can be like watching a wildlife
documentary. Obviously I don't want to fall into the "have you ever noticed...." clichés, but observing people never
stops entertaining me.
You are poet from Newcastle, do you consider yourself a Geordie Poet?
Inevitably because of the sound that comes out when I speak I will be considered a Geordie poet. The problem with
writing in dialect and being from my background is that people expect me to only to write about my roots. The reaction
to me saying I had a book coming out was hilarious, and actually turned into a piece (Singer). Everyone assumed I
would be writing about Brown Ale, Shearer and the Tyne Bridge, which is sometimes a great icebreaker and is
sometimes just depressing. If I am seen as any kind of ambassador for my accent I would want to prove that anyone
from anywhere can write about anything, as long as it's nice to read or hear.
Who are your writing and performance influences?
(Long pause) so many, but off the top of my head... As writers my most direct influences have been Kate Fox, Scott
Tyrell, John Hegley, Phillip Larkin and Alan Hull. As spoken word performers I'm a massive fan of Mark Steel, Andy
Hamilton, and Paul Merton for their unbelievable delivery. As far as old fashioned stagecraft is concerned, you can't go
past Billy Connelly, Eric Morecambe and Billy Bragg. I know I'm expected to say hugely obscure people, but sometimes
people are popular because they are good!
What advice would you give to new or young poets?
I'm not sure I would! Errm... Write everything and throw most of it away. Always keep your audience in mind, if you're
writing for an audience. If you want to write performance poetry, always imagine how it would stand up on stage and
write things you would want to hear. Be honest. Read lots. Take every opportunity to be heard.
What's your favorite poem? And the favourite poem you've written?
This Be The Verse by Phillip Larkin, which ironically is the least funny poem ever written! My favourite poem of mine is
Singer, because I get to play two very different parts when I'm performing it, and I can change the attitude of it to suit
the audience more than anything else I've written. The audience seem to like that one too. They also like the silly
rhyming ones that I'm a bit self conscious about. I love messing about with language, but because of that I sometimes
feel a bit like a kid playing in the yard with their parents watching.
When did you first start writing?
I pretty much started as soon as I heard song lyrics. Like lots of others I started writing new lyrics to existing songs. I
always wrote poetry but it never seemed appropriate to call myself a poet. It was much easier to call myself a
songwriter as there's a much stronger tradition of songwriters from backgrounds like mine, and I grew up loving playing
music anyway. I ended up doing very well out of the music and it's still what puts the pennies in my pocket more than
anything else.
When I met Kate Fox she encouraged me to break out of the songwriter thing and start performing poetry. I'd always
had an idea that it was possible to entertain with just words, but had seen very few actual poets perform. I loved
standup comedy but knew I wasn't a comic. As soon as I saw there was an outlet for performance poetry I ran at it
head first.
How did you come to get your first book published?
I was doing an early poetry gig, with a mixture of songs and spoken word bits, and was approached by Jeff from Zebra
Publishing about the possibility of putting a collection out. I coincidentally ran in to him the next day so was able to
check he meant it! I kind of thought I wasn't ready, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. It's turned
out to be the most successful thing I've ever done.
What are you up to now?
I am working on some poems for a spoken word and music album I want to put out later in the year. I'm working with a
couple of other poets on performance projects, but mostly just trying to be on stage as much as possible. Thinking
about book two...
You've become well known in Newcastle for performing at venues other than the usual poetry haunts.
How did that come about?
I think there are a lot of people who appreciate funny or interesting spoken word but think it's not for them, almost as if
you have to have some kind of qualification to listen to someone read. That said it’s hard to tread the line between
being someone who is unexpectedly entertaining with words and the local crazy who writes any nonsense down, calls it
a poem and expects the world to listen. We've all met and avoided them. I'm lucky, being a working musician, to have
access to lots of audiences. It's very much about choosing your room.
What's been the highlight of your poetry career so far?
I've been told that the book launch was the most successful live literature event in Newcastle for years, and it certainly
shocked me. Nearly three times as many people as we were expecting turned up. It was a really special event.
Performing with John Hegley was very cool, as he was the first performance poet I can remember seeing when I was a
kid. Performing at the Baltic and the Morden Tower, both are pretty special Newcastle venues. Being asked to support
John Cooper Clark is brilliant too. It may sound horrifically corny, but just being on stage and speaking to an audience
is the best thing about all of it.
What are you ambitions?
To be on stage as much as possible. If I could be on stage from morning till bedtime, I would be happy.
What are your main inspirations?
I'm completely obsessed with the relationship between the performer and the audience. The first book has that theme,
I think it's endlessly fascinating. I am currently writing a lot about the way that people use emotional crutches and the
motivation that people ascribe to their social behavior, versus their actual motivations . This doesn't sound very funny
when put like that, but it's actually fascinating and makes me laugh a lot. Being at a gig can be like watching a wildlife
documentary. Obviously I don't want to fall into the "have you ever noticed...." clichés, but observing people never
stops entertaining me.
You are poet from Newcastle, do you consider yourself a Geordie Poet?
Inevitably because of the sound that comes out when I speak I will be considered a Geordie poet. The problem with
writing in dialect and being from my background is that people expect me to only to write about my roots. The reaction
to me saying I had a book coming out was hilarious, and actually turned into a piece (Singer). Everyone assumed I
would be writing about Brown Ale, Shearer and the Tyne Bridge, which is sometimes a great icebreaker and is
sometimes just depressing. If I am seen as any kind of ambassador for my accent I would want to prove that anyone
from anywhere can write about anything, as long as it's nice to read or hear.
Who are your writing and performance influences?
(Long pause) so many, but off the top of my head... As writers my most direct influences have been Kate Fox, Scott
Tyrell, John Hegley, Phillip Larkin and Alan Hull. As spoken word performers I'm a massive fan of Mark Steel, Andy
Hamilton, and Paul Merton for their unbelievable delivery. As far as old fashioned stagecraft is concerned, you can't go
past Billy Connelly, Eric Morecambe and Billy Bragg. I know I'm expected to say hugely obscure people, but sometimes
people are popular because they are good!
What advice would you give to new or young poets?
I'm not sure I would! Errm... Write everything and throw most of it away. Always keep your audience in mind, if you're
writing for an audience. If you want to write performance poetry, always imagine how it would stand up on stage and
write things you would want to hear. Be honest. Read lots. Take every opportunity to be heard.
What's your favorite poem? And the favourite poem you've written?
This Be The Verse by Phillip Larkin, which ironically is the least funny poem ever written! My favourite poem of mine is
Singer, because I get to play two very different parts when I'm performing it, and I can change the attitude of it to suit
the audience more than anything else I've written. The audience seem to like that one too. They also like the silly
rhyming ones that I'm a bit self conscious about. I love messing about with language, but because of that I sometimes
feel a bit like a kid playing in the yard with their parents watching.