Our Interview with Simon Trounce

Artist, producer, creative director, creator of the Blue Room, and fundraiser, Renaissance man Simon Trounce talks music, past, present, and future.

Simon Trounce, now nicely nestled in the fabric of Culture Calling, has lived many lives it seems. Starting as an artist and producer, primarily as a session vocalist but also as a performer, Trounce meanders through genres as he has meandered through various, differing roles in his life, working as a catering consultant for two Glastonbury's (his second home), founder and creative director of The Blue Room, and as a fundraiser for the Tilly Mavis Development Fund.

Today, we chat to him about his driving passion and interest - music - and the new Richard E single that he worked on.

What is your background in music? Where did you get your first start?

At 18, I was convinced I was going to be the next big London Fashion Designer, partly self taught, and with a foundation in Fashion Design, I was making clothes, on a very small scale, for my group of friends in the early 80's club scene, but I'd always had a voice, a singing voice, and I was prized away from fashion, to join a band, to be vocalist and frontman. This was around 1984 in the height of 'anything is possible' if you want it enough.

Several bands and recordings later, I was picked up by a management team, that were taking my voice seriously. One half of my management team was a prolific writer and bass player at the time, Camelle Hinds, from Brit-Funk 80's band 'Central Line'. Camelle was also a sought-after session bass player at the time and spent several years as Paul Weller's bass player in The Style Council. Camelle and I formed a production company, and amongst others, were signed to 'Motown Records' (Motown UK), writing and producing for a Stateside artist, Gerald Alston, who was the original vocalist for an iconic Motown/Columbia Records soul group, The Manhattans.

In 1997, I opened a bar, The Blue Room, in Surrey, then a club, same name, in Kingston Upon Thames, where my music interests were explored by developing other talent that came my way, mostly DJ producers, but it satisfied my need. I set up an ident 'The Blue Room CoOp' to run alongside the bar business. We also recorded and released a Drum & Bass album on Groove Pressure Jazz Series 1 (France) as well as several soul and neo-soul tracks.

Between 1994 and the present day, I've had many guises, signed to labels in the UK, US and France, with productions in acid jazz, drum and bass, soul and pop.

Can you remember the first album you bought?

Actually, no I can't!

The first single I bought was 10CC - Rubber Bullets on 7" vinyl, but for me, it was all about the B Side - Waterfall...

Earliest album I remember buying was Azymuth - 'Light As A Feather' a Brazilian band. The album was only available as an 'import' which in those days was crazy money, Bought from (no longer there) Groove Records in Soho Square.

The Richard E remix is stellar, where do you think this would fit in the current musical climate?

Good question - Truth is, I'm not sure. We're aiming for BBC 6 Music, Lauren Lavern type audience. It's quite a complex piece of music, not your average 'Pop' song, however we're starting to see some traction in lots of UK niche groups and Japan and Germany has featured in our data (Ugh - did I really say that...).. It's been released globally on all download and streaming platforms, so we'll kinda wait and see where it goes. Richard E himself has amazing pedigree.

As a veteran, what advice would you give to young people getting into music today?

I think 'Veteran' is a good choice of word for this question - Younger folk, making music these days are heavily reliant upon digital platforms, viral videos, followers and the like.

The only thing I would say to any young talent embarking on a career in music is to stick with your passion, stay close to your personal ethos. Don't change to fit trends, be honest and that will come across in your music. IF you rely upon social media alone to expose yourself, you might not have found your true self yet. If you can't perform it live, either with a band or a guitar/piano, consider focusing on that. Social media is brimming with incredible talent, some of which is usurped by tech-clever, lesser genuine talent.