Simonne Jones

Simonne Jones (born Simonne Michelle Jones in Los Angeles, California) is a producer, singer, composer, model and visual artist based in Berlin.[1]

Simonne Jones
Simonne Jones playing Hydrogen Festival in Padova, Italy 2013
Background information
Birth nameSimonne Michelle Jones
Born (1987-02-23) 23 February 1987
Hollywood, California, USA
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
Years active2012–present
Labels
Websitesimonnejones.com

Early life

Simonne Jones was born and raised in Hollywood, California.[2] She is of Cherokee and Barbadian descent.[1] Her maternal great-grandfather is Sir Frank Mortimer Maglinne Worrell, an accomplished West Indies cricketer and senator. She grew up playing the piano at age three, taught herself to read music by age ten and started composing music.[3] As a young teen Simonne began to produce her own music while learning to become a multi-instrumentalist.[4]

When Jones was 15 she graduated high school by homeschooling herself.[2] A year later, Elite Model Management signed Jones to a modeling contract at age 16. That same year she moved across the country and began her college career at the University of Maryland.[5][6] This would present Jones with many new resources and opportunities to pursue her scientific and artistic interests. A few highlights include:

  • Awarded a research grant to implement and HIV awareness program in Ghana.[7]
  • Employed by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to conduct nuclear magnetic resonance imaging studies, and molecular cloning on mutated HIV-1 cells in an attempt to find a cure for the disease.[8]
  • Debuted first exhibition as a visual artist at Studio Art Center International (SACI) in Florence, Italy in 2007.
  • Received her bachelor's degree in Biomedical research, and Visual arts with honors in 2008.
  • Held first solo exhibition as a painter in Manhattan.
  • Co-authored a research paper published in Science Magazine, the NMR Detection of Structures in the HIV-1 5’-Leader RNA That Regulate Genome Packaging[9]

Jones, after being accepted into medical school, changed her mind on a medical career and moved to Berlin to pursue a career in music. The Guardian wrote, "When faced with the decision between a career in science or music, she chose both.[10]

Career

2012-2015: First steps in the music industry

She took her first steps as a professional musician when she was asked to perform at a Diesel show for Berlin fashion week in 2012.[11] Jones was taken on as a protege by Peaches, who impressed with Simonne's burgeoning talents instilled artistic autonomy by encouraging her to engineer and produce recording sessions.[12] They collaborated on the song Free Pussy Riot as a political protest to the imprisonment of the Russian performance artists Pussy Riot.[13]

In 2013 Jones was photographed for the cover of Missy Magazine.[14] That year she was accepted out of 10,000 applicants into the competitive Red Bull Music Academy in New York City.[15] During this time she was invited to compose and perform as a soloist with the ORSO philharmonic orchestra and choir in Freiburg Germany conducted by Wolfgang Rose.[16] Shortly after she scored and performed in the play Jedermann directed by Bastian Kraft, premiering at the prestigious Salzburg festival, also making her acting debut playing the character Death.[17] Jones performed her compositions in the play as a one-woman orchestra in China at Tianjin's Grand Theater, the Kurtheater Baden in Switzerland, the Theater Duisburg in Duisburg Germany before the play moved to a residency at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg for the next 3 years.[18] In 2014, she was invited to open for American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars.[19]

Jones completed a six-month artist residency at Berlin's renowned art collective Platoon Kunsthalle where she constructed motion activated, MIDI-controlled, LED paintings exploring topics in physics and cosmology.[20] She engineered them using open source computer controllers with her best friend, ArbitraryY a software engineer in the aerospace industry.[21] At the time Jones was involved in DIY audio performing with self-built midi controllers, synthesizers, LED costumes and complex loop machines.[22] Jones also performs as a DJ playing dark electronic music in nightclubs.[23]

2015-present: Soundhunters, Rub and Gravity

Jones explored music as a spiritual ritual in the Brazilian Amazon during an immersive indigenous experience in Jean Michel Jarre's documentary Soundhunters in 2015 with the Guaraní people.[24] She released the song "The Silver Cord" in an album curated by Jean Michel Jarre called Zoolook Revisited inspired by his 1984 Zoolook album.[25]

Jones has written and produced for other artists including the song "Vaginoplasty" with Peaches and Vice Cooler for her Rub album.[26] She makes a cameo in the music video. Jones produced the remix "Sick in the Head" for the Rub Remixed album.[27] Peaches also contributed a remix to Simonne's debut single as an exclusive premiere in Billboard magazine.[28]

Jones gave several lectures about how the integration of science and art inform her artwork including at the inaugural Blue Dot Festival at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Manchester and the Make Sound Festival in Leicester.[10]

In 2016, she used gravitational wave audio from the collision of black holes form LIGO and collaborated with CERN using representations of real time particle collision data from the large hadron collider in the song "Alchemy".[29]

On 27 May 2016 Jones released the debut single and music video for "Gravity" worldwide via Universal/Capitol Records.[30]

Musical style and influences

Jones produces, records and writes most of her music and lyrics alone in her studio and describes her music style as dark pop.[31] Her music has experimented with elements of pop, sythpop, dream pop, punk, alternative, baroque pop, electronica and electro.[7] She uses Pro Tools, Logic, Ableton and various analog synthesizers to produce.[32]

Fusion, who added Jones to their The best 25 songs of 2016 list wrote, "Simonne uses her background in scientific theory to write electro-pop songs that lyrically reference complex concepts like relativity and gravity while sounding both otherworldly and like a hymn you’ve always known."[4]

Lena Dunham's newsletter Lenny Letter described, "Jones, who is a lover of science and a former biomedical researcher, cites her interest in concepts like the theory of relativity and other natural phenomena in her music as being fueled by her fascination with the "unknown mysteries of the universe." [3]

Jones describes a production technique in Popular Science, "In Spooky Action I used sounds from a UK researcher who translates star pulses into audio waves to better understand them [...] I created a sound library where I can play the stars on a keyboard."[33]

The music production software company Native Instruments released a Simonne Jones drum kit in the virtual instrument plug-in called Battery of sounds specific to her production style.[34]

Her style has been compared by industry critics and fans to PJ Harvey, Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, and Depeche Mode.[35]

Discography

As a lead artist
TitleYearRecord LabelWriter(s)Length
Gravity[36]2016Vertigo/Capitol (Universal)Thomas Edward Percy Hull, Simonne Jones3:21
Runaways[37]2017Vertigo/Capitol (Universal)Simonne Jones, David Kosten3:47
TitleYearRecord LabelWriter(s)Length
Vaginoplasty[38]2016I U She Music/IndigoPeaches, Vice Cooler, Simonne Jones4:27
Free Pussy Riot[13][39]2012I U She Music/IndigoPeaches, Simonne Jones2:47
"Let's Be Lovers Tonight"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey3:41
"Water"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey, Imran Abbas, Thomas Kessler3:22
"Water" Neon Acoustic Session2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey, Imran Abbas, Thomas Kessler3:21
"Let's Be Lovers Tonight" Neon Acoustic Session2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey4:12
Halcyon2018Jewel RecordsSimonne Jones, Ryan Sheridan3:15
"Words"2019Universal Music Pte. Ltd.Simonne Jones, Jannine Weigel3:45

As a producer
TitleYearRecord LabelProducerAlbumLength
Silver Cord[40]2015SoundhuntersSimonne JonesZoolook Revisited3:35
Sick In The Head (Remix)[27]2016I U She MusicSimonne JonesRub Remixed by Peaches3:35
"Let's Be Lovers Tonight"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne JonesNeon3:41
"Water"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey, Abaz, X-PlosiveNeon3:22
"SMS (Just Want to Be Loved)"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey, Kiko MasbaumNeon3:14
"Turn Me Away"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea Garvey, Abaz, X-PlosiveNeon3:05
"Darkness"2018Universal Music GroupSimonne Jones, Rea GarveyNeon3:03
"I'll Follow"2018Jewel RecordsSimonne JonesRyan Sheridan3:05
Stay Stay2018Jewel RecordsSimonne JonesRyan Sheridan3:53
Back To Life2018Jewel RecordsSimonne JonesRyan Sheridan3:20
Blew My Mind2018Jewel RecordsSimonne JonesRyan Sheridan3:42
Halcyon2018Jewel RecordsSimonne JonesRyan Sheridan3:15

Awards and Honors
YearOrganizationAwardResult
2018We Work Creator Award Berlin[41]Creator Award for Performing ArtsWon

Tours

Headlining
  • Sowo tour (Italy, 2013)[42]
  • ORSO philharmonic (Germany 2013)[43]
  • Untitled tour (Italy, 2015)[44]
  • Thalia Theater tour (China, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, 2014-2016)[45]

Supporting

References
  1. "Biografie von Simonne Jones".
  2. "The artist making physics and a conspiracy theory into music".
  3. "Music Monday: The Science and Magic of Simonne Jones". 19 April 2016.
  4. "How Simonne Jones Went From Scientist to Rising Electropop Star".
  5. "SIMONNE JONES".
  6. Ryan, Author Jenn (20 July 2016). "Introducing : Simonne Jones".
  7. "Simonne Jones - Bridging The Gap". 3 February 2013.
  8. "Supporting Online Material". 23 August 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. http://www.pubfacts.com/author/Simonne+Jones
  10. Buchan, Kit (10 July 2016). "Bluedot: exploring the festival frontier" – via The Guardian.
  11. "Simonne Jones: Der schönste Alien der Musikwelt".
  12. https://missy-magazine.de/2016/06/09/simonne-jones-kann-auch-pop/
  13. Sayej, Nadja. "Quiet Rioters - A Colorful Show of Support in Berlin".
  14. http://missy-magazine.de/2013/02/12/ab-18-februar-die-neue-missy/
  15. "Red Bull Music Academy".
  16. "Simonne Jones im Interview: Wenn musikalische Welten auf das Universum treffen! - Burning Music".
  17. "Salzburger Festspiele: Jedermann" als Pop und Trash im YDP".
  18. Jandl, Paul. "Philipp Hochmair – der etwas andere Hamburger Jedermann".
  19. "Vidéo-clip Simonne Jones AND JARED LETO - @PIAZZOLA SUL BRENTA (PD) 14/07/13".
  20. "BERLIN · SIMONNE JONES - THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE".
  21. "Go Behind the Scenes of Installing an Interactive LED Art Exhibit - Make". 3 March 2016.
  22. "Hier kommt US-Newcomerin Simonne Jones mit "Gravity"". 20 April 2016.
  23. Elektron (4 April 2016). "Night of Machines @ Arena Club, Berlin" – via YouTube.
  24. "Soundhunters (3/4) - Sound of Leaves". ARTE (in French). Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  25. SOUNDHUNTERS (22 June 2015). "CONCOURS ALBUM "ZOOLOOK REVISITED"" – via YouTube.
  26. "Vaginoplasty - Peaches - Song Info - AllMusic".
  27. "Peaches Announces Rub Remix Album - Pitchfork".
  28. "Peaches Reawakens Simonne Jones' 'Gravity' With Out-Of-This-World Verse: Exclusive".
  29. http://www.popsci.com.au/make/-exclusive-listen-to-alchemy-simonne-jones-song-made-from-physics-data,435691
  30. simonnejonesVEVO (18 April 2016). "Simonne Jones - Gravity" – via YouTube.
  31. "Flaunt Magazine - Music: What's In Yr Fridge, Simonne Jones?".
  32. "Simonne Jones - neuH Magazine". 16 April 2015.
  33. "Singer Simonne Jones Fuses Pop Music and Quantum Physics".
  34. "SOUNDHUNTERS".
  35. Obkircher, Florian. "Simonne Jones: The renaissance woman".
  36. "Gravity Music video".
  37. "runaways".
  38. "Peaches on Her New Album and Her Big Dreams: "I Will Ride a Hot Dog Through the Air One Day"". 29 September 2015.
  39. "Canadian artist Peaches to release 'Free Pussy Riot' video".
  40. "The Silver Cord (Original Mix) by Simonne Jones on Beatport".
  41. https://gruene-startups.de/berlin-creator-awards-wework-vergibt-643-000-euro-an-sieben-gewinner/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  42. "Simonne Jones".
  43. "Simonne Jones".
  44. "Musica e solidarietà, parte oggi il Tangram Festival". 8 August 2016.
  45. Reifegerste, Olaf. "Duisburg: Das Leben ist live, der Tod aber auch".
  46. s.r.l., Rockol.com. "√ 14 luglio 2013 - Hydrogen Festival - Anfiteatro Camerini - Piazzola sul Brenta (Pd) - Simonne Jones in concerto - Rockol".
  47. Schultz, Maike. "Peaches live in Berlin: Rubbeln bis die Schamlippen brennen".
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