Today we’d like to introduce you to SiMitrē.
SiMitrē, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was raised in Grand Blanc, Michigan, a small town outside of Flint, MI. I have an older sister (Rayna Edwards) and a fraternal twin brother (Brennon Edwards). I’ve been artistic since I was a baby, but I started out as a visual artist. I attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI and studied Illustration. I didn’t actually take music seriously until after college. I dabbled in choirs at church and tinkered with “my first piano” on occasion. Even though I didn’t take it seriously at the time, anyone that heard me sing was blown away by the texture of my voice and how it made them feel. That reaction is why I am still pursuing music today.
It wasn’t until after college when I went to Atlanta to visit my cousin Booker W. Edwards Jr., who was an audio engineer and professor at the Art Institute of Atlanta at the time (now at Georgia State University), where I got really serious about music. He taught me the basics of how to record vocals and also set me up to create my own in-home recording/beat-making studio.
From that point on I just worked my craft; I got a vocal coach in Detroit, started to produce my own music in Logic and then eventually was introduced to the amazing producer, artist developer and vocal producer, Troy Taylor, who took me under his wing for about a year showing me the ins-and-outs of the music industry.
I moved to LA shortly after working with Troy and have been here now for seven years. During that time, I’ve met and worked with amazing singer-songwriters and producers, got married to a beautiful, creative and supportive goddess (Amani Minter), and have made a living doing what I love to do. I am a union sculptor on feature films and television shows, and a professional singer-songwriter, currently working on an album with the incredible producer K.Chozen called “Vesica Pisces”.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been a struggle, but it hasn’t been super easy either. I’d say the biggest hurdles for me were having confidence in myself and my art, being patient and, getting over my past experiences. The confidence to not care what anyone else thinks about me or my art was a very difficult concept to overcome. But once I did, I haven’t looked back.
I’ve been fortunate to have various tools that have helped me get through any blockages or obstacles. I’ve had a great support system (family and friend circle), amazing mentors, and transformational courses (I chose Landmark Worldwide). Landmark especially helped me to grow, and to become fearless and unstoppable.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I am a singer-songwriter, producer and also a music supervisor for production companies (where I either find or create the music for video content). I wouldn’t say I’m really “known” yet lol, but I would say what I specialize in is connecting to the rawness, authenticity and feelings of music. I value innovation and vulnerability over everything, so my hope is that people get that from my music.
I would say I’m most proud of just sticking with it, man. It isn’t easy to invest a lot of time and money into something, knowing that you may or may not get it back. What I feel sets me apart is my ear and my voice. I’m always able to hear and identify the tone or mood that fits a particular emotion; whether that’s with my own music, or finding music for video content. It’s something I never really thought about much, but have recently been seeing just how valuable that is. And I’ve been told time-and-time again that I have a very unique voice that’s able to cut deep into the soul.
I have been working on my process for some years now, and am finally working on an album that brings it all together. I’m super excited about getting out there! I want my music to live on the big screens as well as the small ones. When people listen to my music, I just want them to FEEL. Whether they have had a bad day, or want to be in a specific mood.
What were you like growing up?
I was kind of a strange, quiet, artsy kid with a twin brother that was the complete opposite as me LOL. People were always confused at how my brother was so talkative and I was so quiet and introverted. You know, I think that probably has a lot to do with how I see the world today. I wasn’t really focused on communicating with people through words, eye contact or physical touch. I was interested in the vibrancy of the leaves, the different textures of the sand, all the different tones a bird could make, how flying ants smelled (they smell pungent btw), pretty much all the little intricacies and details in my environment. I could see and hear things that others seemingly didn’t notice. I feel like that’s what really created the artist inside of me. So through my childhood into adulthood, I was known as “the artist”, and chose to create mostly through visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, graphic design, etc).
Contact Info:
- Website: soundsofsimitre.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @_simitre
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/SimitreArtist/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_simitre
Image Credit:
Miguel Amodio @migueltakespix
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
