Michael Simmons, a music and media teacher from Southern California, met with me to discuss the creation of his latest album, "First Days of Summer." Working a full time job does not leave much room for personal projects, but as a teacher, Simmons was able to utilize the first days of summer breaks to contribute to his newly finished album. In our conversation, Simmons brushed upon topics like inspiration, motivation, and finding the time to make art with a busy schedule.
The following is what Mr. Simmons had to ay about the process of creating his album while still working as a teacher.
"My job is kinda crazy. I teach high school in a program that creates huge rock concerts, films, television shoots, and music recording. When I’m not at school dealing with teenagers, I’m at home working on all the things that make the program possible. Life is working with a little Facebook and TV thrown in to keep me sane. My own musical endeavors all dried up when I started this job. Since I work with everyone in my band, we all stopped working on music once the school thing happened.
A few years ago, on the first day of my summer break, which lasts about a week and a half in actuality, on a day where I should have felt relieved and relaxed, instead I felt an acute lack of something to do. I felt ‘rudderless,' so I wrote and recorded a song about it that afternoon. I have a recording setup in my kitchen at all times that I use for various things, so if a song idea ever comes I can flesh it out into an album-quality track very quickly.
Over the next few days, two more songs popped out. It usually only takes me a couple hours to write and record a whole song. Before I knew it, I was back on the grind. The next summer, I think I wrote another one and another. In the year that followed I fantasized about how great it would be if I had a whole album worth of songs. I talked to people about doing a split LP (double EP) but nobody seemed interested.
The idea of making an album wouldn’t go away. I really wanted it. So when summer came again in 2017, I gathered up scraps of song ideas from the notes app on my phone and forced myself to make them into songs. My friend Jeff Charroux even came down to my place a number of times during that week to help me write some, and give me feedback and encouragement. Having someone other than myself to be accountable to get my creative engine into high gear. With each song, the running time got longer, as I was always doing calculations to create well-timed vinyl sides.
Eventually, there was enough. One side was even running a little long! I made artwork, a few CD’s to share with people if I needed to, and waited. And waited. Now, with spring approaching, it seems like a good time to put out a record about summer. I was hoping to have it out right when people start getting their tax refunds, but who knows if that will happen this year."
After four years of seeing Simmons teach myself and my fellow peers about all of the processes and work that go on behind the scenes of major music and video productions, being able to see the pay off of his knowledge is very inspiring to me. As a teacher, Simmons's creativity has always had a priority to help students create and grow their creative capabilities. While I have seen Simmons produce and take on huge responsibilities in the making of many students' albums and side projects, this album is a product of his full creative control that many people have been looking forward to hearing.
Although Simmons has always shown himself to be one of the most hardworking teachers I've ever had, the demands of being a high school teacher still have a way of consuming any time he has had for personal projects. For someone whose life is mostly dedicated to music and videos, it is shocking to me how little time he has for his own personal projects.
The entire idea behind this album to utilize his summers over the course of multiple years to make commentary on his personal experiences as a teacher speaks volumes itself about the dedication it took to produce this album and adds a sentiment to his music that all people with a busy schedule can appreciate.
"First Days of Summer" has three themes: songwriting, mid-life romance, and death. It is printed on vinyl with six songs on each side, however other formats of download and consumption are available. Simmons remarked that he did his best to put this album down, and all that he asks is, like the first song off his album says, "do your best to care."
