A single purpose
Corner Brook teen’s debut song is about missing her friends
“I guess everyone has that thing that they love doing the most and I was really lucky to stumble upon it and to be really enjoying it. And I found so many of my friends because of it.”
Sophie Simms
Sophie Simms has always looked up to younger people in the music industry because they’re the ones to which the Corner Brook teen can relate.
Billie Eilish was 13 when she began working on songs with her brother and was just a month shy of turning 14 when she released her first song, “Ocean Eyes.”
“Now I’m doing the same thing. It’s pretty cool,” said Simms.
With just a little more than two weeks until she turns 14, Simms is set to release her debut single, “Normal.” Simms has been singing, playing music and dancing since she was a toddler. She added musical theatre to her repertoire four years ago when she joined the Graham Academy.
Simms said her parents, Glen Simms and Sherra Robinson, didn’t have to push her into music.
“I kind of found my love for singing when I was barely able to talk,” she said.
When it comes to her involvement in the arts, Simms loves it all.
“I find it very therapeutic to be able to do it. It’s really relaxing.
“I guess everyone has that thing that they love doing the most and I was really lucky to stumble upon it and to be really enjoying it. And I found so many of my friends because of it.”
Writing her own songs is something she’s wanted to do for a while.
“But I got really frustrated because I wanted the words and the notes to flow easily. Other artists made it look simple and effortless.”
Last summer, she enrolled in a singers and songwriters camp offered by Graham Academy with Yvette Coleman, a singer/ songwriter from Corner Brook.
Coleman guided the kids in the camp through the process of songwriting and Simms learned a song can be about anything.
That’s led her she wrote “Normal.”
“I wrote it because of COVID. I missed being with people. I missed everything.”
That included her friends from the camp.
“I wrote about wanting to be with them again.”
At the end of the five-day camp, Simms was super-proud of the song she and Coleman, who is credited a co-writer, had produced.
They’ve tweaked it a bit since, but the single is pretty much the same as the original version.
Last September, she entered Musicnl’s Newfound Talent Contest. Anthony Carew, a St. John’s music manager with Still Heavy Productions, saw her perform and reached out to Simms’ mother saying he wanted to record her song.
They began meeting over Zoom in February and the recording took place over Easter. Also involved in the production were Cartermusic and Andrew Marsh of Winterhearth. The song will be available on all streaming platforms.
Her dad thinks it’s pretty amazing.
“I’m obviously very proud,” said Glen Simms. “She amazes me with her ability and talent sometimes, being able to sing and play at the same time.
“Her confidence really is pretty outstanding for (someone who is) 13. I’m really glad she has that ability to want to be able to try anything.”
He hopes the experience continues to be a positive one for her.
She’ll celebrate the launch of the single June 23, her 14th birthday, with a show at the Rotary Arts Centre along with Coleman and a few other guests.