Today we’d like to introduce you to Marlon Simon
Hi Marlon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Representing the excellence and integrity of the musical art form born in the USA for the past thirty years, Marlon Simon is a clear example of what a immigrant can do in this country when you come and work tireless toward a clear goal: “to become a successful musician and contribute to society through the arts”. Originally from Venezuela and recipient of numerous national and international awards, Marlon Simon is a drummer, composer and educator who cane to the US in 1987 with the support of his father Hadsy Simon, also a guitar player and philosopher who had published a book titled “Consciousness is all there is” also available in Amazon, Marlon refer to his career as long term period of struggles and sacrifices, working as a laborer in factories, construction, lawnscaping during ten hours and coming home to work on his instrument at night until midnight to start all over the next day for many years. ” It took me ten years to obtain my permanent residence in the USA and another ten to obtain citizenship” states Marlon, during that times I also went through some personal problems that set my career back, you need to be strong to overcome this obstacles and come back and make a living as a musician. Today , Marlon Simon has released 7 internationally acclaimed albums of mostly original work including his lates “On different paths” supported by the Guggenheim foundation fellowship in jazz composition available on all platforms and his web site www.marlonsimon.com. Also a commercial pilot, Marlon said that music became a stronger passion than flying , to the point that he turned down a 150 thousand dollars yearly job as a pilot for the USA custom patrol in El Paso TX, to dedicate the rest of his life to music. I believe music and arts have the power to unite people from any race, origin, label or believe system, something that is lacking in our word today,
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I believe any purpose of excellence requires sacrifices. I use to work as laborer during the day and work on my instrument at nights. I lived in a trailer for many years in NJ from where I will go to Philadelphia and New York to do local gigs coming back at 3 am from New York, sleep 4 hours to go work in construction and factories the next day. I remember when I got my first call to record an album from Philadelphia bassist Charles Fambrough, I had to learn all this music but could not work on my drum at the trailer park since they have called the cops on me for noise several times already, so I rented a 8 by 8 U-haul storage where I could set my drums and work on the music from 12am to 4am during winter, this was the only time I could come so nobody will complain or the management noticing I was using the room for another purpose. I will bring my portable electric heater, clamp and work for hours without stopping to learn all the music. My years in New York City were also very intense, working as a drummer it takes a lot of energy to go to gig from Brooklyn to Manhattan to do a gig, if the gig started at 9 pm I had to leave my place at 6pm, double park my car and bring the drums down from the second of third floor in four trips, load in the car go to the club, double park again set the drums in the club then park on the street six blocks away since I could not afford any Parking close to the club, then play the gig and do all over again to get home around at 3 am and do my four trips up to bring the drums back to the apartment, then park six blocks away to get up at 7 am to move the car so it won get towed, this routine was for about five years until pianist Hilton Ruiz gave me the first opportunity to work at national/international festivals as his drummer for the next seven years. Music has been my unconditional companion through my life. It has been there in the moments of sorrows and happiness, in tragedies and successes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I obtained my bachelors degree in 1991 from The new school for social research in NYC. I was always attracted to the latin percussion and drum set since my childhood. Growing surrounded by Afro Caribbean and Latin American rhythms I focused myself on the application of African derives rhythms to jazz music. it is a fascinating field that requires the understanding of both music vocabularies, Jazz and Latin. I have released seven album, five in the USA and two in France. My latest release in France, “The French Venezuelan project racines” is the result of a research I did on French and Venezuelan folkloric music through grant I got from the French culture Ministry. On the other hand, you can hear my development as a jazz composer on my albums in the USA. Album like the music of “Marlon Simon and the nagual spirits”,” live in Bolivia”, “Rumba a la Patato”, “In case you missed it”, and latest “On different paths” defines a long road of dedication striving for a voice in jazz and latin music. On these albums I am joined by a group of fantastic musicians that have been loyal to my projects, Alex Norris on trumpet, Peter Brainin on saxes, Boris Kozlov on bass, Edward Simon and Luis Perdomo on piano and Roberto Quintero on percussion. Some of the award I have received includes The Philadelphia music foundation grant, NewJersey governor’s medal of honor award in arts and education, The French American cultural exchange, Chamber music America new jazz work, Mid Atlantic music foundation jazz ambassador grant to present international concerts, The Guggenheim foundation fellowship in jazz composition, New now Houston commissioning project 2025 from Performing Arts Houston. More info at www.marlonsimon.com
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Well, in a way you can not tell anybody what to do or how to do it, I can however just offer advice bases on my experience and sup to the next generations to follow the path or not. For those starting in music I suggest to study at your own peace but keep in mind that the sooner you start the better , I regret I took my first drum lesson at the age of 27, I just did not have a music school in the small town I grew up in up in Falcon , Venezuela, so time went by playing by ear without any formal music training. Youngsters nowadays have it all, videos, computers, applications, music schools, some of you have already a roof on top of your head and the parent with the capabilities of supporting you financially to go to music school nowadays, this is a privilege, take advantage of it please, do not waste your time, at the end as I said, I can not tell you what to do but believe me, if music is your passion, you won be able to take it easy. You must confront all obstacles in life with love, compassion, honesty and evaluate the fact in your life and history, know where you are coming from so you know where you are going, I had the privilege to visit numerous countries in this world that gave me a different perspective about culture, race, religions, believe system and music, all this life experiences will reflect in your playing, life will bring you both , happiness and suffering, this last one has been the most important in my life, suffering has fueled my desire to keep going and realize that at the end, there is no race, no nationality, we are all product of Universe experiencing itself, consciousness is all there is, god is consciousness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://marlonsimon.com/home
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlonsimonmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlonsimonmusic/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlon-simon-79624195/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC42QZY4BJmnI7GzFg6y-Ifg
Image Credits
All photos by Claire Adams. Album cover by Goren Simon
