We spoke to South-Australian multi-instrumentalist Nosila, who released his debut single ‘Halfway’ on September 13th via Simon John Hatch Music. Nosila is the solo project of musician Simon Hatch who created the project in memory of his sister Alison. The single premiered on Australian tastemaker scenestr, and features Nosila’s striking vocals and deft instrumental arrangement. In the interview, Nosila reveals what inspired him to produce music, what his creative process entails as well as how he stays focused on his vision.
Stream ‘Halfway’ while reading the interview with Nosila below:
1. Tell us about you, how long have you been making music? What inspired you to start?
I’m Simon Hatch, a singer songwriter born in Adelaide, Australia. I now live between Adelaide and Bali Indonesia spending time between the two countries. I chose Bali because I love the tropical weather, the distinct cultural difference it has from Australia and all the fascinating people from all over the world you get to meet. It’s like going from a small country town (Adelaide) to a vibrant metropolis (Bali) but under strict literal interpretation they are neither of those.
I’ve been playing guitar since I was 7 years old. I played in a number of bands through highschool as a lead guitarist never really having any involvement in the lyrical side of song-writing. After highschool, I played in a psych-rock band called “Archers” where we had some minor success playing at a number of festivals and releasing an EP and a number of follow up singles. Throughout this playing in bands I was staking ideas and diary entries so that when I finally found the courage to try it out on my own I already had a plethora of ideas to work with.
I don’t believe my experience is unique when I say that my first inspiration truly came when I found my parents Beatles Records and discovered the greatest pop songwriters of all time. I would play with my toy soldiers listening to them on repeat, I can even vividly remember the car ride home from a day at the beach when I first heard the album Hard Days Night in my uncle’s 4WD.
I started my journey with classical guitar but quite quickly became hooked with the electric/rock style after accidently downloading Sweet Child O’ Mine by Gun n’ Roses. This then led me down the rabbit hole of hendrix, metallica, pantera, motley crew, iron maiden and black sabbath to name a few.
I had always loved music but honestly it was really exacerbated by experiencing the loss of two sisters to suicide before I turned 18, at first when I was 14 and then agin at 17. Throughout all this, music was my escape, a way to stop dissociating and be in the moment if I was to pathologise it. Not be stuck inside my own head.
2. The music industry is super competitive these days, was there a moment in your life that you wanted to give up on music?
I don’t know if I will ever give up on music but I definitely have a more realistic view now than I once had about my aspirations. I think having insight into how it truly operated might have jaded my outlook more than I should have allowed it to. Moreover, as much as I hate social media, it has presented and provided a pathway to me to find an audience, my audience if you could say that. An opportunity that would never have existed prior to instagram, facebook etc.
3. How did you manage to stay focused and achieve what you want?
I’m still not quite there yet, but persistence, self-belief, stubbornness and maybe delusional self confidence are all elements that I think I have galvanized at some point or another. And will continue to! Hopefully not to the detriment of any others, but merely in the pursuit of my own selfish need of artistic expression.
4. How would you describe your creative processes? Who writes the lyrics to the songs? Are the music and lyrics written in conjunction, or separately?
The creative process often will formulate around a guitar-lick or a lyrical melody. Sometimes the lyrics are written separately from ideas that I have stored away from the past but most of the best stuff I have noticed comes quite organically and quickly. I’ll rack my brain on an idea and try to work on a song for months and get nowhere, then I start a new piece and have the main body of work and 90% of the lyrics finished in a night. It can be extremely frustrating.
For lyrical ideas, I often take notes whenever I hear something that sticks out as being quite profound or astute. It can be from a conversation with someone or even a random youtube video or movie. It doesn’t matter anything that sticks out to me. In the past, I spent quite a bit of time inside my own head so the lyrics have come solely from within but I prefer the former rather than latter as everyone has a unique insight of the world and everyone has something to say, we’re all products of our own individual experiences so if someone can give me a little gem or golden nugget when I cross their path I’ll take it.
5. Where did the inspiration come from?
Everywhere. Much of the music has been in memory of my sister Alison and immortalising her but I’ve also in time found that now I can step away from that and write from a very different direction. The single Halfway being the first true representation of that, my music is usually not upbeat and much more melancholy, so I set myself the task to consciously try something different.
6. What’s next for you?
More Music, I have a lot of ideas and songs yet to be finished in terms of recording. I hope to continue to release the music, song by song, if I have to. I was set on the album idea but it has proven to be quite difficult, especially if you find yourself to be someone stunted by perfectionism. I think I will continue to roll out singles as it provides a good motivator when you can see and build momentum over a shorter period of time. I’m also an independent solo artist which can sometimes slow how prolific you’d like to be.