Muen Magazine

May 28,2010

AUTOMATIC LOVELETTER

SonyMusic Independent Network

Juliet Simms (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)

Tampa, Florida

Myspace.com/automaticloveletter

www.automaticloveletter.com

By: Shauna O’Donnell

HEY GUYS THIS IS SHAUNA O’DONNELL AND YOU ARE LISTENING TO MUEN TALK. I’M ON THE PHONE WITH JULIET SIMMS OF AUTOMATIC LOVELETTER.

MUEN: HI JULIET!

Hi!

MUEN: THANKS SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH ME. HOW ARE YOU?

I’m great, how are you?

MUEN: I’M DOING GOOD. SO, YOU’RE AT THE DMV RIGHT NOW.

Yes, I’m at the DMV, apparently I live here now.

MUEN: THEY’RE LIKE “YOU AGAIN?”

Yeah I know, seriously, we have the lady yelling at us right now. Ugh, don’t even get me started. I don’t like the DMV.

MUEN: NOBODY DOES, I DON’T EVEN THINK THE EMPLOYEES LIKE IT THERE.

Yeah and everybody at the DMV is a freak. What’s up with that? It’s no joke; everybody is smelly or has weird pussy fungus coming out of their face. I don’t know it’s just weird.

MUEN: I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PREPARING TO RELEASE YOUR DEBUT ALBUM TRUTH OR DARE ON JUNE 22ND. CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you, I’m really excited myself.

MUEN: YOU HAVE AN AMAZING VOICE. IT IS AN AWESOME CD, I LOVE EVERY SONG.

Thanks so much!

MUEN: YOU’RE WELCOME! LET’S START WITH THE TITLE TRUTH OR DARE. WHY DID YOU DECIDE ON THAT NAME?

I decided on the title Truth or Dare because of the way things panned out over the years with living in L.A. couch surfing to going through labels and being on tour. We were trying to get an LP out for the longest time. The songs all came together the way that I live my life, daring and being completely honest. It’s like a game of Truth or Dare that I felt like I was playing over the last two years.

MUEN: HOW DID THE BAND GET ITS START?

The band got its start when I signed with Epic Records in 2006. We put the band together over the years, there have been changes in musicians, but that’s how it goes.

MUEN: ARE YOU THE SOLE SONGWRITER FOR THIS GROUP?

I am, but I had my guitar player, which is my brother co-write three of the songs on the album.

MUEN: WHEN YOU ARE WRITING, DO YOU WRITE WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART, MIND AND SOUL AT THE TIME?

Oh yeah, totally, I write about real experiences and real emotions. Nothing is fabricated or made up.

MUEN: BESIDES GUITAR, DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS?

Yeah, I play piano, but I’m not Mozart or Beethoven. My dad is teaching me how to play harmonica and I’m getting pretty good at it. I’m going to whip that out soonish. I can play the triangle really well, also cowbell. I’m very good at air drums.

MUEN: OH YEAH, I HAVE THAT MASTERED TOO.

Oh good, we have something in common then.

MUEN: WE SHOULD DO A SHOW TOGETHER.

(Laughing) Visually, that would be an awesome show.

MUEN: TOURING NATIONWIDE, COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU.

It would be awesome.

MUEN: YOU WORKED WITH JOSH ABRAHAM ON THIS RECORD. WHAT WAS HE ABLE TO BRING TO THE PROCESS?

He was able to bring that 90’s real rock and roll to it. It’s definitely not contrived, just real rock and roll baby!

MUEN: WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH HIM? HE HAS WORKED WITH SOME REALLY GREAT BANDS.

He is friggin awesome. The guy is hilarious and a true person. It’s funny because both of my producers have been Jewish and I’m convinced they are great producers. They wear awesome glasses and have awesome little dogs. He was super spiritual and kind.

MUEN: IS THE SONG “STORY OF MY LIFE” AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL?

Yes it is 100%. To sum up in a song, that is the story of my life right there.

MUEN: I WENT TO THE WORLD PREMIERE FOR ALL TIME LOW’S NEW DVD.

How was it?

MUEN: IT WAS AWESOME, YOU’RE IN IT.

I know, I know, it’s like “Whoa!” It’s so good and so much fun to watch. I’ve known those guys for a really long time. It was really a treat, I loved it.

MUEN: I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU HOW IT CAME ABOUT, BUT YOU SING ON “REMEMBERING SUNDAY.”

Yes

MUEN: YOU’VE ALSO TOURED TOGETHER.

Yes we have. Matt Squire called me when he was producing their record. I had just finished recording with him and they needed a girl to sing on “Remembering Sunday.” They loved my record and my voice, so they called me and asked if I wanted to come out in four days and sing. I was like “Heck Yeah!” I flew out a few days later, stayed with the boys for a couple of days and sang the song. That’s actually when we did the cover of “Careless Whisper” with 3OH!3 as well. It was great, we became friends and they took me out on the road with them. It’s been a great relationship ever since.

MUEN: THEY ARE SUCH NICE GUYS. I GOT TO HANG OUT WITH THEM FOR A BIT AT THE AFTER PARTY.

Oh God! I know, for as famous as they are, they are so down to Earth and genuine.

MUEN: I WAS SITTING IN THE BALCONY WITH THEM, THEY WERE A FEW ROWS AHEAD AND DOWN BELOW THEY HAD BROUGHT IN A BUNCH OF GIRLS TO WATCH THE PREMIERE. EVERY SINGLE TIME ONE OF THEM WOULD STAND UP, THE GIRLS BELOW WOULD GO CRAZY.

Oh My God! Girls are head over heels in love with them. It is so funny to watch. We went to the Bamboozle Road Show two nights ago and we were backstage sitting on some empty crate boxes for gear. I went with Sierra from Versa Emerge and we were watching thousands of girls act as if they were the Beatles or something. It was amazing.

MUEN: WHO ELSE HAVE YOU DONE GUEST VOCALS FOR?

Let’s see, Secondhand Serenade, Cartel, LoveHateHero and there’s more. I did guest vocals for a Plain White T’s song that they never put out, so obviously I did a really good job.

MUEN: THAT’S COOL THAT YOU ARE ON A LOT OF DIFFERENT ALBUMS.

Yeah, I’m definitely a singing on other albums slut.

MUEN: IN MY OPINION YOUR MUSIC WOULD APPEAL TO MANY GENERATIONS, NOT JUST THE YOUNGER CROWD. DO YOU FIND THAT TO BE TRUE WHEN YOU LOOK OUT AT THE CROWDS AT SHOWS?

Yeah, I’m like why is there a 55 year old man standing there taking pictures of me? The fourteen year old girls are giving him looks like “OMG, who is that guy?” Yes, I definitely see that a lot.

MUEN: WHICH SONG IS YOUR FAVORITE TO PERFORM LIVE?

Off the new album I would say “Heart Song” or “Fade Away.”

MUEN: THIS IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST TIME I’VE HEARD A BAND SAY THIS BEFORE. YOU STARTED OFF TOURING IN TWO SEPARATE CARS.

Yep

MUEN: WASN’T THAT HARD TO DO?

Uh yeah, how would you like having a piano as you’re pillow and waking up with key imprints on your cheek? What happened was, at the time we had a tour booked and our manager at the time had a van that he was going to let us use, but we ended up firing him the day of the tour because he really messed up some shit. We had no vehicle, so we got two of our cars together, packed up the gear in it and did a week tour.

MUEN: HOW DO YOU ROLL NOW?

Now, we have a van, I’m sorry no we don’t because we totaled it on our last tour. We have a trailer so basically on Warped Tour you will see five of us strapped to the front of our trailer, donkeying it along.

MUEN: HOW ABOUT A HORSE DRAWN TRAILER?

Yeah, exactly, this tour we are on a bus so we are very fortunate for that.

MUEN: YOU’RE GOING TO BE ON THE ENTIRE VANS WARPED TOUR THIS YEAR. ISN’T THIS YOUR SECOND YEAR ON THE TOUR?

It’s technically my third. We did half of it in 2008. In 2007 I flew out for five days and just did solo, acoustic tent shows.

MUEN: WITH TOMMY BEING YOUR BROTHER AND IN THE BAND, IT MUST BE NICE TO HAVE FAMILY OUT WITH YOU ON THE ROAD.

Oh my gosh, it’s so nice when you have somebody there to talk to about things, who listens to you and who knows you. He knows my likes and dislikes, he’s totally my anchor.

MUEN: YOU WERE RAISED BY MUSICIANS TOO. YOU HAVE A MAJOR MUSICAL BACKGROUND BECAUSE A LOT OF FAMILY MEMBERS ARE IN MUSIC AS WELL.

Yes they are, my grandpa is a jazz piano player. My aunt is a violinist, she sat second seat in the Reno Orchestra. My uncle plays bass and of course my brother can play anything he wants to learn or can pick up. It’s so annoying; he’s one of those guys that can record a whole album by himself because he knows how to play every single instrument. My dad plays harmonica, everybody is pretty much musically inclined in this family.

MUEN: DID YOU TAKE VOCAL LESSONS THEN OR WAS IT SOMETHING THAT WAS JUST NATURAL FOR YOU?

I’ve always been able to sing without having vocal lessons.

MUEN: YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE A WONDERFUL VOICE.

Thank you so much, it just came from singing my entire life. I was two or three years old sitting in front of the TV learning Disney songs and any musical. I was obsessed with singing.

MUEN: YOU AND I HAVE ONE MORE THING IN COMMON. I LOVE SKELANIMALS.

Oh awesome! I love Skelanimals, also the same people started this other clothing company called So So Happy, which I’m representing as well. You should definitely check it out. www.skelanimals.com

MUEN: I WILL, WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BANDS RIGHT NOW?

I would say Band of Horses, Manchester Orchestra, Kings of Leon, Barcelona, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, Silversun Pickups, All Time Low, Versa Emerge, Tides of Man and the list can go on.

MUEN: ALL GREAT BANDS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW, YOU ARE A DOLL!

Aww, thank you so much and so are you. I feel like we are friends, like I’m talking to my girlfriend.

MUEN: WELL, WE ARE, BEFORE I LET YOU GO WAS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO ADD OR SAY?

Everybody come out to this summer’s Warped Tour. Let’s have the summer of our lives!