Simon Says

Matt Franks – Vocals
Zac Diebels – Guitar
Michael Arrieta – Bass
Mike Johnston – Drums

“We’re a heavy rock band,” declares Simon Says guitarist Zac Diebels. “We’re meat and potatoes. And we made the record we wanted to make. It’s complete honesty and no holds barred.”
Said record, Shut Your Breath, is both a quantum leap forward and a return to basics for Simon Says. The disc’s ferocious tracks blend the raw, pissed-off energy of the band’s self-released early indies with the experience and hyped-up chops Simon Says gained through relentless national touring with Limp Bizkit, Filter, Staind, Rollins Band and Type O Negative.

In the beginning, “our only aspiration was to have fun,” remembers vocalist Matt Franks. “We were barely 16, it was a typical kids’ garage band – I don’t think anyone seriously dreamed about making a living playing music.” “There used to be this place in Sacramento called the Cattle Club, we just wanted to sell that out,” adds Diebels. “We wanted to be big in our home town. The Deftones and Far are both from Sacramento and we looked up to those guys.” “It’s a really competitive scene,” adds Franks. “There’s a brotherhood but you have to earn respect. It doesn’t just come.”

In 1995, Simon Says recorded their first disc, Little Boy, on a shoestring budget (“nine songs for $1,200,” Diebels recalls with a laugh) and managed to sell 5,000 of ’em at their shows, traveling throughout California. Another self-produced album (and future collectors’ item), 1997’s Perfect Example, sold out its limited run almost immediately. Within a year, Simon Says were signed to Hollywood Records. The band continued its intense touring schedule by playing lunchrooms at local high schools during their regular tours. “We did two shows a day, 12 shows a week,” says Diebels. “It was pretty brutal, but it was well worth it because we sold a lot of records and let kids know who we are.”

Jump Start, the band’s 1999 major label debut, was a change of pace for Simon Says. “Our previous two records were a lot angrier and heavier,” explains Diebels. “We write songs about our present state of mind and experiences and when we wrote Jump Start we were really on top of the world. So that’s a very optimistic record, a lot poppier, though it does have angry moments.”

But Simon Says found those angry songs, like “Ship Jumper” and “Bold,” were the ones that really translated live, and felt the most authentic. “Those were the real Simon Says songs,” notes Diebels. “We learned so much from Jump Start – mainly, to not let others influence you,” adds Franks. “On Shut Your Breath, we thought, fuck everybody. Our goal is to please ourselves, first and foremost.”

The result is a blistering, instantly compelling collection of tracks, whose lyrics reflect Simon Says’ experiences. The fierce “Silk Moth,” for instance, is “about shady people who tell you one thing, but when you’re not around do something else. And you feel stupid and humiliated because you believed that person, and thought they were your friend. They’re like a moth that feeds on silk, that looks beautiful on the outside but it’s a parasite.”

Similarly, “Limousines and Penthouse Suites” concerns the current rash of pop boy groups and teen divas. “I can’t stand it any more!” says Diebels. “It’s like the New Kids on the Block, four years from now everybody’s gonna be embarrassed to admit they bought those records.”

“Hey You,” on the other hand, explores the subject of temptation. “It’s about giving into your vices instead of being a man about it and just saying no. And it’s about the four of us sticking together and having the strength to refuse things that aren’t good for us.”

That unity of purpose is part of what makes Simon Says such an amazing band, along with – but hey, why over-analyze it. Simon Says have, after all, learned to keep things simple. “We’re just down for good music,” says Franks. “This is our dream, our band, our music and we’re going to do what we want to do.”