Cody Simpson Read online

  In everything else, like maths and science, I got As and A pluses; but a C for music – I mean, what? My mum was like, “How does this happen?”

  Ironically, around the same time I also got kicked out of the school choir. I signed up for it because the teacher knew of my vocal skills and encouraged me to join. I also figured it couldn’t hurt to be singing more. Mum thought it would be a good idea too, but I hated being forced into singing one part, and then having to wait around while the teacher worked with the other students. So I goofed off and didn’t pay attention, and messed around with my friends instead of singing. And that’s how I got kicked out of choir. I never signed up to sing in a group again.

  THE BIG DECISION

  A few months after we got back from the States, in December 2009, we heard that a few of the record labels in New York wanted to meet me again. It was so exciting to know that I was still on their radar. So, on December 26, off we went to New York City and Los Angeles. By this time we had narrowed it down to Sony and Atlantic Records, and we hoped that this round of meetings would help us decide. The whole family went this time, which made it more of a fun trip. We had never been on an overseas holiday together, and we all wanted to go to Disneyland. We spent over a month in the States and got to do a lot more sightseeing this time. My school was excited for me and helped me to get work done while traveling for meetings.

  In New York, we stayed in Times Square, right in the heart of the action. We went ice skating at Rockefeller Center, walked around Central Park, and saw a Broadway show. We went to M&M’s World there, which Alli and Tom loved. Seeing snow was special, too, as that’s something we rarely see in Australia. All the Christmas lights were still up, so it was my first ever glimpse of what it might be like to have a white Christmas.

  In the studio, deep in thought.

  Relaxing and checking texts before showtime.

  We went to meetings with both record labels, where we played my demo for them. I had the meeting with Atlantic Records on my thirteenth birthday, and we were there for hours. One guy would talk to the next guy, and invite us into the next meeting. I had no idea who these people were! They were obviously very successful music executives, but I didn’t know enough to be nervous. I really didn’t grasp what any of this could mean. Eventually, I got to talk to the co-president of Atlantic Records, Craig Kallman.

  I performed for them in these small meetings, all day, as they kept bringing in more and more senior people to meet me. And when I got to the top-level meetings, they also asked if I could dance. When I said yes, I knew I’d have to prove it. So I grabbed a water bottle off the table and used it as a microphone while I showed them some moves. Dad was totally surprised! He had no idea I could dance like that.

  During the trip, I did a showcase in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. It was my very first performance. We just put a showcase together and invited some label executives. I just thought, let’s bring out the fans and see who comes. I Tweeted out the details of the show and hoped fans would come to support me. I had built enough of a fan base from YouTube for us to get almost 100 people! That was huge for me at the time!

  After the East Coast, we spent a few days in Maryland to see Shawn Campbell and record a few more songs with him before we flew to Los Angeles for a few days to take some more meetings. We stayed in West Hollywood and also did some sightseeing, including a visit to Disneyland, which Alli and Tom loved!

  It was in LA that we first met Mike Caren, president of A&R for all of Warner Music Group’s labels (including Atlantic Records). He invited us to his huge, beautiful house. He’s a big deal in the music industry, so we were all excited to be there and, to be honest, I was incredibly nervous. I brought my guitar and played him a few songs. He said immediately that he loved what I did and thought I could really go places. Of course, now he’s a great teammate and someone I work with regularly on my musical direction.

  My mate and road manager, Justin Stirling.

  Views over Central Park from my hotel.

  It took a while for it all to sink in. I hadn’t really thought about what it would mean to be a professional musician. I was so focused on swimming, and I was only 13 years old. But after hearing from Shawn, and taking the meetings and getting an offer to sign with a few different record labels, it just felt like an amazing opportunity. I knew that I would regret not seizing it with both hands.

  Not surprisingly, my swimming suffered while I was traveling back and forth to the States. We realized eventually that I had to make a decision – music or swimming. Obviously I was heartbroken that I couldn’t do both. But ever since being contacted by Shawn and meeting the labels, my head – and heart – had been won over by music. I knew I had to see it through. This was my chance. I love swimming, and it was very difficult to walk away from the dream of swimming for Australia at the Olympics. Some part of me still wonders, what if...? In fact, I think about it a lot, but I don’t regret for a minute the choice I made. I know in my heart that I can always go back to swimming in the future because I’m still so young.

  We waited a while to make the decision about which label to sign with. It felt important to have a label that was focused on working with me and releasing songs soon. It took a few months for us to decide. It was too important to rush into it, even though the labels were getting a bit antsy. I think they were expecting us just to jump at the chance, but my mum and dad wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable and that they felt comfortable that I would be looked after as a young musician.

  Ultimately, it came down to instincts and emotions. Even though Atlantic Records is home to some of the biggest artists in the world – Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, Jason Mraz, Bruno Mars, etc. – they felt just like family. My impression was that they would be very involved and that they would do right by me. They were enthusiastic about my music, and they got what I wanted to do. We felt they would encourage me, not just as a singer, but also as a songwriter. Atlantic also said they didn’t want to make any changes to what I was already doing – they just wanted to get behind me and my ideas. More than anything, I felt comfortable with them – and ultimately that meant everything.

  At first we didn’t think we would have to move to the States to do this. We thought I could just work from Australia, but once it actually happened, we all realized we would have to move to Los Angeles or New York City.

  That was a tough decision to come to terms with. I had never thought of a future outside Australia. That was where my home, my friends, and my family were. But at the same time, I wanted this chance more than anything I’d ever wanted before. Ultimately it became my parents’ decision. They saw that I really wanted to do it, and they knew it was a one in 100 million opportunity. We also knew from the start that we wouldn’t split up as a family. If I was moving, we were all moving. My parents hoped that Alli and Tom would see it as their own great adventure, too.

  My parents always encouraged me to take every opportunity and live my life to the fullest. A close friend of ours summed it up for my parents by saying: “How do you say no to your child wanting to chase his dreams? It’s what parents do for their kids.” We would have all wound up regretting it if they’d said no. I was (and still am) so grateful that they took the risk. At the end of the day, they said, if it doesn’t work out and I don’t find success in the music biz, it would still be an adventure. And we can all go back to what we were doing before; at least we’d know we gave it a go and had a fun time doing it. It’s something never to be forgotten, and it’s a good experience. Given the chance, you have to chase your dreams.

  A PAINFUL GOODBYE

  The move to a whole new continent was, of course, a big deal for my family! We were leaving behind all of our family and friends – who were surprised at first. Of course, everyone in our lives knew that I was interested in music and had been recording videos, but few people knew that the conversations with record labels had become so serious. Who imagined that it could all happen so quickly! Our friends and family
were absolutely thrilled for me, and for us all to be embarking on this adventure. They were sad to see us go, though, and all of the celebrations were a little sad, too.

  It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone that I had grown up seeing every day – from Nanna and Poppa, who would no longer be around the corner, to all our family friends who came over for barbecues every weekend. For my grandma and grandad, who lived just an hour away in Brisbane, and for both my aunties and uncles and all my cousins, it was hard. I realized that this was to be a great sacrifice for all of us.

  My last swimming meet was bittersweet. I still won my events – so I got to leave on top! – but it was really difficult finishing my last race not knowing whether I would ever compete again. Telling my coach was even harder. Honestly, I felt really bad about telling him I was moving to the States and giving up swimming. He was happy for me and respected my decision, but he was disappointed. Even now, Denis is still trying to get me back in the pool. I really didn’t like the feeling that I’d let down someone I looked up to and respected. I wasn’t telling everyone on the team why I was moving. I just wanted to keep it among close friends and family for the time being.

  The year before I moved to the States, I had met a girl who I had a bit of a crush on. I spent all my time in school hanging out with her instead of my friends. It got to the point where a teacher pulled me aside and told me to go and play rugby with the boys and leave her alone! I didn’t listen, of course. She was pretty upset when I told her I was moving to the States and that we had to break it off. It was a very innocent thing, but I was still sad to say goodbye.

  I hadn’t told a lot of my friends about my YouTube videos and the attention they were getting. I guess that’s just who I am. I’m not a guy who likes to brag. I’ve just always been pretty quiet about everything that I do. In the same way, I didn’t even tell my closest friends that I had won six gold medals in swimming. They knew I was a really good swimmer, and that I went to the Nationals, but I didn’t tell them how I did or anything. When anyone asked, I’d just tell them something vague like, “Oh, you know, pretty good.”

  My friends saw me do the school performances, but they didn’t know that I had record labels lining up to sign me. A couple of my closest friends knew that I’d posted videos and that people were watching them, but no one else really had any clue what was going on. They knew I was singing and stuff, but they had no idea of the enormity of the situation. I just told them literally a couple of weeks before I moved to the States – at which point I had to tell them. They were pretty shocked!

  That said, I did tell my good swimming mate Jake Thrupp about my trips to the record companies in the US. Then I told him we were thinking about moving to LA, and he was really disappointed, but at the same time really supportive of my decision. We used to see each other for something like four hours a day at our swimming practices, and had become really good friends. Of course, I was going to miss him! I still do. Good friends like that don’t come along often.

  There were a couple of people, not close friends, who didn’t understand what I was doing. They thought I was being pretty crazy for moving to the States to pursue this.

  That’s okay. There are always going to be a few haters. My feeling is: at the end of the day, you’ve got to take chances. Otherwise, you’ll never know what could happen. I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life wondering “what if.” My parents taught me this and encouraged me never to listen to negative stuff.

  To be fair, Alli didn’t really want to move at first. She was happy and didn’t want to leave her friends and the rest of our family. She was pretty upset for a while. She cried a lot during our last few weeks on the Gold Coast. That upset me. And I know it was hard for Mum, too. She took a lot of long walks on the beach, crying. Tom was less emotional about the move because he just wasn’t old enough to realize the implications. He knew that he’d miss our family and friends, but he was mainly excited about going.

  We packed up our house, and when I started packing up my room, I think it really hit me for the first time. We had a couple of big garage sales. Alli and I even sold some of our own stuff and got to keep the profits. Mum taught us how to negotiate to try to get as much money as we could. It was fun actually. We only took the basics and our favorite things with us to LA. We gave our car and the last of the furniture to some family and friends.

  We had quite the crew with us at the airport to say goodbye and see us off: my grandparents on both sides; my cousins Rae, Charlie, Billie, Vinnie, Kai, and Ryley; my aunties Nicole and Jodie and uncles Neil and John; and my good mates Jake, Campbell, and Josh. It was very emotional. It seemed like everyone was crying as we hugged goodbye.

  We got on the plane – Mum, Dad, Alli, Tom, and I – and we were all thinking our own thoughts, mostly about what and who we would be missing the most, and wondering what was ahead. As our plane took off, I looked out of the window at the city getting smaller underneath us, and the beautiful coastline of Australia. I couldn’t imagine what amazing experiences and adventures were awaiting us in Hollywood!

  chilling with mates on the Gold Coast

  Happy ninth birthday, Tommy

  hanging with friends Giorgia, Jake, and Alli

  TOUGH TIMES

  When we first arrived in LA, we lived in a hotel in West Hollywood for six months. We had a one-bedroom suite with a fold-out couch in the living room – for our whole family of five. There were enough beds for everyone, obviously, but it was a tight fit, for sure. That said, I think it brought us closer. It was supposed to be that way just until we found a house, but that ended up taking much longer than we thought.

  It just got so ridiculous being there for six months that a couple of times, when the hotel was pretty quiet, they let us move to a suite with a kitchenette. It felt like a big upgrade for those few days! Mum would cook on the little stove, and there was more room, so we could spread out a bit. They were doing us a favor, and when the hotel got busy again, we would have to move back to our cramped quarters. We obviously got to know some of the staff pretty well and they remain good friends.

  For the time being, the hotel was really our only option. We knew where we wanted to live, but we had no support network there at all, which made it difficult. We had a rental car for most of the time, too. It felt like everything was in transition for a while.

  It was pretty solitary and boring back then. Especially for my family. Mum and Dad would take turns coming with me to meetings or to the studio, while the other hung back and tried to find something to do with Alli and Tom. Usually there wasn’t much going on – just a trip to the grocery store or something simple like that. They also spent a lot of time on Skype talking to our friends and family back in Australia.

  Miami vs. Lakers with Alli and Jake.

  Sibling silliness.

  Alli was 12 when we moved to Los Angeles and I think we all agree it was hardest for her. She was a very popular and social girl in Australia, so it was really difficult for her to be this isolated. Alli talked to her friends a lot during our first few months and it took a while for her to meet new friends and warm up to Los Angeles. I knew she was missing our old life. But she didn’t like to let me see her upset. When I did, it would just hit me hard. I worried a lot about her, and all of them. Now she’s happy, has a blossoming career of her own, and lots of friends. I think she loves Los Angeles now. But those first couple of months were really tough. I felt responsible. I used to apologize to Alli a lot. She would reassure me that we were all in it together. After all, that’s what family is for. Alli’s support meant the world to me, and it still does.

  INTO THE STUDIO

  For my part, I went straight into the studio when I arrived in LA. That’s where I stayed for the first month – writing, recording, and perfecting my first singles and the first EP. Some nights I’d be there until 3 a.m. – pretty late for a 13-year-old. Sometimes I couldn’t even keep my eyes open, but I loved the process so much and I never wanted to leave. We all
knew it was time to go when I fell asleep. Swimming had taught me all about working hard and pushing myself to achieve my goals.

  Of course, it helped that I loved what I was doing! It was my first time in a real recording studio. When I had recorded my demo during my first trip to the States, I had worked in a home studio in Shawn’s house. This felt like I’d really made it to the big league.

  I spent a lot of time in the studio observing and learning everything that was going on around me, asking questions of the sound mixers, engineers, and techs. Shawn Campbell was there producing some tracks, and I also worked with songwriter/producer and artist Lil’ Eddie. He’s written songs for some amazing artists, including Usher, Janet Jackson, Pink, Nelly Furtado, and Jessie J. Plus he’s a vocal coach on the American X Factor. I completed something like 13 songs during those studio sessions with Lil’ Eddie, including “All Day.” Some of them made it onto my first EP, 4U, but a lot of them never came out.

  I LOVED GETTING INTO THE STUDIO

  I focused a lot on learning the production side so that I would be able to deliver what the song needed. I wanted to learn everything. I was a sponge, really. And now I’m much more independent when it comes to writing music and shaping my sound.

  It paid off pretty quickly. I learned enough to be able to move on to the next song and always keep the pace going. That’s a point of pride for me. I’m working with such amazing professionals; I want to make sure I’m professional, too. I worked hard and paid attention to everything so I could do it better the next time.