Meet Paul Simeone - Keyboards / Singer / Songwriter

This interview is all too familiar to me.  Paul, who's nickname became Swami many years ago, is my brother.  Along with being an amazing musician and songwriter, he's also a music teacher at Ridgefield Park High School.  I'm lucky enough to work with him and start each day off with a hug.  He's an awesome brother, son, husband, uncle, teacher, singer, musician and friend to so many of us.

Today, I would like to introduce Swami - Keyboards / Singer / Songwriter

Hi Swami, how many years have you been playing?
I've been playing the accordion and the piano for 56 years.

How old were you when you started to play?
I was six years old.

What musicians influenced you?
There was Billy Joel and Elton John for performing and Jethro Tull and Steely Dan for composing.

How many bands have you been in?
I would say between 12 -14 organized bands plus countless combinations of musicians for sporadic performances.

What's it like to gig?
Gigging is the lifeblood of a performing musician.  At my age, I still enjoy tremendously the rush of being on stage surrounded by other musicians.  At this point in my life, I am fortunate to be able to pick and choose the gigs I want to play.  However, I must say that writing and recording my songs is currently the musical activity I enjoy the most - more than gigging or teaching music.

How often do you practice?
I don't really practice.  Being a choral director, my hands are on the piano over four hours every work day.  Along with that, I'm always working on new songs of mine as well as figuring out songs I need to learn for the bands I perform with.  Add to that the actual playing time at a gig and it comes out to a lot of hours a week.

What was one of your accomplishments as a musician?
My one most notable accomplishment was being a part of the band TAXI back in the late 1970's - early 80's and having an album released with them.  I composed all the songs on the album, and it was a tremendous experience being able to work with my fellow band-mates on putting something really creative together.  Other than that, just the fact that I have made a pretty good life from making music is to me a major accomplishment!!!

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