Mint Simon, the solo project of the front person of indie-pop band, Caveboy, has gained increasing notoriety with the premiere of recent pop projects including ‘Lost My Mind‘.
Today, Mint is premiering their newest single, ‘BAD’ exclusively with So.Gay – you can (and should!) add the track to your Spotify and Apple Music here, and check out the video below.
We sat down with Mint to learn more about their latest release, personal style and more. Read our interview with Mint below.
So.Gay: Congratulations on the premiere of your latest song and music video! Tell us more about ‘BAD’.
Mint Simon: Thank you! I’m so excited to release my pop-iest song to date. ‘BAD’ was written from a place of hearing whispers of people talking about me. Whether it’s good or bad, it feels like the gossip train has been long and nuanced and found its way under my skin. And then I was like… no, no. This is not mine. I reminded myself that they’re probably just uncomfortable by my comfort – so I wrote about leaning into it, my reputation era, being unabashedly myself, and not giving a f*ck. I believe queer people need to be celebrated right now and I’m celebrating myself and my community, even & especially when we’re labeled as ‘bad’.
I teamed up with awesome queer producer, Kayla Diamond, who really gets my 80/90s/2000s vibe and we instantly knew we captured something magical together. Disco strings? Dance beat? In your face vocals? I’m really proud of this song.
You think I’m BAD? Let me show you how BAD.
So.Gay: Your visuals for your music videos are really incredible – Not only your new premiere, ‘BAD’, but also your cover of ‘You Get What You Give’ and I especially love ‘Lost My Mind’ – What is your creative process for bringing your artistry to life via music videos?
Mint Simon: Honestly, I love visuals and videos. I know it’s become a bit of a lost art, but I grew up on music videos – so connecting each song to some kind of version of one has been really important to me. For the most part, something super nostalgic will pop into my head and the world of the song will reveal itself. But this one? I just couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t until I found my stepdad’s old handy-cam and took my basketball out of winter hiding that it hit me.
My solo project is a vehicle to live out the youthful parts of myself I couldn’t live out in my actual youth (90s ‘tomboy’ shame, closeted trans kid), and it’s a love letter to who I always was on the inside but couldn’t be on the outside. A ’90s/early 2000s handy-cam video of a classic jock boy, and breaking into an abandoned gym felt like the perfect way to connect to my teenage self. With help from costume queen @kayleighmagazine & choreography queen @maralaz we captured the quintessential ‘bad boy’ in your favorite ’90s romcom. I wanted to uncover the cheeky, fun, make-you-a-little-uncomfortable essence of what ‘BAD’ feels like to me.
So.Gay: I love your style — it’s very ’80s, ’90s heartthrob. What makes the perfect Mint Simon outfit?
Mint Simon: I think in the ‘real world’ you’ll see me dressing either like Chandler/Ross/Joey all in one, or confuse me for a teenage boy who does sports. A classic Mint look usually features some kind of ribbed tank, denim, and on a spicy day, I love me a leather pant. I also love a button down that’s far from buttoned up enough. Also, from now on, my pronouns are heart/throb, thank you!
So.Gay: What other LGBTQ+ musical artists are you listening to right now?
Mint Simon: I’m a pop girlie. I got really into Chappell Roan in the fall of last year and it’s been so great seeing her career take off. ‘Casual’ was on repeat for me for a while (still is), now I’m adding in Billie’s ‘Lunch’, and some pals like Tafari Anthony, and D.W. Waterson ft. T Thomason’s new single ‘Bodylimit’.
So.Gay: What can we expect from you for the rest of 2024?
Mint Simon: Releasing all these new singles leads up to an EP and honestly, I’m so excited about putting out a body of work. I can’t wait to keep sharing new music and get on stage as much as I can. I’m in a place of having planted a lot of seeds, so I’m gonna move wherever those little seedlings start to grow. It’s an exciting (and dare I say serendipitous) time where anything can happen and that’s what’s keeping me on fire. Real ready to see what happens next.
You can check out Mint’s new single, ‘BAD’, and follow them on Instagram here.
