DJ Ron Slomowicz: What's the weather like up there?
Simone: It's cold. Well, we've got a little bit of a thaw, so we're not too bad. We had freezing rains this morning, it was lovely.
RS: It sounds like it.
Simone: It's lovely.
RS: Well, first congratulations on all the success of "All Things."
Simone: Thank you so much, thank you.
RS: How did that song come about, was it written as a title theme or was it already written?
Simone: Widelife was attached to a label called Nervous, and the A&R rep from there, Kevin Williams, knew the people at NBC and they'd heard "I Don't Want You," which is a song that I sung for Widelife before, and they asked us to submit something. Ian and Rachid (of Widelife) went in and did their magic and out came "All Things."
RS: Did you help write the lyrics to that song?
Simone: No, I didn't, I didn't. It happened pretty quickly and I wasn't available to do some writing so they were able to go in and do it. I was able to come in and do the vocals and here we are.
RS: Did you ever imagine the song would take off so big?
Simone: I had no idea, I had no idea! We just did our thing and thankfully it's just taken off. We're just so happy about it, that people are receiving such a positive message from it.
RS: Have you heard it on the radio?
Simone: I have, I have.
RS: What's that like?
Simone: Thrilling, I mean it's always nice to hear it in an environment where you can see other people's reactions. Recently, I was in a store and they're blasting it on the stereo on every radio station and people who were around it were like, oh wow, "All Things," I love that song. That's more of a situation where I can kind of stand back and smile and enjoy it.
RS: That's awesome.
Simone: Yes, enjoy it just for the sake of our little secret, you know, it was like ha, I've seen that.
RS: The Queer Eye soundtrack, do you sing on any of the other songs on the soundtrack?
Simone: No, it's got various artists. It'll have Duran Duran, Kylie Minogue, Sting, there's something for everyone on this soundtrack, it's great. Everybody should go and get a copy.
RS: How was the video shoot?
Simone: The video shoot was incredible. I mean working with Wayne Isham, he's such an icon. He was fantastic! He has a great energy and he really keeps the momentum going on the set. It was a wonderful experience and an honor for me, personally, to work with him.
RS: Do you have any funny stories about hanging out with the Fab Five?
Simone: I think the funniest story on set would be with Carson. I remember on set I just kind of looked at him, because what you see on TV is really how he is off-camera. On the set he kept everybody laughing and happy the entire time. I said 'Carson, you must sleep really well.' He said 'girl, while the voice is clear I'll have a wonderful sleep.' And I was like 'OK, we can work with that.'
RS: So, how did you meet up with the Widelife guys?
Simone: I had success in Canada, the UK and Europe with a group called Love Inc, I was the vocalist. I sang a song called "'You're a Superstar" and we won Juno Awards, which are the Canadian equivalent of the Grammies, and four MuchMusic awards, which is the equivalent of MTV awards. Rachid and Ian had known me from the Canadian scene, I'd worked with Rachid with Barry Harris on another track years ago. Rachid called me up and I was kind of going in a completely different musical direction. He called me repeatedly saying 'please, please, you know, your voice can take "I Don't Want You" over the top and we really, really need you to do this song.' I stopped, did it and I just kind of said 'OK, let me know how it goes, keep me posted.' Once, like about a year later he calls me, he said 'OK, it's on the top 20 with a bullet on it, could you do some shows?' I'm like 'what?' So we just kind of kept going and we did "Haven't I Cried Enough" after that, and now "All Things" and it's been great.