Simon Curtis (born March 18, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor. Born in Michigan and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he first gained recognition for his role as Royce Du Lac in the 2009 film Spectacular! before venturing into pop music, during which he released his debut extended play Alter Boy in 2008, his debut full-length studio album, 8Bit Heart in 2010, and in 2011, he released his second studio album (and first commercial release) RA; the two later releases were released through his independent label, BoyRobot Records.
RA debuted at number 20 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart.[3]
Early and personal life
Simon Curtis was born in the state of Michigan, United States, and spent his earliest years in Alpena.[4] His family later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.[5] At the age of ten, he was diagnosed with leukemia.[6][7] He graduated from Jenks High School in 2004.[8][9] Curtis earned a coveted role in the national tour production of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[10] Curtis is gay.[11]
Career
Early career: 2002–2006
Curtis won Popstar Magazine and Johnny Wright's "Get Famous" contest,[12] was named a national top ten finalist in the "Britney Spears Samsung Superstar Tour", was commissioned by Disney to provide a theme song for an annual Disneyland event, was named an official Oklahoma Ambassador of Music, and won the University of Tulsa Award for Outstanding Achievement in Performance.
At 20, Curtis began recording with local record producer Jadion. There they began the sessions that would ultimately result in Curtis' début album Alter Boy EP. Curtis and Jadion were commissioned by Disney to deliver a theme song for the annual Disneyland Resort event, Flashback, which later became a charity single benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America.[citation needed]
2009–2010: Spectacular! and 8Bit Heart
In early 2009, Curtis made his film debut starring in the Nickelodeon musical TV film Spectacular!. He landed the role of Royce Du Lac, the lead singer of a show choir, Ta-da and Tammi's boyfriend.[13]
In late 2009, Curtis once again began to work on his musical career. He teamed up with friend producer Jeff "Jadion" Wells and in about thirteen days, he wrote and recorded 8Bit Heart. He chose to release the album for free on his official website after meeting the goal of six thousand followers on his Twitter profile. The album was well received by the pop community and was downloaded over 150,000 times in the two weeks following its release. Curtis did this without a manager or record label.[14] He was the opening act of Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean on May 6, 2010, at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, California.
2011: RA
On May 16, 2011, Curtis released the first single from his second album RA (stylized as R∆) titled "Superhero" as well as a remix titled "Superhero (The Remix)" on his independent label BoyRobot Records through the iTunes Store.[15] The second single from the album, titled "Flesh", was released May 31,[16] along with a remix titled "Flesh (Future Freestyle Remix)".[17] On June 7, he released the full-length album[18] and it debuted at number 20 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart.[3][19]
2012–2015: WWW, Wrathschild and Fuse Literary
Curtis released a free EP, WWW',[20] on October 12, 2013. It consisted of eight new songs and three alternate covers. Although his sexuality had been questioned beforehand, it was the criticism towards this album's artwork for being "too gay" that led him to defend himself, saying "Love that I'm getting so much heat for my new album artwork being "too gay" on national coming out day." He followed this up with, "With that said, I am gay. *makes dance album, wears midriff-bearing tshirt, puts neon pink leopard font on cover, doesn't care*".[21]
According to an article published on Popjustice on March 20, 2014, Curtis is now part of an electropop duo called Wrathschild which has been working with producer Ray Reich over the past two years. The debut single "Fall Into Love" premiered on Billboard.com on March 24 and became available on iTunes on March 31.[22]
On December 1, 2014, Fuse Literary announced Curtis had joined the company.[23] Curtis later backed this up by stating through his Twitter "suffice it to say, books are coming".[2] He has published two books so far, Boy Robot and its sequel, Robot Army.
2016: New Album 2nd Bit
Curtis announced through Twitter on new years he would be returning to music with his third studio album.[24] The songs within his new album, titled as "Super 8-bit Heart", are various remixes of songs found in his previous album "8-bit Heart". So far, the remixes haven't been identified by Curtis, or anyone else .
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 8Bit Heart
|
| 2011 | RA
|
| 2023 | Angel Aura[25]
|
Extended plays
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Alter Boy
|
| 2013 | WWW
|
| 2015 | Love, S
|
Compilations
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Super 8-Bit Heart |
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Joystick" | 8Bit Heart |
| "Diablo" | ||
| "8-Bit Heart" | ||
| "Beat Drop" | ||
| 2011 | "Delusional" | |
| "Superhero" | R∆ | |
| "Flesh" | ||
| 2019 | "Love" | Angel Aura |
| "Graduate" | ||
| 2022 | "Ketamine" | |
| "I'm Not Sorry" | ||
| "Fairyboy" |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "8Bit Heart"
|
8Bit Heart |
Soundtracks
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Spectacular! | Royce Du Lac | Nickelodeon |
| Television series | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Hannah Montana | Tim | "Once, Twice, Three Times Afraidy" |
References
- ^ "Happy Birthday, Simon Curtis!". Just Jared Jr. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ a b "Simon Curtis on Twitter". Twitter.
- ^ a b Billboard (April 2–9, 2011). Billboard Apr 2–9, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ^ Chris Azzopardi, "Simon Says", Between the Lines, November 17, 2011, via HighBeam Research.
- ^ SUNfiltered : Fresh culture daily. » Blog Archive » An interview with Simon Curtis Archived April 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Sundance Channel – April 20, 2010.
- ^ YouTube – Simon Curtis of SPECTACULAR!: Amazing Leukemia Speech! YouTube – February 15, 2009 – Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ Inspire magazine – Simon Curtis[permanent dead link] INSPIRE Magazine – May 30, 2009 – Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ Kristi Eaton, "Jenks native Simon Curtis tops the pop charts", Tulsa People, May 2010.
- ^ Kelsy Lorin Taylor, "FCCLA Students Bring Joy to Young Patients", GTR Newspapers, February 1, 2010.
- ^ Simon Curtis – Simon Curtis Pictures, Biography, Dating Pop Tower – Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ Jase Peeples (June 25, 2014). "Wrathschild: Out, Loud, and Never Going Back". Advocate.com.
- ^ boy culture: Heartbeeps: A Review of 8Bit Heart by Simon Curtis boy culture – April 5, 2010 – Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ Kenneth Goh, "Sing Out Loud!", Teenage Magazine (Singapore), July 2009.
- ^ Jason Lipshutz, "Simon Curtis' DIY Pop, Plus a Preview of His New Album", Billboard, March 14, 2011.
- ^ "Superhero – Single by Simon Curtis". iTunes Store. May 16, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ "Flesh – Single by Simon Curtis". iTunes Store. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ "Flesh (Future Freestyle Remix) – Single by Simon Curtis". iTunes Store. May 28, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ "R∆ by Simon Curtis". iTunes Store. June 7, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ Ferguson, Wes (June 21, 2011). "Simon Curtis Drops the Beat From Nick Kid to Indie Music Superstar". Celebuzz. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
- ^ Bradley Stern (October 14, 2013). "Simon Curtis, 'WWW' (Album Premiere)". MuuMuse.
- ^ Sean Davis (October 11, 2013). "Simon Curtis Comes Out". The Quire.
- ^ "Introducing Wrathschild". Popjustice. March 20, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ "Alex R. Kahler on Twitter". Twitter.
- ^ "Simon Curtis on Twitter".
- ^ "Simon Curtis on Instagram: "Angel Aura 3/3/23 My third album Finally. I am terrified, emotional, and filled with joy, all at once, at the prospect of sharing this with you. Making this album helped me find my light again. Here's to the first bit of magic in a very magical 2023. Love you all so much."".
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
