A Woman You Should Meet: Sophie Tweed Simmons

Most people would think that growing up with a rockstar dad, model mom and legions of fans following your family around would be hard to handle. For Sophie Tweed Simmons (daughter of KISS frontman Gene) it’s been a life just like any other. Thanks to a music career, a fashion line and a jewellery collection, the 22-year-old is slowly making her own mark in the industry, apart from her famous father. We sat down with Simmons to chat about her family, growing up on Family Jewels and her very first autograph.

Photos courtesy of Brian Gove

Growing up in a rock n’ roll lifestyle, does that ever show up in your designs?

It’s so funny when people think we grew up in a rock and roll lifestyle because we really didn’t. My dad is so un-rock and roll in his lifestyle: he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t party. None of us party. I don’t understand what a rock and roll lifestyle means to other people but we were very normal and I think it showed on [Family Jewels]. I think my mom’s styling aesthetic DOES show up in my designs because she’s very classic. But we dress my dad, he knows nothing and he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to shop, he just wants things to be in the closet and fit properly.

Well, I’ve obviously already had misconceptions about you. What are other ones you’ve experienced?

People think that children of musicians grew up on tour or backstage or in this haze of leather, fire and drugs. But my parents were still parents and they took care of their kids. They didn’t put us in the way of any danger. Of course there are a few kids of celebrities who went down the wrong path but that’s not always because of their parents. I think sometimes when parents are trying so hard to provide for their kids, they forget to be there for them and watch them. If one parent was away, another was there. There was always someone there that I could go to.

When you were first getting into music did you ever feel pressure, maybe not from your parents but other people, to go into the rock genre?

Yeah. Everyone expects it. When I go into a studio, people are plugging in electric guitars and I’m like ‘No, no, no, you can unplug that, it won’t be used.’ That’s just the way it is and I know I’m going to have to fight against that for the rest of my life. But I also know that I’m so blessed to have the opportunities that I have because of the trail my father blazed.

What was your first KISS concert?

I think it was in LA. It might not have been my first but it’s the earliest one I remember because it was the first time someone asked for my autograph.

How old were you?

Five? I remember this fan came up and asked my mom to sign his shirt then asked me to as well. I didn’t know how to sign my name but I had just learned to draw one of those stars where you don’t pick up your pencil so I drew that.

What was it like growing up in front of an audience on Family Jewels?

It’s kind of the only thing I know. We filmed the pilot when I was 11 so all my formative years are on tape. But even before that, my mom was an avid home-videoer. She was always, always walking around with a video camera filming us playing and being kids. It wasn’t weird to me but I can see from an outside perspective how it could be very strange. We had the same crew all seven seasons so it very much felt like we were a family.

Did you ever think about the huge audience the show had and all the people watching you?

No, we didn’t know. I didn’t tune in to watch my own show. Who does that? We just filmed it on weekends and after school. We weren’t allowed to miss school. But my age demographic at the time didn’t watch that channel. It was on A&E and we were all busy watching MTV. Now, the reruns are on those kinds of younger channels and people my age are watching it but at the time they weren’t.

You are a huge supporter of girls loving the way they look and you famously don’t photoshop your pictures, including the ones here. What started that?

It’s an ideal I grew up with and grew into. My mom was a very confident woman and really instilled in me those values of loving yourself. She always said there’s nothing wrong with wanting to change a few things, everyone has those feelings but you always have to make sure that those changes are for health reasons or only because you want to do it. Never because other people are telling you how to be more attractive. So, I’m not against plastic surgery or wanting to better yourself but it should be for the right reasons. Not because a boyfriend or a magazine told you to.

This is silly but I have to ask: who did you learn your makeup skills from, mom or dad?

Mom. [Laughs] Don’t get me wrong, my dad is a great artist and can draw anything. That’s why he’s so good at drawing on his own face because he’s all about linear composition and the contrast but when it comes to actual makeup, it’s a whole other ballgame. He only uses two brushed and his fingers on his own face. It’s so simple. Cosmo asked me to do a video on my daily beauty routine and I thought it would be funnier if my dad did his and it takes like 2 hours. You’d think that after 40 years you could slap it on with your eyes closed but it still takes all of them a while. It’s also because you’re putting something on your face that you want to last through sweaty, singing and fire right next to you. I don’t know how he makes it stay.