Baby-face no more: Cody Simpson comes of age

HE WAS the teenage pop star from the Gold Coast who became an overnight sensation in the US. Now aged 20, Cody Simpson is focused on forging a career as a musician in his own right.

Cody Simpson is focused on forging a career as a musician in his own right. (Pic: Nick Leary for Stellar)

A GUITAR slung casually at his side, clad in black with tattoos snaking up his muscled arms, Cody Simpson stares at the camera with a pensive look. Just a few short years ago, he was a blond, baby-faced pop wannabe singing Justin Timberlake covers in his bedroom on the Gold Coast.

Now, the 20-year-old can lay claim to making that tricky transition from squeaky-clean teen star to serious musician. By all accounts, Simpson has come of age — and he’s smouldering.

Like his mate Justin Bieber, Simpson found fame via YouTube. His videos were discovered by music executive Shawn Campbell in 2009 and he was signed by US label Atlantic Records on his 13th birthday, before a move to LA with his family in 2010. While he never quite reached Bieber-level fame, Simpson achieved success in the competitive music biz, as well as his fair share of female adulation. His second album Surfers Paradise debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2013 and a year later he collaborated with Bieber on the single “Home To Mama”, which has been streamed more than 100 million times.

Justin Bieber and Simpson sing Home to Mama. (Pic: Instagram)

Speaking of scoring such a big break so young, Simpson tells Stellar: “I don’t think I can hold any regrets because I do believe in the natural unfolding of fate, in a way. And I really feel as though it’s all meant to have happened.”

“Ever since I was young, I’ve kind of put myself out there a lot. I’ve really stuck my neck out as much as possible. Even when I was growing up, I was a competitive swimmer until I moved here [to the US]. I always just tried to take risks and it’s still a philosophy I keep.”

Simpson split with Atlantic Records in 2014 to escape the cookie-cutter mould of pop and pursue a different sound with more creative freedom. He started his own label, Coast House Records, and released his first independent album,

the aptly named Free, in 2015.

“You have to listen to too many people and you stop listening to yourself... and you start to kind of drift from whatever it was that you originally intended it to be,” he says of making music with a large record label. “I had to kind of jump off for a sec. I moved down to Venice [Beach in LA] and started to home in on my guitar craft quite a lot and discover a lot of music that I hadn’t dived into previously, which is understandable because of my age.”

Cody Simpson features in Stellar magazine. (Photo: Nino Muñoz for Stellar)

Simpson has since formed a band with three Californian mates, called Cody Simpson and the Tide, and they plan to release their first single next month. They take inspiration from ’60s rock icons such as The Doors and The Rolling Stones, and he describes their sound as “pop/rock” with a little bit of surf psychedelia mixed throughout.

Simpson says he feels fortunate to have had friends like Bieber and Miley Cyrus to hit up for advice about the transition he’s continuing to make with his music and image. “I’ve been very lucky to know Justin for many years now and he’s one of the people that I have been able to relate to about the kind of stuff that I’ve been experiencing, because there’s not many people I can talk to about it. It’s really quite a unique situation.”

Having witnessed the trappings of Bieber fever up close, Simpson has tried to stay grounded throughout his own career. “In a sense [that level of success] is obviously appealing, but I think, in a way, you can create those things for yourself depending on the way that you handle it,” he says. “In public you can be walking around with 12 people all dressed in black, or you can be in a cap just with a mate of yours and it really is what you make it... I’m definitely quite calm about the whole thing.”

Not fazed by fame. (Pic: Nick Leary for Stellar)

Simpson is looking forward to the future. (Pic: Nick Leary for Stellar)

Yet things did reach fever pitch when Simpson started dating model and social-media star Gigi Hadid. The pair were together for two years until 2015, during which time she graduated from up-and-comer to one of the most popular models in the world, and they attended A-list events like the Vanity Fair Oscar Party together. Looking back, Simpson admits he did feel the pressure of dating in the spotlight, but refuses to be drawn on details about any new romances. “Um, yeah, there is a little bit [of pressure]... To be honest I don’t really like to talk about that side of things.”

By comparison, Simpson is more than happy to discuss his many ambitions. Along with his music, he is working on a collection of poetry (he has an Instagram account dedicated to it), he’s “passionate” about his role as the United Nations Development Programme’s first ocean advocate, has been taking filmmaking classes at UCLA Film School and also shot a supporting role in the Bret Easton Ellis thriller Smiley Faced Killers.

“A lot of my idols in terms of entertainment are actually film stars,” he says. “And I find it’s much easier for me to draw from them in terms of style and all that stuff, as it is for me and musicians. I find that I’m looking to guys like a Steve McQueen and a Paul Newman, who build long-lasting, timeless legacies.”

A fresh-faced Simpson in the early days of his singing career. (Pic: Getty Images)

Simpson channels that classic cool vibe alongside other young Aussie stars Maia Mitchell and Charlee Fraser in the new Bonds Home Grown Tees campaign. It’s something he felt was a natural fit for him as he “stocks up” on Bonds when he’s in Australia and wears the underwear every day. “I obviously want to become some kind of classic Aussie in the way Bonds is and it’s amazing to be involved with them.”

Emily Small, head of marketing at Bonds, agrees it’s an easy partnership. “This tee collection is created with cotton grown in Australia and we were inspired by homegrown talents like Cody Simpson who, although based in LA, still has a strong connection and embraces his Australian roots,” she says. “His magnetic personality, incredible skill as a musician and effortless style make him the perfect talent.”

Simpson continues to embrace his background by surrounding himself with Australians in LA. He says he “gets along with Aussies much more than I do Americans” and remains true to his beachside upbringing by “ripping” up to Malibu for regular surfs.

He’s also far from being jaded by the music industry. “I’m very excited to move into my twenties,” he says, “and into the next phase of my career.”