The pure joy of it, with Sima Cunningham
Sima Cunningham is a Chicago-based musician, producer, and presenter.
Golden Egg: Do you think about getting older, and what you'd like your life to look like?
Sima Cunningham: I'm kind of in the middle of the "having kids" phase of my life so it's a little hard to see beyond this all encompassing moment of my life, but I do think about getting older. I think about what I really need to be happy. What I want to be doing with my time. I like to take care of people and I think I hope some of that will come back around when I'm older and tired and need to be taken care of. I like to think about how weird I get to be when I'm older. I know there is a lot of managing you have to do-- especially healthwise and financial stability is definitely something I worry about-- but I also look forward to what I perceive as a lot of the freedom of your older years.
GE: Do you want to retire, or keep playing music for your whole life, or some combination of both?
SC: I would like to retire from the hustle and look forward to only playing music and recording for the pure joy of it. I still do some of that, but you know-- there's a lot of hustling you have to do around it to try to maximize this moment in your life. I look forward to not caring about social media one day. I look forward to being able to not have to have day jobs and constant multitasking. I kind of think I might have a whole new music career in my 60s and it will be fun. Or a really regular gig that brings me some steady income and lets me expand in all of these creative ways and reflect on all the good music that has passed my ears throughout my life.
GE: Have you planned (financially or otherwise) for retirement or aging?
SC: Somewhat. I started a Roth-IRA in my early twenties cause I heard that was a good idea and I was lucky enough not to have debt so I tried to save as much as possible. Some years I could put $100 in it every month, some years I had to cut that back to $25 a month but I tried to stay pretty consistent with it. I'm in the process of figuring out what my long term living situation is going to look like with myself and my family-- caring for elders, caring for children, figuring out how to maximize our space so that we can all keep living happy and healthy together. I definitely try to be really smart about investments or what I spend money on right now so that I have something to fall back on in case of disaster. I think I try to keep my goals simple. I want somewhere to live for me and my family, the ability to keep making music. Pay for healthcare and occasional dental care. And to fly to Armenia every other year.
GE: Is/are there musician(s) who's lifestyle you'd like to emulate as you age (these artists can be younger, older, or the same age as you)
SC: I really love Amelia Meath's (Sylvan Esso, Mountain Man, the A's) career. I feel like she is so multi-faceted, so talented, and gets to kind of really inhabit all these different kinds of performance. I love that she really puts on a show, puts on a costume, but then really can live a beautiful and simple life in North Carolina too. And that her and Sandy have kind of built this world/infrastructure around them. I just think they've struck a great balance of fun and true beauty in music.
I think Patti Smith is also a big one for me. Particularly since I'm also a mom, seeing how she has woven a punk/poet and then motherhood and then book-writing and then a nice steady career later in her life all together. That too me is a great way to do it. Makes me feel like if I do take a little bit of a breath or disappear for a few years in my early motherhood that would be ok. It's not really what I want to do, but it's nice to know that it's an option (by her example).
GE: Who are some of your favorite artists over 65, or a favorite album of theirs?
SC: I take this question as artists who have made albums I adore when they were over 65. Well I think no one did it better than Bowie. Blackstar is such a masterpiece. What a way to go. Juana Molina is a little shy of that age, she is in her early 60s but I really love her records. Mavis has been churning out so many incredible records and what a road-dog!! She is my hero. Giorgio Moroder is amazing. I wish Warren Zevon was still around. I think I'd be an acolyte of his if he was still making records. I was lucky enough to know Patrick (of Lavender Country) before he passed and host him and his husband at our house when they were touring. Loved his spirit and his music. I can't believe I saw him play at Cole's backroom when he was like 78 years old!