Topeka Clementine

Starting as the pen name of multi-hyphenate artist Kaigetsu Simovich, Topeka Clementine has steadily become a cornerstone of the San Diego indie scene, with countless collaborators and confidants alike.

Topeka Clementine takes its namesake from a street corner in Oceanside where the magic of simple human kindness can be seen manifest on a weekly basis through the efforts of Humanity Showers, an organization dedicated to making warm, running water available to our houseless neighbors.

Perched between a firm commitment to grassroots advocacy, and the searing wanderlust that accompanies the experience of growing up in a port town, Topeka Clementine draws inspiration from the often overlooked details of everyday life that shape modern culture, turning the sights, sounds, and smells of our inescapable, shared humanity into fuel for the soundtrack of a hopeful future.

Leaning heavily on the harmonic vocabulary of jazz standards from a bygone era, one would be remiss to not acknowledge the legacy of Black American music as music of resistance, that provides a palette for explaining the unspeakable complexities of the human condition and a vehicle for collective liberation.