Playing both the main Bamboozle and Bamboozle Left in 2008 and the 2008 Vans Warped Tour, with 10 Million Listens on Myspace and over 300 live shows, Automatic Loveletter has earned their upcoming debut release . "Paramore is the female-fronted draw of the day here at Bamboozle Left, but Automatic Loveletter's Juliet Simms more than held her own on the Nokia Ticket Rush stage. Clad in an obligatory black hoodie and strumming an acoustic guitar, she wailed her way through a frenetic half-hour set split by a solo acoustic ballad. Get this band on a main stage and she’ll be receiving automatic love letters by the truckload." LA Times
Automatic Loveletter was formed with Juliet Simms on guitar and lead vocals, Daniel Currier on drums and brother Tommy Simms playing bass and producing, with bassist Sean Noll sitting in on occasion in Tommy's home studio in the Tampa Bay area. The band was first called Stars and Scars and recorded its first rock song together in December 2005, naming the song after the band but written by lead singer Juliet Simms. They also recorded "Tin Lizzy", written by Tommy.
Juliet also finally acoustically laid down all of the songs she had been writing over the last three years for consideration for her first major label album. Signed by Allison Hagendorf now host of Fuse TVs "The Pop Show", then working at Epic Records, Juliet went on to form Automatic Loveletter while Epic struggled with the 2005 Payola Scandal and internal problems finally dropping over 70 bands in 2007. With Allison as Juliet's champion, Automatic Loveletter was not dropped but was also not supported for the next year and 1/2 touring in the drummer's Ford Excursion and making feather hair clips and burning their own copies of their Epic Produced CD with hand painted slip covers to help fund their tours.
Automatic Loveletter did record their album in 2007 with producer Matt Squire (Panic at the Disco, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, Cute is What We Aim For, The Cab, The Maine). "He challenged me and I challenged him," Simms said. "I felt very comfortable and that's when the best of me comes out. The entire time was playful and fun and that's what rock n roll's about to me -- having a good time." Simms took her massive songbook to Squire and narrowed down the right tunes and crafted them to fit together, sometimes taking songs in entirely new directions. "The Answer," for instance, was originally a ballad, but became one of the more upbeat numbers on the album. Daniel Currier and lead guitarist Joe Nelson both played on the album, Sean Noll officially joining just before some of their first tours together and big brother Tommy occasionally touring with the band to play lead, or rhythm guitar in larger venues and outdoor concerts filling up the sound and the stage.
But the Squire Album was never fully released, however tracks like "The Answer", "Parker", "August 28Th 3:30 A.M.", "Hush" and "Make-up Smeared Eyes (Acoustic)" were all released on an EP Recover' and sold through Hot Topic and on-line distribution.
Up to and while touring with 2008 Vans Warped Tour, Automatic Loveletter held #1 or #2 position on the Myspace Music Emo chart for 6 months, hitting 10 Million Listens, hit #2 on Smart Punk for three weeks and Artisan News Reported them as The Next Big Thing. But after the tour when Epic was scheduled to release the album Automatic Loveletter (acronym A.LL.) were told to continue touring and asked by then President Charlie Walk to write more upbeat music. Instead, Juliet submitted a fan favorite "Black Ink Revenge" which was rejected several times for re-write until it became "My Goodbye" one of the tracks off the upcoming Sony release. "I had been signed to Epic for going on three years, toured in cars with my completely broke band and was feeling like I disappointed my fans who had been promised music for over a year so I sat in my room for four days re-writing and re-submitting that song like 5xs. I like "My Goodbye" a LOT but it was the result of a lot of pressure and the desire to get an album released." "My Goodbye", "The Day that Saved Us" and "Hush (New Version)" were quickly released as another self titled EP just before the final chapter with Epic Records when they fired all the members except Currier before the first headlining tour, held auditions for new members, hired Jacob Fatoroochi, James Bowen and Wayne Miller then half way through the tour called Juliet and told her that all of the pay for the band she was on tour with was being withdrawn and the band was dropped. A.LL.went on to sell out venues like the Knitting Factory in LA and San Francisco.."It was very liberating. After crying my eyes out for a couple hours I had some of my best shows ever on that tour."
Almost immediately the band was picked up by RCA and Juliet asked to write for a new album produced by Josh Abraham (Weezer, 30 Seconds to Mars, Velvet Revolver). Automatic Loveletter's first full length album, "Truth or Dare", was released on June 22nd just before heading out on Vans Warped Tour 2010. In the summer of 2011, Juliet released an acoustic Automatic Loveletter EP titled, "The Kids Will Take Their Monsters On", on Paper + Plastick Records. Again, touring on Vans Warped Tour 2011 and promoting the new acoustic album.
In the winter of 2011, Juliet was asked to audition for the second season of NBC's, "The Voice". Juliet's audition wowed the judges and she chose become a member of Team Cee-lo. Juliet decisively won her Battle Round and will be performing live on April 9th for Team Cee-lo's first Live Round.
Simms' voice can be heard on records from LoveHateHero's "Theatre of Robots", Secondhand Serenade's "Fix You" / "Hear Me Now", All Time Low's "Remembering Sunday", and Cartel's "Lose It".
Make-up Smeared Eyes
Automatic Loveletter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Still smells of you
And the picture you hung on the door
Lay smashed, picture perfect
Explains now, clearly
Nothing left but a memory
We only made out, you never kissed me
That's how I learned to hold back all feeling
Wait, please don't go
I won't stay
All these words on replay
I'm okay
It's all right
Good to know that you're fine
Pretending everything is right to make it better
I'll hide my make-up smeared eyes to show that I'm fine
Somehow you have managed to get under my skin
More than anyone ever did
And if every hole makes a scar and every scar marks its place
Then I will never live freely without your trace
And it'll never be fair
I wrote my songs for you and you never even cared
So I'll forget you, I'll wash your t-shirt and kill the pillow
And cut you out of pictures
Wait, please don't go
I won't stay
All these words on replay
I'm okay
It's all right
Good to know that you're fine
Pretending everything is right to make it better
I'll hide my make-up smeared eyes
This drama sat shotgun
My eyes rained like autumn
Only the glove box knows how the story goes
Now that this bandage is broken
And the cuts left in open
I'll tell you just one thing
This wasn't worth the sting (x3)
The lyrics of Automatic Loveletter’s song “Make-up Smeared Eyes” depict the aftermath of a failed relationship, where only remnants of faded memories and shattered objects remain. The opening lines refer to physical objects left behind by the ex-lover, including a t-shirt that still smells like them and a picture that was hung on the door - now shattered, ruining its perfect image. The chorus expresses the singer's reluctance to let go and feelings of denial, pretending to be fine despite the evident heartbreak. The verse "Somehow you have managed to get under my skin / More than anyone ever did" reflects on how much of an impact the ex-lover has on the singer. The scars left behind serve as a constant reminder of their presence, making it hard for the singer to move on.
The second verse reveals a deeper emotional trauma the singer is going through. They have written songs about the ex-lover who never cared about the effort put into them. The singer is now determined to forget, erase all physical traces of the ex from their life, and move on. However, the pain still lingers, and the singer admits to hiding their "make-up smeared eyes" as an attempt to reclaim their independence and convince themselves that they are okay.
The bridge refers to the emotional turmoil and sadness caused by the failed relationship, which is described as "drama sat shotgun" and the singer's tears being likened to autumn rain. The pain is so intense that only the glove box knows the secret story of heartbreak. The song ends with the singer reflecting that, while the experience was painful, it was not worth the significant sting.
Line by Line Meaning
Left your t-shirt in my room
I still have something from you, a t-shirt that you left behind
Still smells of you
The t-shirt still holds onto your scent
And the picture you hung on the door
I kept the picture of us you hung on my door
Lay smashed, picture perfect
The picture is ruined but it once captured a perfect moment
Explains now, clearly
The broken picture shows that our relationship is also broken
Nothing left but a memory
All I have now is the memory of what we had
We only made out, you never kissed me
We didn't fully connect emotionally, we only had physical intimacy
That's how I learned to hold back all feeling
Our lack of emotional connection taught me to hold back my feelings in other relationships
Wait, please don't go
I don't want you to leave
I won't stay
But I also won't stay in this unhealthy relationship
All these words on replay
I keep replaying our conversations in my head
I'm okay
I'm trying to convince myself that I'm okay without you
It's all right
I want to believe that everything is alright
Good to know that you're fine
But it hurts to know that you're doing well without me
Pretending everything is right to make it better
I'm pretending that everything is alright to ease my pain
I'll hide my make-up smeared eyes to show that I'm fine
I'll hide my tears behind make-up to avoid showing my true feelings
Somehow you have managed to get under my skin
You've gotten deep into my emotions
More than anyone ever did
You've impacted me more than anyone else ever has
And if every hole makes a scar and every scar marks its place
Every emotional wound leaves a permanent mark on our lives
Then I will never live freely without your trace
I'll always carry the pain of our relationship with me
And it'll never be fair
It's not fair that I still have to deal with the consequences of our relationship
I wrote my songs for you and you never even cared
I put effort into this relationship but you didn't reciprocate
So I'll forget you, I'll wash your t-shirt and kill the pillow
I'm going to try to forget our relationship and get rid of anything that reminds me of you
And cut you out of pictures
I'll also physically cut you out of any pictures I have of us
This drama sat shotgun
Our relationship was full of drama and it was always present
My eyes rained like autumn
I cried a lot during our relationship
Only the glove box knows how the story goes
The only person who truly knows what happened in our relationship is me
Now that this bandage is broken
Now that our relationship is over
And the cuts left in open
The emotional wounds are still fresh and painful
I'll tell you just one thing
I have one thing to say to you
This wasn't worth the sting
Our relationship wasn't worth the pain it caused
Contributed by Sarah M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Sara-ny3sg
Love this band... why am I just discovering them now?!
@emotionaldarksoul5290
X2....yo la conoci mediante bvb ..o mejor dicho por su vocalista Andy biersack..esposo de Juliet
@nataliamasan
Omg, listened to this as a teenager 😭 Love Juliet/Lilith 🇧🇷
@laurenaka5120
Remember seeing then at Warped circa 2009... AMAZING TIMES 🤩😭💔
@justthatpm
her live performances are amazing! i've seen her twice live.
@GlitteredDelirium10
I love this song. Is deep :D <3
@bellamorrison3455
My favorite band from MySpace. This was my profile song in high school 🖤🖤
@ryandavidtrapasso
Elder emo flashbacks here
@i3ee689
2021 still listen
@beensandfranks
@lostluvr86 I don't understand how her voice sounds super computerised as they don't like editing software. I also don't understand how Julia's got a 'thin voice'. It's bloody brilliant and She has 10x more talent than this stereotypical 'Oh no, I'm gonna beg him to come back like the Scene baby I am' type of song.