Simon's Career

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On these pages, Simon answers your questions. Feel free to ask technical questions or questions regarding his equipment as well as general stuff concerning his career or future plans.

Please read the FAQ before sending your own questions. Maybe it's already answered.

Send all questions by using our Masterclass Submit Form.

All answers will be published on this page. Please understand that due to Simon's busy schedule he's not able to reply to all e-mails and fans personally. Also he can´t answer every question as we receive far too many of them. Therefore he will pick the most interesting questions and post his answers here on the site.

Simon's Career

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Question:
Hey Simon! I have been a fan since I heard you on the Judas Priest, SINAFTER SIN album 1977 and bought the Michael Schanker album the day it

came out! 1980 as well as most of the albums you recorded around that time, can you talk a little bit about the Schanker album and

specifically the 3rd track Victim of Illusion, you do a Double Bass sort of slow half-time shuffle, with the DB? there is alot of DB on that

album, as well as the Priest album, can you talk about the use of your left foot, when playing these sort of shuffles, or is your right foot

doing more work than one would think? greatly appriciated!

Simon:

That is funny you should mention that track. I am going to be playing a short tour in Japan with Michael in January and I have to re-learn all those songs. I was listening to that track and remembered that I played it using both kick drums. It was a pattern that went back and forth from left foot to right foot lead. Quite tricky - but then I was only 23 years old so that stuff was easier to implement. Not quite so now so I have to figure it out and practise. But I heard a live version of that track and the drummer didn't play it that way. It really doesn't have the same groove or lope that it should have - so i'd better get practising - ha ha ha!!!!

All I can tell you about double bass playing is that, unlike most people, I lead with my left foot. That just came naturally to me. I always look for the easiest way to play something - no matter how tricky it sounds. That way the groove will be good. It should never sound tricky and only musicians or drummers should be able to tell if it is tricky or not. It should not affect the music to any detriment.

Question:
Long time listener, first time caller.

So sorry to bother you with such trivia but you may be the only reliable source for this information.

I have always assumed that you were the drummer on the track "Slit Skirts" from Pete's "All the Best Cowboys..." document.

I also thought that was you playing on the MTV video release promoting that record.

Am I right?

I will always be in the audience for any enterprise involving you as the drummer.

All the best from your longtime fan,

Jerry Horn

Simon:

Hi Jerry,

Yes you are correct - I did play on the recording of "Slit Skirts".

However I am not sure if I did the video. There are two songs that Mark Brzezicki played each others part. I mimed on his track of "A Little Is Enough" and he mimed on one of my recordings - just not sure if it was "Slit Skirts" or not - but I think it was!

Question:

You mentioned already in FAQ the Zildjian snare drum. I saw it mentioned in your setups listed around 9 years ago, but do you remember any sessions you definitely played it on? I read that it was a wonderful instrument, but never had the pleasure of hearing one.

Simon:

Actually the only sessions I can definately remember using it for the whole album was Big Country, Buffolo Skinners. It was not the easiest drum to record - it looked great and was very loud, but didn't really work that well for recording.

Question:

I'm a big fan and i would have loved you to play the entire extremist record with joe satriani. you played one song with him and doug wimbish that made it on the album but then i guess the recordings were interrupted. what happened? why didn't you play the whole thing? and are you considering playing with joe again?

Simon:

Actually I just played on his latest CD - 3 tracks. There were other tracks recorded for the Extremist - at Woodstock in 1990 - but I guess Joe was into something else at the time.

Question:

Hello Simon..I've heard that you once recorded a piece called "The Rumble" from "West Side Story"....This is where the story gets a bit strange..Apparently this was a piece done with Chick Corea's Electric Band and Steve Vai's Monsters.?? I have searched for information on this subject and for a recording, to no avail...Please forgive me if this is an urban myth...Thank you for your time. Best wishes....Leah Las Vegas

Simon:
This is true. We recorded live at Ocean Way studios in '95. To give you and idea of what the studio looked like:
Dave Weckl and I were the drummers - Lenny Castro was the percussionist. On my left was Steve Vai, John Peña. In front were Greg Phillinganes and David Paich, and Eric Marienthal in a booth. To my right were Chick Corea, Jimmy Earle and Frank Gambale. David Pack was conducting and producing. We spent 2 days rehearsing and tracking and it was so much fun!!!

Question:
Hello Simon!
How many tracks on Gabriels, "Shaking the tree" did you play on?

Simon:

I assume you are talking about Peter Gabriel - I think only that one song "I Have The Touch".

Question:
Hello Simon!
Did you play with tears for fears live on the year of the knife?

Simon:

Well - I played live - but it was to a pre-recorded track, like most of the sessions in those days - and even nowadays.

Question:
hello simon.. i love your performance on "burning for buddy" trib. vhs, of "goodbye yesterday." it's stellar! it appears to me that you were not so pleased with performance.. is that the case? congradulations on md's 2003 hall of fame induction.. it's way overdue... best wishes leah las vegas

Simon:

Thank you for the congrats. It's funny - the Burning for Buddy sessions were certainly fun but I feel that my sound wasn't quite captured as it should have been. There were quite a few drummers to record in a short space of time, owing to the cost of a project such as this, so everything was moving along at quite a pace. If I remember correctly I recorded 3 songs in a 3 hour period with the band - Dancing Men, Norwegian Wood and one of my favourite arrangements Goodbye Yesterday. However, when attempting to play these songs you realize just how good Buddy was - one always feels one could have done better!

Question:

A time ago I read the discography about your musical career/background. The most striking name was, I noticed, Adrian Snell with the Passion from 1980. My father has that album and it is quite different from all the other musicians you have played with. So my question is: Did AdrianSnell ask you (especially) to play the drum-parts on the album, or was it just usual studio work?

Simon:

It was all part of being a session musician but for that particular project it would have been the producer who called me. I used to do sessions for a company called Triumvirate which was made up of 3 guys who used to produce artists like Gordon Giltrap, Juan Martine and Adrian. We used to record at a little studio called Redan Recorders in Queensway, London.

Question:

I would just like to say you did some great drumming on Mike Rutherfords " SmallCreeps Day " It is some of the best drumming ever done. What was it like to work with Mike and can you tell me what it was like when you did SmallCreeps day.

Simon:

Thank you for the compliments. We recorded that record at Polar Studios in Stockholm (Abba'a studio) in 1979, 23 years ago, so it's hard to remember what it was really like. However Mike is an English gentleman in the true sense of the word. I seem to remember him being open to any suggestion and really it was down to arrangement as opposed to what I should play - in other words I played what I felt was right for the song. I do remember using Tama's first synth drums which had little triggers that I stuck to the snare drum and basically did what Syndrums did - very fashionable at the time but did not last with me though!

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