Simon Collins Music

Musically, influences and education started with Prog Rock, bands such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes. Then Post punk exploded onto the scene and I was immersed in it. Bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Janes Addiction were among my faves. Eventually I discovered rave culture and I dove deep into the various genres. Eventually I started DJing Psychedelic trance and other sub-genres of electronica. It had a heavy impact on me and it became a solid and consistent element in my productions. Artists like Juno Reactor, Leftfield, Underworld hit hard. To this day electronica is a strong undercurrent of sonic territory present in mostly all my work. So, having explained my journey into my world of music so far I can say that I have achieved many of my goals and am proud to have created 4 solo albums and 2 albums from two bands. My debut solo album, “All of who you are” was released in 1999 with Warner Germany and it was a successful album, selling 100,000 units. Co-produced with a German production team, “Schalbau”, we made a pure electro synth pop style sounding record. It was a strong debut album to kick things off with.

I then moved on from Germany back to Canada and finished my second album “Time for Truth”. I produced this album independently as well as releasing it on “Lightyears Music”, my own record label. The album had a political slant to it and was based on the philosophy of truth. It was shortly after that album I decided to cover a Genesis song as a tribute on their 40th anniversary. I covered “Keep it Dark”. I modernized the song and approached it as an anthem. It was made available for free download, I just did it for fun. That was my first project with keyboardist/producer Dave Kerzner. It was shortly after that project, that I signed with a boutique label, Razor & Tie. They put me with producer, Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne). So I co-produced my 3rd solo album”U-Catastrophe” with him in Las Vegas. The quality of the sonic spectrum was top drawer, and the song writing was some of the best I’ve written. I also found my voice on this record. The emotion and conviction was present. This was my best album so far, It was a combo of heavy rock / pop sensibility with heavy guitar oriented production. 2 years later Kelly Nordstrom and I went on to form a band that would eventually include Dave Kerzner and Matt Dorsey. The band was called “Sound of Contact”. It was the manifestation of my progressive rock roots and we did one amazing album on Insideout Music,”Dimensionaut”. This was a fictional concept album about a travelling dimensional being and his experiences on his journey throughout the Universe. We won “Best new Band” at the prog rock awards in 2014. It was a big deal for all of us involved. Sadly the band broke up but we all kept going on our own paths individually and together in a different configuration.

Kelly worked with me for 20 years on guitars for all my albums so far (except my debut solo album), so we worked together again after the band had split, on my 4th solo album “Becoming Human”. The album received great reviews and it made a big impact on my music career. It was my most personal album yet, and was born out of tumultuous times. Based on an electronic soundscape, I produced this album along side Robbie Bronnimann. It wasn’t too long after that Kelly and I decided to form our own modern progressive rock duo, “eMolecule”. We spent most of 2020-21 making our debut “The Architect” for InsideOut Music. It was a fictional concept album about a dictator and the last 2 weeks of his life. Pretty Heavy going with a mixed bag of styles. Prog Metal, Industrial, Electronica, Prog Rock/pop. With all that under my belt I am now writing for another album….for which project I will not reveal just yet.

Stay tuned for more! Thanks for stopping by!