Simon Henderson
Encyclopedia
Life and career
Born in Chiswick, London, in 1965, Simon started in the music business as a drummer at the age of nine playing concerts in the UK. He had several acting stints, and among other things, appeared in Star WarsStar Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
(the original first movie shot in 1976) as a Jawa. He also played the character of rock guitarist Eddie Hunter in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
in 1986. In the 1980′s he started various bands sometimes playing drums, keyboards, guitar and even singing. Groups include Tarazara, The Kick, Kou, Sin and Lunch with the President, co-producing with Gus Dudgeon
Gus Dudgeon
Angus Boyd Dudgeon , most commonly known as Gus Dudgeon was an English record producer, most notable for production of many of Elton John's recordings.-Early career:...
(producer for Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, and Chris Rea
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
) who became Simon’s mentor, teacher and inspiration to become a producer himself.
Simon’s first album production credit was Insha Allah by a band called NASA in 1990. The album did well in the USA, with the title track (co-written by Simon) receiving a healthy airplay and being used in the Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
movie Wild Orchid. He composed a rock musical
Rock musical
A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals...
called Overture starring John Miles
John Miles (musician)
John Miles is an English rock music vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player, best known for his 1976 Top 3 UK hit single, "Music".-Career:...
, Lon Satton
Lon Satton
Lon Satton Born: 1929, Philadelphia. U.S.A., is an actor and composer mostly known in Britain.- Stage works : He acted in Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, and Ian McDiarmid's musical, "The Three Penny Opera," at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, England with Vanessa Redgrave, Joe Melia, Ronald...
and Lenny Zakatek
Lenny Zakatek
Lenny Zakatek also known as "The Voice" is a pop and rock singer and musician who has lived in London since the age of thirteen...
(vocalist for The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
), and a concept album entitled The Black Book.
Simon produced and released Aural Pleasure for his own label, Inter Aspect (UK), distributed by Total/BMG in 1996. With a solid background in rock, Simon has produced everything from rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
to country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
to dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. His work was evident on many a turntable via various remixes including Wubble-U
Wubble-U
Wubble-U were an English dance music act of the mid 1990s, that were signed to BMG's independent record label, Indolent Records. They were Laurant Webb, Justin Bailey, Dave Pine and Dave Coker, and were most famous for the single, "Petal". This was originally a 1994 release, that featured the...
and Alex Reece
Alex Reece
Alex Reece was an influence of the jazzstep sound, a mix of drum and bass and jazz, and one of the musicians under the Metalheadz collective, who also works under the pseudonym of Fallen Angels....
, very much dominating the underground dance scene of Europe in 1997.
In 1998 he was recruited by Grammy Entertainment PCL, Thailand, sold in excess of 6 million albums, and picked up no less than 10 record of the year awards, plus one MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
Best Rock Album award in 2005. Simon produced the Thai Rock band Silly Fools
Silly Fools
Silly Fools is a Thai rock band . Their music can be described as modern rock.The band worked with Bakery Music, an independent label, and released an EP named Sampler. The band then moved to More Music and released their first full length album, I.Q...
for 5 albums. This made him a household name in the Thai Music business, with Silly Fools winning Best Artist, Best Album and Best Rock Band 3 years consecutively. The last album called King-size was the fastest selling album in Thai music history, topping over 800,000 CDs. By now very well known in Asia, he wrote and recorded an album for Briony released on Japanese label Toshiba EMI & FUJI Music Publishing.
The Hangman album with Toe (singer of Silly Fools) was released in the middle of 2007 and has sold 120,000 CDs to date plus the top 3 fastest selling download.
Simon worked as Music Production Manager on SUTASI for Asia Sounds Pty Ltd in September 2007 for a year. During this period, he met and produced a demo for Cassini's Division
Cassini's Division
Cassini's Division are an alternative rock band from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Formed in 2001, they are named after the Cassini Division, the largest gap in the Rings of Saturn.- Testing Times and Change :...
, a band that in 2010 would call upon him to produce their debut album Ringside View.
He now spends his time between London, New York, Los Angeles and Thailand finding new and exciting bands to work with.
1989 to 1999
- Murray Grant - Reach Up
- Sabrina - I'm Calling Your Name
- Way out Girls - I'm The Leader of the Gang (Academy Street Records)
- Fusion/DJs EP - Fusion presents (Inter Aspect/DJ Magazine)
- Various - Aural Pleasure (Inter Aspect/BMG)
- Blanco Negro - Blame it on the summer
- Björn AgainBjörn AgainBjörn Again is a tribute show to the Swedish pop group ABBA founded in 1988 in Australia, but now involving multiple touring troupes performing under the Björn Again name...
- ABBA's Greatest Hits are Bjorn Again (BA Records) - Jackie Romeu - The Calling (Zip Records)
- Lia Vicci - We can go higher (EMI Greece)
- Gareth Marks - Big Boppa a Tribute (E&B Productions)
- NASANASA (Swedish band)NASA is a Swedish synthpop band fronted by Patrik Henzel and Martin Thors. They debuted in 1983 with a song for a Swedish film. In 1985 they had a Swedish top ten hit "Paula". In the 80's, the band had little success outside of Sweden. A planned US album was recorded, but then shelved by Columbia...
- Insha-Alla (Sire/Warner) - Muzz Murray - One (Inter Aspect)
- Jim-Ed Huston - Closest Thing to My Heart (Sonic)
- Rock musical - Overture - Cast recording album (G&H Productions)
2000 to 2008
- Christina & Fearn - You are The One
- Silly FoolsSilly FoolsSilly Fools is a Thai rock band . Their music can be described as modern rock.The band worked with Bakery Music, an independent label, and released an EP named Sampler. The band then moved to More Music and released their first full length album, I.Q...
- Candyman - Loso - Rock and Roll
- Various - Long Auey (A Tribute to Asanee & Wassan Chotikul)
- Mad cat (Maew Chirasak) - Burn (Season Awards BEST ALTERNATIVE ALBUM 2001)
- Silly Fools - Mint (Season Awards BEST ROCK ALBUM 2001)
- Various - The More Mix Project
- Asanee Chotikul - Kon Sud Thai (XTRACK5 compilation)
- Blackhead - Basic
- Ing Achita - Perfect Sunday
- Karn - Pooying Cheu Karn
- Amanda - Amanda
- Mad cat (Maew Chirasak) - Awake
- Mad cat (Maew Chirasak) - Cat in the Mood
- Um Amarin - Um
- Oa - Oa
- AB Normal - AB Normal
- Ultrachuad - Ultrachuad
- Silly Fools - Juicy (Season Awards BEST ROCK ALBUM 2002)
- Zeal - Zeal
- Street Funk Rollers (Black Sheep/Sony)
- Todd Lavelle - Back to Samui
- Mad cat (Maew Chirasak)- Disorder
- Fly - Modifly
- Briony - Briony (EMI Japan/ FUJI Music Publishing)
- Silly Fools - Kingsize
- Lanna Commins - Lanna
- Micro - Micro (Live DVD)
- Fly - Special acoustic album
- Silly Fools - Combo
- Asanee Chotikul - Red Bull
- Sek Loso - M-150
- Silly Fools - Yamaha X1
- Ing Achita - Ing Today
- Nuvo - Nuvo 5
- Zeal - Trip
- AB Normal - AB Normal 2
- Jack Fly - Jackula
- Sua Yai - Sua Yai
- Dome - No Logo
- Skalaxy - What Ska Is
- Burn - Start the Fire (Inter Aspect/Sony BMG)
- Mint - Closer (Sony/BMG)
- Hangman - Hangman (More Music/GMM-Grammy)
- Zeal - Zeal 4 Real (More Music/GMM-Grammy)
- Abuse The Youth - Underskin (Mind The Gap/GMM-Grammy)
- SuperSmiler - Wake Me Up When I'm Famous
- Slacker - See The World