Simon Allen

On Stage: Drums, rambling banter

Off Stage: microlabel manager, photographer, ranting atheist, climber, bad parent

Equipment: Posh DW 14 x 5 custom Snare; 13 Zildjian A custom Mastersound hi-hats; Sabian 20 medium ride, Istanbul 16 dark crash; a Pearl or Yamaha 20 kick drum, 12 rack tom (mounted on the kick drum, for goodness' sake!) and 14 floor tom (on the floor on legs, by crikey!) Evans coated heads on the toms and snare drum. (Thanks, Evans!) And some moon-gel here and there to stop the terrible ringing. Pro-Mark 5A Hickory sticks (thanks, Pro-Mark!)

Born: Warwickshire, England

Brief Musical History: 1987 - had a Saturday job at Discovery Records in Leamington Spa. Learnt drums by tapping on the counter along to music. Moved to Leeds aged 18, played in a blues band and several unsuccessful acid jazz and soul bands in the early nineties. Connected with Eddie Roberts in 1997.

Feed Me: toast and Marmite

Hot Beverage Preference: Proper tea with milk and one sugar, please. But only if it's piping hot, otherwise it's no good to me. (q: why did Karl Marx only ever drink herbal tea? a: because all proper tea is theft.)

Cold Beverage Preference: Rum and ginger beer with ice and lime

Recently Read:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Currently Reading:

• Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens

Recommended Reading:

• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
  
• Paranormality by Richard Wiseman

What's On My Ipod:

• Allen Toussaint - From a Whisper to a Scream
• Mode Selektor - Hello Mum
• Primital - Primital Bells

Recommended Listening:

• Frootful - Colours

Pet Hates (HEAR ME RANT):
1. Having to dodge dog shit on the sidewalk when walking my kids to school. This enrages me and always inspires insane vigilante fantasies, which, if actually carried out, would land me in prison or a secure mental facility. Which I resent.
2. American 'online' banking (an 'online' payment electronically generates an actual physical cheque which gets posted to the recipient's home. Recipient then drives to bank and queues up to hand it to a cashier. Hello?
3. Homophobia, especially the religiously motivated kind. (Honest secular homophobes preferred.) 4. Magical thinking (count me in with the science geeks, please)

Links

• Simon interviewed on Dyn-o-mite
• Simon interviewed on La Toile des Batteurs (French drumming website)
• Simon & Eddie interviewed on Moboogie

Contact

email: simon@newmastersounds.com