Meet The Artists!

We are delighted to welcome Simon Raymonde.

Simon will be appearing on the Talks Stage.

Simon Raymonde is a British producer, musician and record company CEO and is the son of arranger Ivor Raymonde, who worked with some of the greats from the ’60s and ’70s, including Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Roy Orbison, the Stylistics and the Walker Brothers.

Simon’s first band the Drowning Craze, who released three singles, recorded a session for John Peel and then broke up. 

Simon joined Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser in the Cocteau Twins in 1983 while he was working at the Beggars Banquet record shop downstairs from the 4AD Office and together they went on to create some of the most beautiful and memorable albums of the ’80s and ‘90s. 

As well as being a co-writer and co-producer for Cocteau Twins, Simon wrote seven songs for offshoot act This Mortal Coil.

In 1997 he co-founded Bella Union with Robin Guthrie. With Simon at the helm, the label has gone on to win the prestigious Music Week Best Independent Label Award (as voted by the UK’s independent record retailers) in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Over the past twenty-seven years has discovered, developed and worked with globally renowned artists like Fleet Foxes, Flaming Lips, Beach House, Ezra Furman, Laura Veirs, Mercury Rev, Father John Misty and John Grant and helped to define the independent music scene. 

In One Ear, his new memoir is published by Nine Eight. Simon will be in conversation with John Andrews on the Talks Stage.

What was the first record, cd or book that you bought?

Jackson 5 Get It Together

had a die-cut sleeve that got a little bit more worn every time you too the inner bag out as it was a useless design, within a week, the T of Together was ripped away from the sleeve altogether. Wasn’t a very good Jackson 5 album either! 

Where did you buy it from?

I bought it in Woolworths, in Purley, Croydon. Probably 1974. I got a postal order for my birthday and got it in the sale. I didn’t understand cos i was only 11 or 12 then, that if a record was in ‘the sale’, it was likely cos no-one had bought it when it came out and the shop had over-ordered and were now stuck with it. After i listened to it a few times, the penny dropped.

Is there a piece of music / artist you love which you feel not enough people know about?

Yeah i mean most of the artists i love and sign to my label Bella Union i feel that about! I could pick 20 but I’ll say Lowly. All three of their albums we released, had tracks on that knocked me sideways. If you haven’t seen their Low Four live session from Manchester Granada TV studios, get on YouTube now and watch it. Staggering band. Danish. Underappreciated.

What was the first gig you went to?

The Lurkers at The Roxy. Probably ‘77. Roxy and The Vortex were the best places for a while to see the punk bands from London like Eater, Chelsea etc. They were a great band full of energy, musically like The Ramones but not as tight and without the songs!

What is the best gig or performance you’ve been to?

Too many to mention. Joy Division at Electric Ballroom, The Clash at Hammersmith Odeon, Lowly at Green Door Store, Fleet Foxes at Sydney Opera House, Beach House at Reykjavik Art Museum, Father John Misty at Royal Albert Hall, Birthday Party at Moonlight Club, Bowie at Earls Court, Reggae Regulars at The Rainbow, Penelope Isles at Ypsigrock…

What are you listening to at the moment?

Prince, piano and a microphone.

Ezra Furman ‘Goodbye Small Head’

Linton Kwesi Johnson ‘Bass Culture’

Are you reading a book at the moment?

Camus ‘The Plague’ (fifth time)

Thanks Simon – see you in August! X