Simon Findlay is a multi-instrumentalist, focusing on synthesizer and voice. Performing every month for the past 20 years across various projects, he trained professionally as a drummer. Consistently he works with projects that are; energetic, dance/pop orientated and playful/improvisation based. He uses drum machines and bass synths/sequencers, along with voice for solo and collaborative music
Solo Music
Discography
Biography
Berlin 2016-present:
After moving to Berlin to be a professional musician - I began by writing sample and synth based dance songs, using a collaging technique to combine different pieces of produced grooves with phone field recordings - resulting in songs being in different keys and tempos, creating Tempelhof Airfield (2017). Following on from this were the synth production grooves Pipes (2017) and Cold (2018). During the summertime a friend told me to check out the old radio tower and “to take your flute”, Teufelsberg (2016) is a phone recording of this moment. At this point having played a show every month, made no money and being constantly met with dis-interest from audiences, I became frustrated and “stopped pursuing music as a business, deciding to do only do it for fun”.
Cloud Kinski filled this space, a performance art and live electro trio with Ashiq and Joseph. High energy with; dancers, make up and costumes. Mostly we played in clubs and festivals, which we focused on throughout 2018-2022. Emerging at the end this time period returned my love of solo music, Mountains (2022) an album length collection of textural synth sounds I made at night to keep my brain active during isolation times and Lemon Squash (2022) a garage pop EP that was written as I learned to play bass.
Saalestrasse (2023) an album that combined jam recordings with produced songs, used the concept of “discography as public archive, rather than masterpieces”. It featured the single Disco Don’t Have No Time For No Rain (2023), a return to the vocoding I’d done years before. Midnight Desert Cacti Photosynthesis (2023) an EP of semi-discordant synths alongside Beneath The Skies (2023) a harmonious synth work album extended this concept further - I was no longer intentionally writing/making songs, instead doing music regularly with recording and post production as a way to create snapshots through time. You're So Cute, I Want To Squish Your Face (2023) combined pop with noise synths and dance vibes. The album Sometimes / Othertimes (2024) followed up on combining phone recordings and jams with produced tracks. Pineapple Lime Apple Looking So Fine Apple (2024) was an EP of short absurd songs. Neighbours (2024) with Elie Love was created by doing post production over jams, creating long groovy tracks.
At an art residency JEES! formed with Juliana, Eric, Elie and Issey in 2024. We wrote 10 albums of mostly improvised pop music in the space of a year. This project with it’s playful and performative aspects brought back for me a deep love of performing live and working with others. I Am The Ram (2025) is an EP where collating songs, playfulness and synth grooves melded together. Following up at the same time by Filth (2025) an 11 minute gritty synth noodle beat. JEES! had shown me a different way to perform live that was more reactive than how I done previously. I reworked and re-envisioned completely the solo live set, breaking it down to it’s essentials: voice, drum machine (no presets), and synth (no presets). It was a setup that in theory felt like not enough, especially considering that the Moog was a monophonic synth, able to play single bass notes and not chords. I added a wah pedal which gave not only another textural but also rhythmic element. Out of this new live set, different versions of songs arose which is Live at Boxhagener Strasse (2025).
In 2026 JEES! built a music studio at Artistania with live drums (the instrument that I trained on) and I built a 4 octave marimba during the summertime at 90mil. During an art residency workshop Movement Improvisations - Marimba, Piano and Harp (2026) was recorded as a documentation of the hour long piece. I started using my voice more as a tool, particularly during improvisations with others, finding words to be particularly irrelevant. Colour Of Love (2026) a dramatic musical style piece came out of this. Next I re-worked an old song adding live drums and a six minute dual synth solo; I Think I’m Falling 4 U (2027). Here To Dig (2027) an album that focused on drums, marimba and voice was created by recording an instrument for 6-10 minutes, changing the master tempo/pitch, calculating the new pitch and layering various instruments/voice in an improvisational way.
Melbourne 2012-2016:
Throughout this time I drummed in the dance punk trio 8 Bit Love with Vito and Matt. Another group Daft Folk, with Ivan and Dan existed for a year and was a project in which we did performance art for live shows as we “couldn’t figure out how to recreate our songs”, it was here that we learned that we can be as strange as we like musically, as long as we put a basic kick/highhat (snare optional) beat underneath people will love us.
With solo music I focused on vocal hooks and textural synth work, vocoder features heavily with these recordings. For live I tried different setups often changing every 3 months, utilizing: computers, loopers, mandolins, pedals, vocoder. Eventually deciding to perform with drummers; Jess, Jake and Reg.
Beginning with dream pop singles Aeroplane (2014) and Oxytocin (2013), I moved towards making indie dance EPs: Speed (2014), Window Washing (2013) and Green (2013). Next was Star Gazing (2014), a 4 hour long ambient work in which I improvised textural synth loops for two months straight, afterwards proclaiming “to never do this again.”
A brief visit to Berlin/Bristol/London/Amsterdam changed my outlook on music. Hills (2015) were two instrumental songs that were made for hiking videos, followed by vocoder pop songs Gloria (2015) and Is This Your World (2014). Next were the sample based dance tracks of 1999 (2015) inspired by club music of Europe. Continued on by the electro rock EP Don’t Dance (2016) and the gritty pop double Synths Are Better Than Friends (2015).
Before this I made solo music with ukulele, computer and voice. I busked, simultaneously doing; hula hoop, ukulele, harmonica, and a Casio VL Tone playing a drum beat whilst standing on milk crates. Many songs were written between 2012-2014, most not that good and have been lost, except for a compilation of early demos; Blue (2012). This was followed on by the indie pop EP Over The Ocean (2012) and whilst on a trip to India I wrote and collected; I Don’t Have Time To Love Anyone (2014) a combination of ukulele songs and field recordings.