Simon House

Simon House (Photo by Louise Bialik, July 2008)

Simon House (born 29 August 1948 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England) is a composer and classically trained violinist and keyboard player, perhaps best known for his work with space rock band Hawkwind. His arrival in 1974 introduced a new element to the band's style. He was the first conspicuously trained musician to join, and the sound that emerged on Hall of the Mountain Grill was a previously unheard, lush chaos which sounded a little like Black Sabbath meets The Moody Blues.

Before Hawkwind, House played in High Tide and the Third Ear Band, who contributed the soundtrack to Roman Polanski's Macbeth. Guitarist Tony Hill recounted how House became a member of High Tide: "[Pete Pavli and I were] hanging out with and crashing where we could at Mike's or Wayne's. Simon ended up crashing there as well. Simon was playing bass then. He said: 'I used to play violin, you know?' So I said 'Get it!' That was basically it."[1]

He joined Hawkwind in 1974, playing on some of their albums, before leaving for David Bowie's band in 1978. That, along with Robert Calvert falling into clinical depression, led to Hawkwind breaking up in mid-tour.

Along with other Hawkwind members he guested on science fiction author Michael Moorcock's New Worlds Fair in 1975 and has also played on solo projects by former Hawkwind members Robert Calvert and Nik Turner.

Since the 1970s, as well as cutting an album (Interesting Times) with Tony Hill under the High Tide banner and releasing several solo albums under his own name, House has twice rejoined Hawkwind; between 1989 and 1991, and between 2001 and 2003.

Discography

High Tide

Denny Gerrard

  • Sinister Morning (1970)

Third Ear Band

Hawkwind

Michael Moorcock & The Deep Fix

Robert Calvert

David Bowie

Japan

  • Tin Drum (1981)
  • Gentlemen Take Polaroids/Tin Drum/Oil on Canvas (1994)
  • Exorcising Ghosts (2004)

David Sylvian

  • Everything and Nothing (2000)

Thomas Dolby

  • She Blinded Me With Science (1982)
  • The Golden Age of Wireless [Re-released version](1982)
  • The Best of Thomas Dolby: Retrospectacle (1994)

Mike Oldfield

  • The Complete Mike Oldfield (1985)

Magic Muscle

  • One Hundred Miles Below (1989)
  • Gulp (1991)

Nik Turner

  • Prophets of Time (1994)
  • Transglobal Friends and Relations (2000)
  • Space Gypsy (2013)

Simon House

  • Yassasim (1995)
  • Spiral Galaxy Revisited (2005)

Simon House with Rod Goodway

  • House of Dreams (2002)

Spiral Realms

  • A Trip to G9 (1994)
  • Crystal Jungles of Eos (1995)
  • Solar Wind (1996)
  • Ambient Voids: A Hypnotic Compilation (1995)

Anubian Lights

  • The Eternal Sky (1995)
  • Jackal & Nine (1996)

Ambient Time Travellers

  • Ambient Time Travellers (1995)

Adrian Shaw

  • Head Cleaner (2000)

Bedouin

  • As Above So Below (2001)

Earth Lab

  • Element (2006)

Judy Dyble

  • Enchanted Garden (2004)
  • Spindle (2006)
  • The Whorl (2006)

Astralasia

  • Cluster of Waves (2007)
  • Away With the Fairies (2007)

Spirits Burning

  • Earthborn (2008)
  • Bloodlines (2009)

Nektar

  • A Spoonful of Time (2008)

Alan Davey

  • Eclectic Devils (2009)

Albums in process

Psychestra

  • Psychestra (demo, 2009)

Dark Chemistry

  • Romance of Desolation (demo, 2009)

Comitatus

  • Portable Casanova (demo, 2009)

References

  1. ↑ Shaw, Adrian. (2000) "Tony Hill interview". Perfect Sound Forever magazine.
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