Simon Thomas Hinkler (born 13 November 1959) is an English guitarist, keyboard player, songwriter and producer, most notable for being the lead guitarist for the rock group The Mission from 1986 to 1990 and since 2011.

Early musical career

Hinkler formed his first band, TV Product, while working at Killis cleaners, Sheffield in 1978. The other members of the group were his housemate Tony Perrin and three friends from the polytechnic. After many line-up changes Hinkler left the band to join

Artery An artery () is a blood vessel in humans and most other animals that takes oxygenated blood away from the heart in the systemic circulation to one or more parts of the body. Exceptions that carry deoxygenated blood are the pulmonary arteries in ...

on keyboards. He was part of the line-up which recorded the group's most well known songs, including "Into the Garden", which reached number four on

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

festive 50 The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

for 1981. This incarnation of the group started to disintegrate around this time, and Hinkler spent much of the next year mentoring the young

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...

. He joined the 1982 lineup of

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

and produced the band's first LP, '' It'', playing bass, piano, guitar and mandolin, as well as co-writing the band's début single " My Lighthouse". After this he had another spell in Artery, this time joined by his brother David Hinkler, also formerly of Pulp, and around this time played with a few other bands, including The Flight Commander and Midnight Choir.

The Mission

In late 1985

Wayne Hussey 250px, Hussey performing at the Hildesheim.html" ;"title="M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim">M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany, 2004 Jerry Wayne Hussey (born 26 May 1958) is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is ...

and Craig Adams left

The Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band formed in Leeds in 1980. After achieving early underground fame, the band experienced a commercial breakthrough in the mid-1980s, sustaining their success until the early 1990s, when they halted th ...

and formed The Mission with Hinkler and drummer Mick Brown (of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry). In early 1986 they embarked on their first European tour, supporting

The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

. They released two singles independently, both reaching No.1 in the UK alternative charts, before signing a worldwide record deal with

Phonogram Phonogram may refer to: * A sound recording – see Geneva Phonograms Convention * ''Phonogram'' (comics), a comic book by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie * Phonogram (linguistics), a grapheme which represents a phoneme or a combination of phon ...

(now

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company that is a subsidiary of Comcast ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of N ...

). Their first single for the new label, "Stay with Me", went straight into the UK chart at No. 30 followed by their debut album, ''

God's Own Medicine ''God's Own Medicine'' is the debut studio album by the English gothic rock band the Mission. It was released on 10 November 1986 by Mercury Records. The original LP version contains 10 songs. The CD and cassette versions had the songs "Blood Br ...

'', at No. 14. They continued to release hit singles including anthemic classics such as "Wasteland", "Tower of Strength", "Beyond the Pale", "Deliverance" and " Butterfly on a Wheel". Total worldwide album sales to date have exceeded three million. Hinkler left the Mission during their 1990 US tour, but made guest appearances on later dates towards the end of the final UK leg of the tour and at Finsbury Park the following year. After leaving the Mission, he recorded an album called ''A Room Full of This'' in his home studio with Mark Gouldthorpe (former Artery vocalist) under the name "The Flight Commander" and which was released in 1994. This was the pair's second album together. Their first was ''Flight Commander Solitude and the Snake'' was recorded shortly before he joined the Mission, and so the project was put hold. When Hussey decided to disband The Mission permanently in 2008, after twenty-two years of activity, he invited Hinkler to join the then current lineup on tour. He played with the band for four nights in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before moving onto the final four nights at the

O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from Wednesday 27 February through to Saturday 1 March 2008. The performances were subsequently released on the DVD ''The Mission: The Final Chapter''. In December 2010 Hussey announced live shows featuring a re-formation of the original line-up (minus drummer Mick Brown) of The Mission to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. Initially two dates were announced for October 2011 at

O2, Brixton and O2, Leeds. However, in June 2011 Hussey announced extra tour dates in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in October and November 2011. In October 2011, Hinkler began to perform once more with a re-formed Mission, and he has been a permanent member since then. Two more Mission albums featuring Hinkler, Craig Adams and Hussey have so far been released, namely '' The Brightest Light'' (2013) and '' Another Fall from Grace'' (2016).

Solo and support work

In 2005, he released his first solo album, '' Lose the Faith''. After living in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for more than a decade, Hinkler returned to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2009. In February 2012,

The Eden House The Eden House is a collaborative musical project, initiated by Stephen Carey (formerly of This Burning Effigy and Adoration) and involving a collection of guest musicians and vocalists; later joined by Tony Pettitt (formerly of Fields of the ...

released their ''Timeflows'' EP which features Hinkler as a guest guitarist. He has since also recorded tracks with them on their albums ''Half Life'' (2013) and ''Songs for the Broken Ones'' (2017). In the early part of 2011, Hinkler played a series of guest support appearances with

Anne-Marie Hurst Anne-Marie Hurst is an English singer. She is best known for her work with several gothic rock groups, including Skeletal Family and Ghost Dance. She released her first solo album, ''Day of All Days'', in 2011 on Jungle Records Jungle Re ...

The March Violets The March Violets are an English post-punk/gothic rock band formed in 1981 in Leeds, incorporating male & female singers, drum machine rhythms and echo-laden electric guitar, much in the style of fellow Leeds band the Sisters of Mercy. Seven Ma ...

, and

References

External links

*
Themissionuk.com

Pulppeople.plus.com

Sheffieldvision.com

Interview with Hinkler describing his instrument specifications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinkler, Simon 1959 births Living people English male guitarists British gothic rock musicians English alternative rock musicians English post-punk musicians Musicians from Sheffield The Mission (band) members Pulp (band) members