Simon Philip Raymonde (born Simon Philip Pomerance; 3 April 1962, in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instru ...

from 1983 to 1997. Raymonde now runs the

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twin ...

record label. Raymonde has acted as producer and mixer on many records, including Clearlake's ''Cedars'',

James Yorkston James Yorkston (born James Patrick Yorkston Wright; 21 December 1971) is a Scottish folk musician, singer-songwriter and author from the village of Kingsbarns, Fife. He has been releasing music since 2001. As well as recording as a solo artist, ...

's ''Moving Up Country'', the first two albums by John Grant's first band

the Czars The Czars were an American alternative rock band, formed in 1994 in Denver by John Grant and Chris Pearson. They released six studio albums, one EP, and three singles in the duration of their career. After the release of ''Goodbye'' in 2004, fi ...

, three albums by

the Duke Spirit The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of influences ranging from alternative rock bands such as The Jesus and Mary Chain and Spiritualized, the tremulous rock'n'roll of bands such a ...

including the hit album ''Cuts Across the Land'', Archie Bronson Outfit's "Kangaroo Heart", Anthony Reynolds' "Just So You Know" and the Open's ''Silent Hours''. He co-produced the posthumous album from

Billy Mackenzie William MacArthur Mackenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also h ...

. He also mixed the

Fionn Regan Fionn Regan (born 1981) is an Irish folk musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Bray, Regan came to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''The End of History'' in 2006. He had been releasing extended plays for six y ...

album '' The End of History'', which was nominated for the 2007

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

, and the album '' The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads'' by

Lift to Experience Lift to Experience is an American indie rock band from Denton, Texas, that formed in 1996 with vocalist and guitarist Josh T. Pearson, drummer Andy "The Boy" Young and bassist Josh "The Bear" Browning. The band has thus far released only one ...

. Raymonde remixed tracks for

Archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

, Tristeza and

Departure Lounge Departure Lounge may refer to: * Departure lounge, part of an airport * Departure Lounge (band), a British musical group * ''Departure Lounge'', a 2006 novel by Chad Taylor See also *Departure (disambiguation) Departure, Departures or The Depa ...

Career

Raymonde began his career as bassist for London-based

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

band Drowning Craze, who released three singles on Situation 2: "Storage Case" (1981), "Trance" (1981) and "Heat" (1982). In 1984, Raymonde joined Cocteau Twins, filling the void left by the departed bassist

Will Heggie Will Heggie is a Scottish musician. He co-founded Cocteau Twins in 1979 with Robin Guthrie, and served as the bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument ...

. He remained as a core writer in the band until its dissolution in 1997. As well as his work with Cocteau Twins, he also contributed to the first two albums by

This Mortal Coil This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotati ...

, another

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

project. Raymonde's debut solo album, ''Blame Someone Else'', was released on 6 October 1997, and featured contributions from Robin Guthrie and

Elizabeth Fraser Elizabeth Davidson Fraser (born 29 August 1963), is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician. Hailing from Grangemouth, Scotland, she is best known as the vocalist for the pioneering dream pop band Cocteau Twins who achieved international su ...

of Cocteau Twins. In 2007, he made an appearance in the documentary film '' Scott Walker: 30 Century Man''. In 2009, Raymonde formed the group

Snowbird Snowbird is a common name for the dark-eyed junco (''Junco hyemalis''). Snowbird may also refer to: Places * Snowbird, Utah, an unincorporated area and associated ski resort * Snowbird Lake, a lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada *Snowbi ...

with Stephanie Dosen. Bella Union was named the Best Independent Label of the Year in 2010, as voted by the UK's indie retailers, and later won this award again in 2012, 2014 and 2016. In 2011, he was asked to be the music supervisor for Jonathan Caouette's documentary '' Walk Away Renee'', which was accepted for the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...

and released in May 2013. In 2012, Bella Union celebrated its 15th year, and the label was asked to host and curate the Friday lineup at the End of the Road Festival that September. Between 2012-2015, Raymonde presented a show on Amazing Radio on Monday evenings, and has stood in for John Kennedy on his ''Xposure'' show on Radio X. He was vice-chairman of the board at the Association of Independent Music in 2013, and has spoken regularly around the world about his experiences in the industry. He presented a weekend workshop with music students at

QUT Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The u ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, and has also done

master class A master class is a class given to students of a particular discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are being developed. "Masterclass" is als ...

es at

Middlesex University Middlesex University London (legally Middlesex University and abbreviated MDX) is a public research university in Hendon, northwest London, England. The name of the university is taken from its location within the historic county boundaries o ...

, BIMM and the Academy of Contemporary Music at UCO in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...

. He served as the keynote speaker at Big Sound in Australia, Going Global in New Zealand and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

's Sound & Vision (where he was interviewed by John Robb). On 27 January 2014, he released his first music in 17 years, with the band Snowbird. Their album ''

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width ...

'' was issued as a vinyl package with one black vinyl and one white vinyl, with artwork designed by

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship wit ...

and a bonus electronic dub remix album by RxGibbs called ''Luna''. In summer 2015, he started a new musical project with musician Richard Thomas (formerly of Dif Juz and

the Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they re ...

), called Lost Horizons. Their album, ''Ojalá'', was released on Bella Union in November 2017. The album was named

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade Records, a record label * Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''American Dad!''), an episode of ''American Dad!'' *Rough trade (slang), ...

"Album of the Month"; following this, the band were invited by

Perfume Genius Michael Alden Hadreas (born September 25, 1981), better known by his stage name Perfume Genius, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Hadreas's music explores topics including sexuality, his personal struggle with Crohn's disease, dom ...

to be part of the Le Guess Who festival in Utrecht. In 2018, Bella Union will release two double albums celebrating the work of Raymonde's late father, Ivor, who worked with

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary L ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

and

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dra ...

, among others. In March, 2022,

celebrated its 25th anniversary in Austin at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

festival with around 15 bands performing across two stages at the legendary

MOHAWK Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

venue, then in May, 2022 Simon and his fellow

Elizabeth and Robin received an

Ivors Academy The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

‘Visionary’ award.

Discography

Albums

* ''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

'' with

(1984) * '' The Pink Opaque'' with Cocteau Twins (1986) * '' The Moon and the Melodies'' with Cocteau Twins and

Harold Budd Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimalist and avant-garde scene of Southern California in the l ...

(1986) * ''

Blue Bell Knoll ''Blue Bell Knoll'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 19 September 1988 by 4AD. This was the band's first album to receive major-label distribution in the United States, as it was originally li ...

'' with Cocteau Twins (1988) * '' Heaven or Las Vegas'' with Cocteau Twins (1990) * ''

Four-Calendar Café ''Four-Calendar Café'' is the seventh studio album by Scottish band Cocteau Twins, released on 18 October 1993 by Fontana Records. Background The album distinguishes itself from the rest of the Twins' catalogue in two major areas: The sound is ...

'' with Cocteau Twins (1993) * '' Milk & Kisses'' with Cocteau Twins (1996) * ''Blame Someone Else'' (1997) * ''Luminus Love in 23'' with Nanaco (1998) * ''Moon'' with

(2014) * ''Ojalá'' with Lost Horizons (2017) * ''In Quiet Moments'' with Lost Horizons (2021)

References

External links

Bella Union Website

Simon Raymonde: My Life's Playlist
- IASs Blog, 27 January 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raymonde, Simon 1962 births Living people English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English record producers 4AD artists Cocteau Twins members People from Tottenham People from Lewisham Bella Union artists