Now Playing: If You Go
Simon Lynge
The highly respected Lo-Max Records, the UK home of The Go Betweens, Kevin Ayers, The Court and Spark and The Wrens among others, has licensed Simon Lynge's recording "A Beautiful Way to Drown" for release in Europe. It was produced by Matt Forger (Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney) and Jon Mattox (The Young Dubliners). Simon is once again gracing the shores of England this month (September).
Simon Lynge was born in Denmark and spent his childhood in Greenland. Despite acclaim over the past few years from the Danish and Greenlandic media, Simon has held off recording until he was able to put the team together that made him comfortable.
The trek to an L.A. studio with two of the most respected men in the recording industry and joined by such world renowned musicians as Lee Sklar, Shane Fontayne and Freebo, started in the village of Alluitsoq, population 50, in Greenland. He didn’t go to school “or any other kind of social establishment”, he says, but often helped the neighboring shepherds with their work. His parents' divorce ended that blissful life and Simon moved back to Holstebro, Denmark with his mother and brother. He began studying drums, piano and opera at Holstebro Music School.
A musical life seemed inevitable. Simon’s father, Karl is a regular sideman on accordion for Rasmus Lyberth, the Greenlandic Bob Dylan. Karl was a member of the Tukak Theatre Group, a unique impressionistic group that worked with Eskimo folklore. His grandfather was a great organist, composer and conductor of his own choir in Greenland.
“I knew very early on that I didn’t want a regular job – it just never really made sense to me. One time when I was sixteen and working as a delivery boy in Qaqortoq, Greenland, I got into trouble 'cause I’d go into the freezing room with all the milk, and sing like crazy. I knew back then that I had to do music, one way or the other…”
Simon immersed himself in the songwriting community in Coppenhagen. “I started co-writing a lot and some great people in the Danish organization ROSA helped me set up things in London where I performed at the legendary Kashmir Club”, a hang out for many major artists passing through the U.K. “I co-wrote the song ‘London Town’ off the new record, in London with my friend Richard Lobb – we met through the Kashmir Klub via Tony Moore, who started the venue. It was an incredible scene– I saw Imogen Heap, KT Tunstall and all these great acts before they broke – everybody performed there. After one of my first trips there I wanted to make a demo really bad, so I sold my stereo to my ex-girlfriend – and actually ended up selling a lot of my stuff so I could travel and have fun…”
Entrepreneur/musician Brett Perkins brought Simon to the U.S. in 2002, where he got to perform in Nashville and California. In Nashville he met CMA “Song Of The Year” award winning songwriter and former Polydor A&R exec Larry Shell, who invited Simon back to Nashville and helped establish connections and make demos. “I actually spent a lot of time on Music Row where I slept on a mattress in an empty room of the publishing company Larry worked for - I’d wake up in the morning and go into the conference room and start writing, grab a cup of coffee and then write some more – got a lot of songs written that way. Later Larry was merciful enough to invite me into his home”.
Simon returned to Denmark and toured extensively with a band he put together made up of the top Danish musicians. The tour included a visit to Greenland. “At that time we would play to crowds of 600 people and my show was televised – I guess all that was pretty unusual for someone who hadn’t even made a record yet. Everybody would always ask when my album was coming and I’d have to tell them that I was in no rush at all – I didn’t feel ready or maybe I just wanted to be carefree for a bit longer - have a couple of more weird adventures”. Simon became a household name in Greenland and started seeing success in Denmark as well including having his concert broadcast on Danish TV station DR.
But the U.S. musical world fascinated Simon. “From my first visit to America, the culture fascinated me and I felt drawn to be here – like my song ‘Full Speed’ talks about driving in an open car on Route 66 with my girl – that was written before I came to America the first time.”
“A Beautiful Way To Drown” was recorded in a small studio in L.A. over the latter half of 2006. Simon explains how it came together: “I met Jon when my longtime friend and collaborator Matt Forger brought me into Jon’s Bright Orange Studios to record “Skin Is a Disguise” for a benefit album he was putting together. I needed a drummer for a gig and Jon played with me – after the show Jon asked if I wanted to come out and record a song in his studio, so I did. I just put down vocals and guitar and then the next day he sent me this incredible production - it blew me away and I knew I wanted to do a record with him.
I met Matt Forger the very first time I was in LA in 2002 – he saw a show I did and invited me to his studio. The first time we sat down and talked about music, we cried together – I think that’s all I need to say.”
The album, recorded at Bright Orange Studios and AniSound in Los Angeles and Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, features performances by legendary bass player Lee Sklar (James Taylor, Elton John) drummer Jay Bellerose (Marc Cohen, Madeleine Peyroux) guitarist Shane Fontayne (Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon) and many others. The record will be released on Bright Orange Records whom Simon signed with earlier this year.
“Beautiful Way To Drown” showcases Simon as a highly gifted singer/songwriter and musician.
