Simon Collins

Simon Philip Nando Collins (born 14 September 1976) is a British drummer and the former lead vocalist of the progressive rock band Sound of Contact. Collins is the son of English drummer and singer Phil Collins and Collins' first wife, Andrea Bertorelli. He is the brother of actress Joely Collins and paternal half-brother of actress Lily Collins and drummer Nic Collins. Reviewers have compared his vocals to those of his father.

Early life Collins was born in Hammersmith, London, England. He is the eldest son of English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins and his first wife, British-Canadian citizen Andrea Bertorelli. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1984, when he was 8 years old, after his parents' divorce. He lived with his mother, Andrea, and his sister, Joely, in nearby Richmond between the ages of 8 and 11. In 1991, his parents were involved in a court battle at the Supreme Court of British Columbia to gain possession of the estate, owing to a misunderstanding of the terms of ownership of the home. His father had previously placed the estate in an irrevocable land trust in 1987, however, to be owned by both children jointly in adulthood. His father succeeded in retaining control of the estate until Simon's twentieth birthday, as the judge ruled in October 1991 he was not old enough to sign his half of the estate to his mother as she had intended. Collins completed his secondary education at Vancouver's Point Grey Secondary School.

Collins first became involved with music when he was five after his father purchased for him a Tama drum kit. He practised drumming by playing along with music albums in his parents' record collection as well as when accompanying his father while on tour with Genesis. Though he had a percussion instructor when he was ten, Collins preferred drumming to artists such as Stewart Copeland, Gavin Harrison, and Keith Moon over his formal lessons in jazz drumming. He also appeared onstage for a performance during the Seriously, Live! World Tour. While he played drums in numerous hard rock bands beginning at age 14, Collins wanted to pursue singing, songwriting, and diversity in music styles, including pop, progressive rock, rock and roll, punk, grunge, and electronica. According to Collins, he did not wish to spend his life "drumming to other people's music." His early compositions were rejected by the heavier rock bands he played for because of their pop style.

In his late teens, Collins worked part-time as a disc jockey in Vancouver's rave scene. His experiences in rave culture inspired a collaborative documentary project with his sister Joely called Summer Love.

Collins developed a passion for astronomy and social issues during his youth, and frequently revisits these themes in his music.

Career

Solo career and collaborations Prior to the beginning of his solo career, Collins was a member of the local punk band Jet Set. Collins was signed by Warner Music Group following a release of demo tapes he had recorded in 2000. The album saw 100,000 copies sold in Germany and three singles were released off it: "Pride", "Money Maker" and "Shine Through". The album's sales have been attributed to the success of the single, "Pride." A second single, "Shine Through", was co-written by Collins and Howard Jones.

In 2003, Collins left Warner Music and returned to Vancouver to start his own record label, Lightyears Music. On the Lightyears label two years later, Collins released his second album, Time for Truth.

U-Catastrophe, released in 2008 on iTunes, became Collins' first North American recording project. The album's first single, "Unconditional", debuted on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart at No. 30 in September 2008. and charted on the Canadian Hot 100 in the same month. Kerzner, Kelly Nordstrom, and Steve Hackett were featured on "Fast Forward the Future"; Phil Collins appeared on "The Big Bang". The band, known by December 2012 as Sound of Contact, included Collins on lead vocals and drums, Kerzner on keyboards, and Dorsey and Nordstrom sharing guitar and bass duties. The band's debut album, Dimensionaut, was released in May 2013.

Collins left Sound of Contact in 2018.

Personal life Collins is bisexual.

Discography

Studio albums 1999: All of Who You Are 2005: Time for Truth 2008: U-Catastrophe 2020: Becoming Human

Singles

Sound of Contact 2013: Dimensionaut (with Dave Kerzner)

eMolecule 2023: The Architect (with Kelly Nordstrom)

With other artists 2012: Genesis Revisited II (with Steve Hackett)