Simon Holmes

Simon Carter Holmes (28 March 196313 July 2017) was an Australian musician who served as the singer and lead guitarist for the indie rock bands, The Hummingbirds (1986–93) and Her Name in Lights (2003–05).

Biography

Simon Holmes was born on 28 March 1963 at Mordialloc Hospital to Neville and Eve Holmes. He grew up with an elder sister, Kerith, and a younger brother, Rowan. The family lived in Bentleigh, before shifting to Turramurra in 1967, before going overseas for three years, in upstate New York, where Holmes started school at Myers Corner. The family then moved to Geneva, Switzerland. He spent part of his childhood in Canberra, attending the AME School: an alternative education institution and then Hawker College. Holmes moved to Sydney in the early 1980s. He started studying anthropology and archaeology at the University of Sydney, but left after two years.

For a family history published in 2007 Simon wrote about how he got into music: "We were up in Queensland for a family holiday and the moment I heard Paul McCartney go: 1,2,3,4 it was all over for me: family, friends and art are what matters. Everything that's happened in my professional life since then stems from that moment. All that I've ever known is rock and roll and retail which would explain why I find myself as a second hand record dealer. I like to listen to, sell, read about, make, and help other people make music. I am playing in four or five musical outfits concurrently: Bondi covers band 'the Shark Alarms'; acoustic duo 'Four and a half sticks'; dormant attack rock outfit 'Fragile'; and sensitive pop band 'Her name in lights'."

In 1981 Holmes, on guitar and vocals, replaced founding member Greg Suptut in Sydney-based punk rockers, the Exserts, until May 1983. Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from September 2010 the [on-line] version shows an 'Internal Service Error' and was no longer available.

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