Simon Tong

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Simon Tong

Simon Tong (born July 9, 1972 in Lancashire , England ) is a British musician. He is a guitarist , keyboardist , producer and songwriter and attended the same grade level as Richard Ashcroft . He became known as a member of The Verve and as a temporary guitarist for Blur , the Gorillaz and The Good, the Bad & the Queen . He is guitarist and producer of the band Erland & The Carnival , which releases "Butterfly Recordings" on his own label.

Career

The Verve 1995 to 1999

His long-term friendship with Simon Jones gave Tong the opportunity to take on the post of The Verve - lead guitarist following the temporary departure of Nick McCabe . He was instrumental in the creation process of The Verve - Bestsellers Urban Hymns involved. At the end of 1996 McCabe rejoined the band, Tong remained in the band as the fifth member, but now as a rhythm guitarist and keyboardist . In 1999 the band disbanded. The Verve Best Of from 2004 shows two tracks, This Could Be My Moment and Monte Carlo , in which Simon Tong is the sole guitarist. In the renewed reunion of The Verve in 2007 he was not involved.

The Rub, The Shining 2000 to 2003

After the Verve split, Tong first teamed up with Alan Wren (ex- Stone Roses ) in 2000 for his solo ambitions. Reni's project eventually became the band The Rub , but Tong only remains a short-term guest keyboardist. After the other " Verve-Stone Roses Agreement " between Simon Jones and John Squire in 2000 threatened to fail, Simon Tong joined The Shining in 2001 as a guitarist. For the debut album True Skies , Tong was ultimately involved in songwriting for the majority of the songs, both lyrically and musically. The single I Wonder How only bears his credits as an author, while he appears as a songwriter with Simon Jones on half a dozen songs . After the album was released and a European tour in 2002, Simon Tong got an offer from Damon Albarn that he couldn't refuse. Since Dan MacBean is also leaving the band as the second guitarist, The Shining are briefly disbanded.

Damon Albarn 2003 to 2007

Guitarist Graham Coxon had turned his back on his band Blur in 2002 while recording the album Think Tank . Now Albarn asked Tong whether he could replace Coxon in 2003 for the subsequent promotional tour through Europe, which he answered in the affirmative. Since the return of Coxon should never be completely ruled out, Simon Tong retains the status of substitute guitarist at Blur. However, a close musical friendship with Damon Albarn developed from this collaboration .

After completing the Think Tank tour, Simon Tong recorded various keyboard lines for the recordings of the debut album Something Ilk by Simon Jones' new band Cathy Davey in 2004 , before starting rehearsals and recordings for the Gorillaz's second album with Damon Albarn as guitarist . The album Demon Days will finally be released in spring 2005, for which Simon Tong will also tour live as guitarist.

In mid-2006 Damon Albarn announced the cast of his new project The Good, the Bad & the Queen , in which Simon Tong appears in the line-up . For the first time, the taciturn Simon Tong is not a substitute guitarist, but was the first choice when starting a band from the start. The project's debut album of the same name was released in 2007. Simon Tong did not participate in the 2007 reunion of The Verve.

Butterfly Recordings, The Carnival. 2007 until today

At the end of 2006 Simon Tong founded the record label Butterfly Recordings with the English producer Martin "Youth" Glover (ex-bassist of Killing Joke ) . Glover and Tong know each other since the establishment of Urban Hymns and play since 2005 with Paul Ferguson and Tim Bran ( Dreadzone ) in the soundscape project transmission together. The label specializes in English indie folk . The first band signed was Indigo Moss ; Tong produced their debut album. Tong also produced Petra Jean Phillipson, Duke Garwood and Samatha Marais.

Since 2008/2009 Simon Tong has been a permanent member of the Butterfly Recordings band Erland & The Carnival , which recorded the debut album Erland & The Carnival in 2009 with singer Garwin Erland Cooper . Cooper comes from the Orkney Islands, the music is psychedelic Britpop influenced by Scottish folk elements. In addition to Tong, the drummer David Nock (formerly The Orb and The Cult ) is an integral part of the band. The first album was released in late January 2010. The second album Nightingale came out in March 2011. In 2012 he released the folk album Orkney: Symphony of the Magnetic North with Erland Cooper and Hannah Peel .

Discography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Simon Tong  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NME - New Musical Express , Reni's Second Coming! , January 27, 2000
  2. ^ New Musical Express News: John Squire loses another band , August 5, 2000
The Verve
Studio albums

A Storm in Heaven • A Northern Soul • Urban Hymns • Forth

Extended plays

Verve • Voyager 1 • Five by Five

Compilation albums

No Come Down • This Is Music: The Singles 92–98

Singles

All in the Mind • She's a Superstar • Gravity Grave • Blue • Slide Away • This Is Music • On Your Own • History • Bitter Sweet Symphony • The Drugs Don't Work • Lucky Man • Sonnet • Love Is Noise • Rather Be

personal data
SURNAME Tong, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH July 9, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Lancashire , UK