Simon Grey
Biographie Simon Grey
Simon Grey
Producer, composer and keyboard player Simon Grey’s signature sound is a blend of jazz, polyphonic badness and layered syncopated grooves that’s as soulful as it is sophisticated.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Simon's musical journey began early — and unconventionally. Known for driving his piano teachers (and the parents of other students) to distraction, he had little interest in sticking to the notes on the page. “Music was always the thing,” Simon reflects. “Conformity I was never particularly talented at.” Even from a young age, he pushed back against the well-worn idea that “everything’s already been done” in music. “I thought — really? Surely there’s still so much left to explore and attempt to expand.”
That spirit of exploration shaped Simon’s early sonic world. Late-night mixtape deep-dives with mates led him to giants like Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, and Joe Zawinul. But one haunting sound from those sessions stuck in his mind. “What was that oboe-ish thing?” he asked. That’s the ARP 2600 synthesizer, my friend.
That moment ignited a lifelong obsession with analog synthesis, vintage keyboards, and all things polyphonic — an obsession still very much not under control. “It was the point of no return. I had to find that sound. I had to have those boxes.”Blending jazz harmony, synth-based orchestration, David Garibaldi-inspired linear grooves, and textures that span classical to disco, Simon’s music is deeply layered, meticulously arranged, and fiercely self-contained — where production and performance constantly drive each other in an cycle of creative energy.
Originally a drummer, Simon eventually shifted to jazz keys and production — but the drummer in him never left and drum programming still plays a big part in his production thinking. After formal jazz piano studies, he relocated to Europe in 2005, joining forces in the studio and on stage with UK soul institutions Incognito and Reel People. His unique production voice soon resonated across club culture, earning remix credits with KneeDeep for Jamiroquai, Elton John, and Bootsy Collins, along with his funk, house releases like Galactica Suite and Prophecy. As a keyboard player, he’s shared stages with the NDR Bigband, Deodato, Darryl Jones, and Tony Momrelle.
Never content with remaining in comfort zones or doing what is expected within them, Simon started to fuse his own take on the worlds of modern gospel, sound scapes, broken beat and future Jazz in 2015. This led to a bold new chapter: The ‘Pressing Matters’ Sessions begun in 2018. Eclectic, ambitious, and recorded across multiple continents, the project brings together musical heroes as collaborators and explores his own uncharted sonic and harmonic terrain.
