Simon Lynge

Simon Lynge

Anybody who has been around for any length of time in the world of music figures they have heard it all. We’ve met people with backgrounds that seem like pure fiction. Meet Simon Lynge, a shepherd from Greenland.

It would be great to just leave it there, but it seems only fair to explain it a little.

Simon, who’s CD “Beautiful Way To Drown” will be released in Europe in May with Jon Mattox (Young Dubliners), Matt Forger (Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones) and himself as producers, was born in Denmark. He did a lot of growing up in Greenland, the birthplace of his father, living in the village of Alluitsoq, population 50. 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, exposing Simon to some ethnicity few of us get to see. His grandfather was a great organist, composer and conductor of his own choir in Greenland.

“I knew very early on that I couldn’t hold 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 in 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, who now lives in Los Angeles, got there by way of Copenhagen, where he immersed himself in the songwriting community. “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 back then – 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 real 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 musician. 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 a couple of girls – that was written before I came to America the first time.” Simon has come along way from being a home-schooled shepherd.

Simon has just finished his debut album with Jon Mattox, Matt Forger and himself as producers. “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