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Ian Simmonds | |
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![]() Ian Simmonds in 2009 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Ian Simmonds |
Also known as | Juryman |
Born | Wales | March 22, 1966
Genres | Electronic, trip hop [1] |
Occupation(s) | Disc jockey music producer singer |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels | Acid Jazz, FFRR, Open Toe Records, Orange Egg Records, All That's Left, Pussyfoot Records, Ntone, SSR Records, Crammed Discs, !K7, Musik Krause, Goldmin Music |
Website | www.ian-simmonds.com |
Ian Simmonds (born 1966), also known as Juryman, is a Welsh-born electronic musician. He is one of a few talents "to successfully breach the chasm that keeps DJ culture from more tangible, organic realms." [2] His complex musical landscapes are often accompanied by his deep calm voice, making poetic, political and social statements at the same time. He is a self-taught musician, singing and playing trumpet, bass guitar, piano and is a producer with numerous releases, contributions and co-productions.
Simmonds spent part of his childhood following his trumpet-playing dad around the world. When he turned 18, he moved to London and formed a collective called Sandals with three other friends. This collective came together in the late 1980s to start a club in London Soho called "Violets", a response to the emerging acid house scene and early rave culture. Events in several other clubs followed. In the onset of the 1990s, the "Sandals" were formed in that humus and had little success, suddenly publishing for London Records. Simmonds started publishing his own deep, vibrant music in 1995 first under his pseudonym Juryman, later on under his real name Ian Simmonds.
In the mid-1990s, Simmonds began recording a series of EPs. He also produced his tracks for the then-unknown Leftfield and Pressure Drop, which would later influence his own work. During these recordings, he met musician Luke Gordon, also known as Spacer. In 1997, SSR published a collaboration LP Juryman vs Spacer: Mailorder Justice. His solo debut LP published in 1999 by !K7 Ian Simmonds: Last States of Nature was well perceived and consolidated his reputation as an innovative producer. It was soon followed by the LP Juryman: The Hill, published in 2000 by SSR Records. In 2001, Ian Simmonds: Return to X released at !K7; another Juryman LP got released in 2002, Escape to Where.
Since the mid-1990s, he has worked with several other artists such as Leftfield, Goldfrapp, and Pressure Drop on various collaborations, remixes, and accompanied by appearances on dozens of compilations. He also composed music for Adam Smith's Channel 4 documentary A.I.P.S.
In 2005, Simmonds moved to Germany to work with local musicians on his jazz project Wise in Time. Since then, he has released music under his own name through Musik Krause, a sublabel of Freude am Tanzen, where five EPs were released and his recent LP, Ian Simmonds: Burgenland Dubs.