Biography Simon Jermyn

Simon Jermyn is an electric bassist / guitarist and composer currently based in Dublin, Ireland. Simon's debut album as a leader, Trot A Mouse, has recently been released on the prestigious Fresh Sound New Talent record label.

As well as having perfromed all around Europe and in the USA, Simon has lived in The Hague, Reykjavik and New York. He holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance from The Royal Conservatory of The Hague in The Netherlands.

He is a member of several different bands each performing innovative and original music ranging from contemporary jazz to free improv to noise to singer songwriter.

Biography

Simon Jermyn (born 1981) has played guitar and bass since a young age. Throughout his teens he studied classical guitar at The Royal Irish Academy of Music, and jazz privately with teachers Mike Nielsen and Hugh Buckley.

After a summer scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, and completion of secondary school, Simon obtained a Guildhall School of Music and Drama performance diploma at Newpark Music Centre in Dublin, before moving to The Hague for five years and earning a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance. He has also taken private lessons with some musicians including Drew Gress, Skúli Sverrisson, Hilmar Jensson, Tim Berne and Jim Black.

Since then Simon has lived in Reykjavík and New York and is currently back in Dublin.

He performs equally as an electric bassist and guitarist. His work very often also makes use of effects and electronics to sample and manipulate in real time, as well as incorporating field recordings. Recently, he has added baritone and fretless guitars to some groups he works with.

Simon is an active composer, and writes new music for his own groups and others. His main compositional outlets have been Trot A Mouse and Awkward Silence. The music for the latter is often based around quarter tones and the idea of dividing the octave in to 24 equal parts, as well as soundscapes, through composed forms and different rate of change happening simultaneously.

Simon also teaches ensembles on the BA Jazz Performance course at Newpark Music Centre, Dublin and privately.

He has performed and recorded with musicians including Chris Speed, Loren Stillman, Hilmar Jensson, Eivind Opsvik, Jeff Williams, Ronan Guilfoyle, Mikkel Ploug, Joachim Badenhorst, Justin Carroll, Michael Buckley, Rebecca Collins, Pete Robbins, Ryan Blotnick, Peter Van Huffel, Kevin Brow, Robin Fincker, Jacob Wick, Harris Eisenstadt, Nir Felder and Sean Carpio.

His debut album as a leader, Trot A Mouse has recently been released on the Spanish label Fresh Sound New Talent.

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