Simon's first exposure to the world of percussion was in 1983 when at the age of 6 he was chosen to play maracas in a school concert. He then began to ritually abuse his mother's pots and pans, cushions, and boxes with homemade sticks. He also sang in a church choir and appeared on BBC's Blue Peter, and played percussion on Record Breakers as part of the "World's Biggest Jazz Band" record attempt.

He moved to Norfolk in 1986 and took percussion lessons with the late Angus Honeyman, and later Colin Brady. Throughout his school career he played in bands both in and out of school, and by the age of 15 was doing over 50 gigs a year. When he left school in 1995 he turned professional, and began teaching drums as well as continuing to play in bands of all styles, including rock, pop and jazz groups, orchestras and brass bands.

Since then, he has done over 1000 gigs with numerous bands, dozens of recordings, and has taught hundreds of students in schools and privately. He has performed in the UK, Europe and America, and opened for artists including Walter Trout, Blue Oyster Cult, Robben Ford and Johnny Winter. His current gig is with The Oli Brown Band, an original blues-based trio.

Simon's favourite drummers include Vinnie Colaiuta, Billy Ward, Gavin Harrison, Terry Bozzio, Ronnie Tutt and Mike Bordin. His other musical influences include Stevie Wonder, Ben Folds, Billy Joel and Porcupine Tree.

He currently lives in Norfolk with his girlfriend, and in his spare time enjoys driving, films, food, wine and Zorbing.