Ian Simmonds

by Sean CooperIan Simmonds has released material on !K7, Ninja Tunes Ntone offshoot, SSR, and his own ATL imprint. Formerly of pop-house group the Sandals (who had a huge hit in the early 90s with Feet), Simmonds went solo after problems with the groups label forced them to break up (his label, ATL — All Thats Left — is an ironic tribute to that sobering experience). Although his solo releases began appearing around the time of post-MoWax bandwagon-jumping, Simmonds tracks have a studied complexity that distinguish them from the breakbeat wallpaper of the spliff-soaked downbeat set. He released his first two 12s, Jurymans Juryman 1 and Juryman 2, on ATL before heading to Ninja Tunes experimental Ntone arm for Juryman 3. His fourth single (care to guess its title?) appeared on Crammed subsidiary SSR in 1997 and included more full-blown drumnbass rhythmic elements. The Juryman full-length Mail Order Justice followed later that year, recorded with recording partner Luke Gordon (aka Spacer), the in-house engineer at Howie B.s Pussyfoot studio. Both Simmonds second (Last States of Nature) and third (Return to X) full-lengths appeared under his own name on !K7.