Simon Miminis

Born on the edge of Canada next to the Atlantic Ocean, Simon was brought up in the rustic and beautiful island of Newfoundland which is where he is based out of today. The sheer natural beauty of this province as well as the warmth and kindness of its people was an essential part in his growth and passion as an artist and person.

Apart from his Newfoundland Heritage he also has strong family roots in Greece. This has given him opportunities to live and learn in Greece and
adapt much of the Greek culture and music into his own artistic direction.

His love for music began at an early age with a natural attraction to rhythm. He picked up his first set of drums at the age of 10 and began studying under Sonny Hogan (2006 MusicNL Educator Of The Year). During this time Simon received several awards at national competitions with Concert and Jazz Bands. His success as a player around Newfoundland led him to working with several established local artists as well as being awarded numerous grants to record and travel such as the “New Steele Demo Grant”, MusicNL’s “Professional Development” Grant and funding through the NLAC’s “Professional Project Grants Program”. Eventually Simon auditioned to several Post-Secondary Institutions to
further pursue his love for music. He ended up accepting a scholarship offer to attend Humber College’s prestigious School of Creative and
Performing Arts where he is an ‘honors’ student entering his final year of a Bachelor’s of Contemporary Music.

A film junkie since birth, his interest in film and music has also led him into the realm of film composition. He is currently studying film composition in Humber College under Jim McGrath (Degrassi, Republic of Doyle) and has scored numerous student and independent films/commercials. He has had the opportunity to work with several talented directors spanning various genres such as Drama, Horror, Action and Comedy and has received several awards for composition such as the “Duke Ellington Society Scholarship” as well as having his work featured at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Along with film composition Simon has also studied composition and arranging under Andy Ballantyne and John MacLeod and plans to continue his compositional studies as a graduate
student.

Currently, Simon owns his own recording studio “Forgotten Bouzouki Records” where he pursues his career as a composer, recording engineer,
freelance drummer and educator.

Apart from composition Simon also has extensive experience as a performer with over a decade of performing various styles of music
including Pop, Rock, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Island Music (Reggae, Calypso), or World Music styles such as Latin (Afro-Cuban, Brazilian), Greek and
African as well as some Orchestral music.

He has studied with several of Canada’s finest drummers and percussionists including Mark Kelso (Percussion Department Head at
Humber College, Session Musician) who notes that “Simon Miminis is a great student and a joy to teach. He is an enthusiastic, hard working and
reliable musician”. He has also studied with Paul Delong (Session Drummer, Kim Mitchell), Chendy Leon (Canefire, Session Drummer), Sonny
Hogan (2005 & 2006 MusicNL Educator of the Year) and Rob Power (Head of Percussion at MUN) focusing on snare and mallet playing (Timpani and Marimba) amongst others.

Apart from his education, Simon has also worked with several talented musicians including Pamela Morgan (Solo Artist, Figgy Duff – Folk, Singer
Songwriter), Dave Panting (Solo Artist, Figgy Duff – Folk, Country, Various), Patrick Boyle (Solo Artist – Jazz) Curtis Andrews (Dzolali, Mopaya
– World Music), Margaret Stowe (Solo artist, Session artist – Jazz), Mike Skiffington (Solo Artist, Truth Laced Lie – Rock), Palaver (Rock), Anna
Wheeler (Solo Artist – Folk, Singer Songwriter) as well as ensembles led by Waleed Abdulhamid, Steve Mancuso and Hilario Duran and a year with the MUN Jazz Ensemble amongst others. Simon has performed numerous shows in the St.John’s and Toronto area and at various festivals including the Sound Symposium, the NL Folk Festival, the Wreckhouse International Jazz & Blues Festival on numerous
occasions and most notably the 2005 Cape Breton International Drum Festival. A two day International Drum Festival arranged by Bruce Aitkin
that involves the participation of some fantastic drummers including: Bernard Purdie (James Brown, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King), the late and
great Uriel Jones (Mo-Town Session Drummer, Funk Brothers), Billy Ward (Session Drummer, Joan Osborn), Marco Minnemann (Independent,
Session Drummer), Gil Sharone (Fishbone), and Dom Famularo (World Drum Educator/Motivator, B.B. King, Lionel Hampton) amongst others.

www.simonmiminis.com