Lukas Simonis has his roots as an instrumentalist and musical ‘activist’ in the industrial music and noise rock of the Eighties ( Throbbing Gristle, the Residents, Pere Ubu, Sonic Youth and beyond). Being a part of the Rotterdam jazzbunker scene (a collective that consisted of heavy drug induced punk rockers, freejazzers, early electronic musicians and pre-postrock combo’s) he discovered the delimited world of improvisation. In the meantime & after he played in bands like Dull Schicksal, Trespassers W, Morzelpronk, AA Kismet, Liana Flu Winks, VRIL, Stepmother, Perfect Vacuum, Bazip Zeehok and Coolhaven. At the same time he was/is organising concerts, events and films, first at the Jazzbunker in Rotterdam later on the Dissonanten festival, the Dissidenten festival, Popifilm, Dodorama , WORM, a multimedia centre for experimental art and now and then in small DIY situations like VROOOM, Koffie en Ambacht and WGW (new place since april 2025).
He collaborates with lots of people from different backgrounds. For instance; Kruk (with Nina Hitz and Sato Endo), STEPMOTHER (with Jeroen Visser, Bill Gilonis and Tisa Neza Herlec), The X Static Tics (with Henk Bakker), Bazip Zeehok (with GJ Prins & Jos Ex). Other people he worked with; Eugene Chadbourne (USA), Goh Lee Kwang (Kuala Lumpur), Bohman Brothers (UK), Anne La Berge (USA/NL), Faces (with Huib Emmer, NL), Peter Stampfel (USA), Eddie Prevost (UK), Los Siquicos Literalenos (Arg.), Nora Mulder, Fra Zedde.
Current projects are; Coolhaven (still), Suikeroom (with Fra Zedde), Bazip Zeehok(with Jos Ex), with Nora Mulder & Karen Willems, Nina Hitz, The Static Tics, Stepmother, Pierre Bastien, etc.
Walcheturm, Zurich, CH, december 21th, 2019, The Longest Night. We played at 6 in the morning… Nina Hitz & Lukas Simonis… most audience was stretched out on the floor or on some chairs… but still alive and listening…
Foto © Lorenzo Pusterla