This artist has been busy since the late '70s in a progression of creative events that includes writing and publishing poetry; programming avant-garde music and film events; working as a musician, composer, and improviser on his own and in groups such as Coolhaven; involvement in many aspects of theater, cinema, and dance. That might leave out some aspects of Lukas Simonis' activities, as these types of artistic geniuses like to sometimes say, that's just his morning. It gets the idea across for anyone who thinks the Renaissance ended somewhere before the 20th century, but it doesn't explain how anybody on the arts scene in Rotterdam, Holland, could possibly describe Simonis as "lazy." This large Dutch port, one of the cities hardest hit by bombing during the second World War, is where Simonis was born in the early '60s and where he has basically been based ever since.

In addition to his own performing activities, he has been linked as an organizer in Rotterdam with important underground venues such as The Jazz Bunker, Dodorama and The Worm. Simonis' curriculum vitae lists his earliest creative activities as writing poetry, beginning in 1979, and including self-publishing a book entitled -Slime in the early '80s. As this decade progressed he began to build up a discography of appearances on guitar with ensembles such as Dull Shickshal and Trespassers W. Even fans of this type of music have a hard time coming up with a label for it; in 1993, one recording with Simonis made a blip on the radar of jazz discographer Tom Lord, but most of Simonis' affiliations would be considered well outside the borders of swing country.

Some of his most important collaborations yielded recorded documentation in 1999, including the fine Coolhaven group as well as A.A. Kismet. He also created the first of his collaborations with French instrument builder and composer Pierre Bastien that year, an EP released on Room records; a full-length CD with Bastien followed in 2002. Simonis became a member of the VRIL trio in 2003, joining forces with percussionist Chris Cutler and multi-instrumentalist Bob Drake for a well-received CD. Simonis' involvement with film soundtracks is extensive, including scores for #Paniek, #Twee Heren Die Het Leven Serieus Nemen, #Questions and Answers, and #Als Buurman Zingt. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi