GERMANY: SIMON COLLINS SON OF PHIL COLLINS SPEAKS ABOUT NEW CAREER IN THE POP BUSINESS

Record ID: 389967

  • Title: GERMANY: SIMON COLLINS SON OF PHIL COLLINS SPEAKS ABOUT NEW CAREER IN THE POP BUSINESS
  • Date: 1st August 2000
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIMON COLLINS SAYS, "The way I would consider myself to be successful, is if I could inspire someone to take a closer look at life, or from a different angle or different perspective or just open one fraction of someone's mind to something else. Then I would consider myself successful. So for me, it's really important to sing about things that inspire other people that inspire hope, you know, that are gonna hopefully make people look at things from a different perspective just for that one moment you know."
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FRANKFURT, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVAC9A0V6I3IR1PCZ26LWQYB7FUG
  • Story Text: Like father, like son, Phil Collins' son Simon is starting to make a name for himself on the German music scene.
    Based in Frankfurt, he is fast gaining a solid following after the release of his first album, 'All of Who You Are,' and has just released a new single 'Moneymaker.' Reuters caught up with Simon in Frankfurt.
    Although Simon has not long put together a band and has in fact only played two concerts here in Germany, he hopes to remedy this by touring soon.
    Simon was born in London, he moved to Canada at the age of eight with his mother.
    At the age of twenty-three he is at the beginning of his career and is still experimenting with different sounds; listing Oasis and Nirvana as major influences - as well as his father's band Genesis! He freely admits that having British pop superstar Phil Collins as a father is both a benefit and a hindrance and accepts that comparisons between the two will always be drawn.
    He sees a lot of his father who has watched him perform at one of his gigs. Simon says one of the benefits of living in Frankfurt is the proximity to his father who lives in Switzerland. Simon is also a DJ but has yet to find a gig in Frankfurt.
    "Europe in general, I just like the culture, the history, I'm a really big history buff, " Simon says "I like the fact that if you like drive to France, to Paris for the weekend, whatever, to do those cliché things, you can do those things, you know. It's just like a few hours drive, it's like just living in Europe in general is nice, but Germany is a great country, you know."
    And success - on something like the scale enjoyed by his father perhaps? "The way I would consider myself to be successful, is if I could inspire someone to take a closer look at life, or from a different angle or different perspective or just open one fraction of someone's mind to something else.
    "Then I would consider myself successful. So for me, it's really important to sing about things that inspire other people that inspire hope, you know, that are gone na ah hopefully make people look at things from a different perspective just for that one moment you know.
    "Because there's always these comparisons, and it's hard to break away from that, it's only in time that you know, the second record, third record, fourth, people are going to start taking you more seriously and realise hey this wasn't like just let's cash in on the fact that my Dad is Phil.
    "Well maybe I could make my way in the music industry, it's not like that, I've always had music in my heart and soul."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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