Simon Williams (born January 1970, Stafford, England) is a Leicester-based musician and graphic designer.
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Williams (aka Crayola) currently fronts the indie pop band Sarandon, who have recorded several EPs and sessions for the BBC's OneMusic show and for Marc Riley's BBC Radio 6 program. In the mid 1980s, inspired by John Peel and bands such as The June Brides and Big Flame, he started his first band, The Colgates, began promoting in his local area and eventually set up his own cassette label, Thee Foundation For Nothing.
Between 1991 and 2003 Simon recorded 25 solo albums and appeared on over 100 releases.[1] In 2002, Williams set up the kabukikore record label releasing albums by Steve Beresford, I'm Sore, Future Sperm Brasil and Mugstar amongst others. Each title was released in limited editions of 50 copies in hand-made sleeves, and the label became a favourite of obscure music collectors around the world, as well as being much enjoyed by magazines such as The Wire.
In 2000 Williams took a position at Nation Records, initially doing press and PR before becoming the label manager. Following this he moved to Charmenko. Owned and run by Nick Hobbs (The Shrubs, Mecca, Black Paintings), Williams specialised in organising concerts and events across Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. These included major concerts for Moby, Iggy Pop, Manu Chao, Bryan Adams and UB40.
Williams' remit at Charmenko also included working as managerial assistant to David Thomas and Pere Ubu as part of Ubu Projex, managing the London based indie pop band Spearmint and running their record label, HitBack, as well as working as Managerial Assistant to Laibach and The Band Of Holy Joy.
In October 2009 John Robb's book Death To Trad Rock (Cherry Red Books) included an entire chapter on Williams' music and his place in the history of the UK independent music scene.
Having initially trained as a screenprinter in the mid 1980s, during which time he printed the infamous "Drugs Not Jobs" T-shirts (famously worn by Spiritualised), Williams currently works as a freelance graphic designer under the company name of drinkMILK. He is the chosen designer for all the latest Nightingales record sleeves and CD covers as well as designing T-shirts for various bands and London's tourism industry.