After starting at The West Australian in the late 20th century, Simon Collins jumped into the Music Editor beanbag in 2002. Neither a snooty elitist nor a black t-shirt clad rock pig, but a bit of both mixed with a Hawaiian shirt wearing yacht rock devotee, Simon enjoys the music of the Clash, Johnny Cash, Otis Redding, the Eels, Wilco and their ilk, as well as Hall & Oates, Barry Manilow, Duran Duran and their ilk. While he loves karaoke, Australian Idol is simply taking it too far.
Simon is a judge for both the Australian Music Prize and ARIA Awards, but really wishes he could pick the Australian cricket team. When he’s not wasting countless hours wearing the whites in the lower grades of the University Cricket Club and watching others play at the WACA or on TV, Simon sees out the off-season barracking for the Bombers.
During regular European jaunts he has covered most of the Balkans and all the Baltics, where he infamously became the first Australian journalist to cover the Eurovision Song Contest in Tallinn, Estonia in 2002. His favourite all-time gig is the Pogues at Fuji Rock in Japan, best interview was Ray Charles in Melbourne and favourite album, the Clash’s London Calling.
