Paul and Robin Simon began their careers in music forming bands in their home town of Halifax in northern England. One of these early line-ups included fellow local musician Billy Currie on viola (later to join Robin in Ultravox). They then joined American soul legend Limmie Snell of Limmie & The Family Cookin in his new band, Limmie Funk Limited to tour the UK.
Moving to London in 1976, the brothers found themselves at the heart of the Punk scene, centred on The Roxy Club, The Vortex and The Speakeasy. A chance meeting with Billy Currie at a gig by the 101ers (then featuring Joe Strummer) led to Paul being introduced to New York punk scene musician Ian North, recently brought to England by Eno. The group Paul and Ian formed, Radio, was completed by Martin Gordon (Sparks) on bass. When Martin left to form Radio Stars (in which Paul also played drums for a while), the group changed its name to Neo with a line-up of Ian North (bass & vocals), Robin on guitar and Paul on drums. After Neo, Paul joined Cowboys International, Girls At Our Best and The Fallout Club (featuring Thomas Dolby and Matthew Seligman), whilst Robin joined Ultravox and Magazine.
As the 80s progressed, Paul worked in production with Fiachra Trench (frequent Paul McCartney and George Martin collaborator), occasionally joined by Robin, who continued to tour and record with John Foxx, sometimes with Paul. By the early 90s, Paul had joined old friend Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) in The Mavericks, which became The Phillistines, while Robin was reunited with Billy Currie in Humania. Paul and Robin also recorded with John Foxx and Sue Rachel as Blitz.
In 1994 Paul and Robin once again formed their own group, touring internationally and finally arriving on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. Thus began AjantaMusic, which merges the brothers’ past as pioneers of the 80s Electro and New Wave movements in the UK with influences from Spain and the East. The first AjantaMusic album was the instrumental And Now We Dream, released in 2006. In 2007 the brothers recruited classically-trained vocalist Gina Watson and in 2009 they released their second album, Above The Cloudline which also featured guest musicians Dave Formula (Magazine, Visage), Pete Jones (Public Image Limited) and, from the Radio Science Orchestra, Matthew Seligman, Joy Smith and Bruce Woolley.
In 2012 at the invitation of Rusty Eagan Paul and Robin collaborated on the Visage album Hearts and Knives. In 2013 the third AjantaMusic album, The Secret Door was released.
Early 2014 saw the release of The Dream Soldiers EP by The Fallout Club This cult classic from the 80's features Paul Simon, Trevor Herion, Thomas Dolby and Matthew Seligman, plus on the Paul Simon re-mix tracks, Robin Simon and Gina Watson. Later in the year, Orchestral by Visage featured Robin Simon on guitar.
2015's first release is another lost gem from the early days of New Wave. Recorded in 1979, A Taste of The Future by The Civilians, features Paul Simon, Trevor Herion, Michael French and Mark Scholfield with Hans Zimmer on synthesiser.
September 2016 brings the latest release on Stratotester Records: the Pedestrian Walkway EP by The Fallout Club. This features the original 1981 line up of Trevor Herion, Thomas Dolby, Matthew Seligman and Paul Simon, and on the remix tracks additional musicians Robin Simon on guitar and AjantaMusic vocalist, Gina Watson.
From The Fallout Club in 2017 is the album release Dangerous friends. The Simon brothers also worked on Welcome To the Dancefloor, the latest album from Rusty Egan.
Paul and Robin are currently working on a new electronic influenced project with collaborators Mauno Paajanen, Jurgen Graff and Matthew Seligman.
Further releases from Stratotester Records for early 2018 include a new EP from AjantaMusic, a live album from The Civilians recorded in 1979, and an EP from Paul and Robin's new electronic rock project.