Simon Thomas Hinkler is a guitarist, keyboard player, songwriter and producer from Sheffield.

Simon was the keyboard player in local (legendary) Sheffield band Artery, a band that Jarvis Cocker and Pulp admire(d) greatly and went to see quite often. From this Hinkler, became good friends with Jarvis, and somewhere along the line, ended up playing with Pulp.

Simon played a number of instruments on Pulp's 1983 release 'It', namely bass and the piano, as well as lending a hand at the co-production of the record.

The band played a few shows with Simon, however, both Simon and Jarvis wanted to do other things, so this line up of the band soon disbanded. Over the next couple of years, Simon still collaborated on some of Pulp's work, as both an engineer and producer, and also as their drummer for what was to become a short and memorable tour of the south west of England.

Simon went back to playing with Artery, albeit, very briefly, before going on to work on other projects. Simon is probably "most famous" for going on to become the lead guitar player in British goth rock band, THE MISSION and played with the band from 1986 to 1990, and then again in 2008 for some of the band's "final shows" at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire as well as across Europe.

In 2005, Simon released his first solo album "Lose the Faith" - a superb set of brilliantly written, exceptionally thought-provoking works of art.

Simon is currently working as a solo artist, and has done a string of acoustic special guest slots over the summer of 2011 in the UK playing songs from his "Lose the Faith" release, working alongside The Eden House, Anne Marie Hurst (ex-Skeletal Family/Ghost Dance) and the March Violets, all of which earned him many excellent and well-deserved reviews.

In late 2010, it was announced by The Mission's vocalist, Wayne Hussey, that he, alongside Simon and original Bass guitar player, Craig Adams (also of the Sisters of Mercy, The Alarm, The Cult) would be regrouping for The Mission's 25th Anniversary tour.

In October and November 2011, The Mission went out for the planned 25th Anniversary tour across Europe, namely Portugal, Spain, Amsterdam, Germany and also played alongside Patti Smith and The Cult at the highly acclaimed 'Sinners Day' Festival in Belgium, all of which were a massive success. The band also played three sold out shows in Bristol, Leeds and London's Brixton Academy, the latter been filmed for probable DVD release.

In 2012, Simon will be concentrating on working on more solo material, with the hope of an acoustic CD release. He is also contributing to the highly anticipated second album release by The Eden House and continuing to play with The Mission, with a short tour of Chile, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and New Mexico planned for late May/early June 2012. Further dates are due to be announced for both UK and European shows in 2012 with The Mission.

For more information :

• www.simonhinkler.com
• www.themissionuk.com
• www.theedenhouse.com