A graduate of University College London and classically trained pianist, Simon Lacey started his musical career as songwriter and vocalist in the band Great Northern Electrics, subsequently playing keyboards for artists ranging from Ricky Gervais to Echobelly. His career as a television composer took off in the mid-90s when he scored numerous projects for the then fledgling RDF Television, also doing documentary work for the BBC and others.
Simon’s reputation as a sensitive and original composer for drama has been growing rapidly since his work on Carlton’s remake of E. Nesbit’s The Railway Children in 2000. For this film, starring Richard Attenborough, Gregor Fisher and Jenny Agutter as ‘Mother’, Simon created a beautifully lyrical chamber orchestra score evoking the idealised world of Edwardian childhood. His title theme for the BBC’s 6-part legal drama Fish has been a particular hit wherever the series has been broadcast; and for LWT’s modern-day adaptation of A Christmas Carol, starring Ross Kemp as Scrooge, he created an atmospheric and haunting orchestral score.
Recent work includes the forthcoming ITV comedy-drama Monday Monday, ITV comedy Pickles – the Dog Who Won the World Cup, broadcast at the time of the football World Cup in 2006; and several Simon Nye-scripted comedies for Talkback Thames including Open Wide, Tunnel of Love and Beauty, the latter starring Martin Clunes.
In the documentary field, Simon composed the music for Pioneer Productions’ highly acclaimed documentary film Life Before Birth (broadcast on Discovery as In the Womb). He also wrote the title theme for BBC2’s 7-part series British Film Forever, leading the BBC’s Summer of British Film in 2007. Simon has also enjoyed working on a couple of historical drama-documentaries: Mary Shelley: The Birth of Frankenstein, for the BBC (for which he was able to dip his toes into the horror genre); and Anthony and Cleopatra for Wall to Wall.
In contrast to these dramas, Simon has also worked on entertainment shows including RDF’s Scrapheap Challenge and its American spin-off Junkyard Wars – a reflection of his eclectic ability to work in any style, to any brief.
In 2003, Simon scored his first feature film Lena, directed by up-and-coming director Polly Steele. More recently, he has composed the music for the feature film Good, starring Viggo Mortensen and directed by Vicente Amorim. This is scheduled for international release in 2009, but his score has already received a very positive response on the festival circuit around the world. His next film project is a version of the popular children’s book “The Great Ghost Rescue”, directed by Yann Samuell and starring Renee Russo.
A rewarding aspect of Simon’s career is that producers and directors with whom he has worked return to him repeatedly.
www.simonlaceymusic.co.uk
Please take time to peruse Simon’s website.
