Artist description Is this meant to be a physical or stylistic description? The Useless Eaters are currently a 5 piece band, however in the past many people have been involved in recordings. The music ranges in style quite dramatically from hard edged punky rock, to melodic hip hop, country and folk ballads and ambient passages..

Music Style Rock, Pop, Folk, Country, World music, hip hop

Musical Influences 'The The', 'Dire Straits', Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, 'Pink Floyd', 'Lloyd Cole','Leonard Cohen' 'Peter Gabriel' and 'Chris lsaaks'

Similar Artists The The, Dire Straits,

Artist History In the summer of 1989 Simon Smith, a graduatein painting at Chelsea School of Art, decided to about face his career. Much of his work had been politically orientated, motivated by a sense of injustice he had experienced as a person with a disability. Smith was born with no lower arms, but for him being 'disabled' meant being 'Dis-Enabled' by society rather than by his body. At the time of his change in career Smith felt that his paintings were being shown to an audience who were already openminded on the subject of disability and although he'd spent some time working in the broader media of video, music was instantly accessible, reaching out like no other art form, besides which it had always been his first love amongst the arts.Being dependent on other people to get ideas down to tape was frustrating and impractical for Smith, However with the aid of a computer and keyboardhe started putting musical patterns together, this allowed him to build song structures to which he could add his lyrics. After a period of one year Smith had recorded over a hundred songs, but the limitations of working alone in this manner were beginning to become a problem. Henceforth it was decided that some of these songs be produced to a presentable standard with the help of other musicians.THE USELESS EATERS Smith and his then music partner Ian Owles put together a small eight track and midi (musical instrument digital interface) integrated studio in Smith's front room.' The Useless Eaters' (A name derived from the term the nazis used for disabled people) are the musicians brought together by Simon Smith and recorded by him for the album 'Entitled'. Coming from many walks of life, their talents were recorded over a period of approximately two years. It took a further Six months and the technical skills of a studio engineer, Vincent Parrett, to mix the album. 'Entitled' finally went to press in August 1993 and is available on CD either via this site or directly from www.uselesseaters.com. After "Entitled" had been released Smith started a period of live performances around London and at festivals. Duruing this period Smith wrote and started a new album, provisionally entitled "Fluid Air". You will find some tracks from this album on this site too. In trecent months Smith has started a project with Cormac O'Cane, so as tracks start to come to life they shall be upoaded to this site too.

Group Members Guitar 1: Trevor Warren Guitar 2: Atchy Nozadze Bass Guiar: John Brockhouse Live drummer: Peter Mcdonald Backing Vocalists Jackie Shields (Entitled) L.E. Wilson (Entitled) Katrina Rubowska ****(On the new album) Guitarists Pino Di Ceglie (Entitled) Dave Lawson (Entitled) Greg Gregory (Entitled) Ian Owles (Entitled) Jean Marie Maiquez a.k.a. JM (Entitled) Keyboard players Philippe Whittwer (Entitled) Vincent Parrett (Entitled) Nic Fuller (Entitled) Bassists Floyd Jackson (Entitled) Steve Bailey (Live 94) Drums and percussion Jan Jolkeldo (Drum programming on Entitled) Vincent Parrett (Drum programming on Entitled) Nic Fuller (Drum programming on Entitled) Patou (Percussion Live 94) Simon Walker (Drums. Live 94) Miscellaneous Alex Bland (Saxaphone on Entitled)Judy Casseldon (Violin on Entitled) Tim Page (Violin on Entitled) Max The Hat (Violin Entitled) Production work Vincent Parrett Nic Fuller

Instruments All different kinds but predominantly guitars, drums, keyboards, harmonica

Albums "Entitled" released September 1993, "Nothing for Nobody" released 1989

Press Reviews Smith's tender vocals are deeply moving... Smith and the Eaters have produced a gorgeously mellow LP to melt the hardest of hearts "Gary Crossing The Big Issue May 10 to 16 1994 Best album of the week scoring **** against "Erasure's"**. "The Fall's"**, "Tom Robinson's"*** and the "Doughboys'*** "No, not the lad with the amazing dancing bear. This is the other Simon Smith, the one who sings about the unfairness of society, naked sexual lust, charity telethons and the scars of everyday life from the point of view of a man with no hands. If that seems a distressing, disturbing perspective, ask yourself what else he could do. After all, he has no hands. Smith's greatest strength, apart from a grainy, rough-hewn voice, is this unflinching honesty, which enables him to present his points of view without slipping into the kind of maudlin self-pity which would be perfectly justifiable but counter-productive. His Useless Eaters can slip into a Dire Straits-ish boogie or conjure a swirling ambient soundscape depending on what his songs need and, perhaps most encouraging of all, is the fact that, with most of his material, the emotions and feelings could belong to any sensitive human being and that's one measure of a great songwriter." Johnny Black Simon Smith & The Useless Eaters, Entitled (The Useless Eaters) "It's not the first time that radio-friendly pop tunes have been used to hammer home hard-hitting lyrics. In Simon Smith's case, the subject on the agenda is disability. Born with no lower arms, he knows all about the prejudice that a disabled person faces every day of their lives. Singing about the injustice he experiences, Smith's tender vocals are deeply moving. Sounding at times like Lloyd Cole,Dire Straits and Chris Rea, Smith and The Eaters have produced agorgeously mellow LP to melt the hardest of hearts. Best of the bunch is Litile By LittLe, a haunting ballad." GARY CROSSING "A wonderful record" Paul Anderson DJ. Radio Mercury 28 March 1994 "Chiefly remarkable for the power of Simon's lyrics and also the quality of his voice" Michael Cable Albums Review Daily Express April 1994 "what set's the songs apart is Simon's lyrics" The stud Brothers Melody Maker Jan '94 "One of the most lyrically dense and compelling collections I've ever struggled through" Phil McMullen Plolemaic Terrascope summer 1994 "Categorising [Entitled] would place it within the adult orientated rock genre, with a style reminiscent of The The, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Lloyd Cole, Leonard Cohen, Peter Gabriel and Chris Isaaks... with strong lyrics and a predominantly guitar based arrangements" Disabled Magazine Dec '93 "I've been bouncing around the office and wearing out my Walkman listening to some very pleasing sounds...Powerful yetfamiliar messages are put in a masterful way through Simon's lyrics. A welcome intelligence, in particular the understanding and portrayal of image....This is an album to join the others in your collection." Kit Wells DAIL Nov '93"Simon Smith And The Useless Eaters look set to rise above the swamp of indie-wannabes that clog up the airwaves at the moment" Adam Norsworthy London News Paper Group Jan'94 "I enjoyed this album so much, and played it so often that I had to getit reviewed." Roland Humphries(Editor Disability Arts Magazine.)"on first listening to this album I was struck by the perfect recording quality.. The first track sounds great... The guitar work is excellent.. it needs to be danced to!.. The beat gets to you... and your feet start tapping.." Francis Rwama Disability Arts Magazine Dec '93 "I believe that Simon Smith And The Useless Eaters have the necessary ability, stamina' and talent to succeed. "Clive DunnContact UK. Jan '94"Smith and the Eaters undoubtedly have an enormous potential..[Entitled] moves fairly effortlessly between rock, punk and new age music, and there are even some rap sections." Michael Turner

Additional Info A new album is in progress some of the tracks from this are available from this site, Also some unreleased tracks will be made available here too.

Location London, England - United Kingdom

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