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Simon Carter is a musician/producer/performer from Summer Hill in Sydney, Australia who is also the sole songwriter of Sydney band The Cops. He is a multi-instrumentalist and has a small basement studio in which he records, produces and mixes his own material. He has co-produced both Cops albums and both E.P's himself. In early 2008, following the departure of founding member Beck Darwon, Carter put the The Cops on indefinite hiatus and began work on his debut solo album.

Biography
Although born into a musical family (his father played in a 1960's Sydney group called The Subjects and his grandfathers were orchestra pit band leaders), Simon Carter didn't pick up an instrument until the relatively late age of 18. In the space of a couple of years he was already a veteran of the Sydney live scene having played in little known local bands Bulletproof, Amsterdam, Women Of Troy, Hushhoney and General Lee, and he also began to make tentative steps into the worlds of songwriting and production.

Whilst juggling a BA at Sydney University and playing in 4 bands simultaneously, Carter made the decision to forgoe tertiary education in favour of his real passion of music and he abruptly withdrew from University and took on music full-time, much to the initial chagrin of his ever-supportive parents.

In 2003, having amassed a sizable catalogue of over 200 songs, he began to show some of his demos to his friend Rebecca Darwon and eventually they formed The Cops.

One day Simon asked if I'd like to hear some of his demos I didn't even know he had any so he put them on and they were awesome, I told him we should start a band and it was funny because he didn't think they were any good but I thought they were great! There was one request Beck only wanted to be in the band if it was called The Cops. I've always just thought The Cops would be a really funny name for a band so that was my one condition — Rebecca Darwon

The Cops went on to critical acclaim and garnished a fervent and loyal live following. 2 E.P's and 2 Albums later the band went on indefinite hiatus and Simon Carter's solo career began. Simon also signed with EMI publishing in 2007 and has co-written material with Justin Burford (End Of Fashion), Mark Sholtez and Joel Turner (The Adventure).

Hold Your Horses
Hold Your Horses is the tentative working title of Simon's debut solo album. Early demos have already surfaced on his Myspace page and allude to a darker, more personal and layered approach than the good-time funk of The Cops.

Hold Your Horses, the presumed title track, is a short and progressive track with an almost medieval sea shanty feel that ends up arcing into a soaring prog-rock ending. The Hunters Moon is a funereal and atmospheric foray into the evil hearts of children and the vaguely latin infused doom rock of Symbio alludes to multiple personalities, the subject of which is also evident in the quiet track Grey Matter.

The album is expected to be released in 2009, although what label it will be through and when the first single will be released have not been mentioned thus far.