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Simon (John) "Scotty" Scott (October 20, 1966 – August 8, 2014) was a British artist and musician, who played rock, punk, soul and country and specialized in a variety of media including commercial art, fine art and street art. His vibrant paintings and graphic artwork can be found throughout the lower Manhattan neighborhoods he loved to roam. He has designed artwork for some of New York City's most visually engaging restaurants, clubs and bars.
Biography
Simon Scott was born in Peterlee in County Durham in Northern England on October 20, 1966, and attended Our Lady of the Rosary Infants and Junior School, before attending St Bede's RC Comprehensive School. At 16, he moved to London and began working as a musician, singing and playing guitar in a number of bands around the city, where he soaked up a wide range of musical influences. He formed his first band, Hooker, with childhood friend Terry Kirkbride in the early 1990s. Later, he and Kirkbride, along with fellow County Durham native Colin Murray "Gem" Archer, who went on to play rhythm guitar for Oasis, and Welsh musician Carwyn Ellis, formed Southern Fly. Scott honed his sound as Southern Fly maintained a busy touring schedule through bars and nightclubs in London and other European cities. Scott also sang for a band called The Soul Winners, and another called The Edge, founded by Archer. In 2001, Scott moved to New York City, where he lived in Spanish Harlem - writing songs and working as a chef to pay the rent. In early 2006, he recorded an album, Rhythm Guitar, Shakers and Tambourines, in Oxford, Mississippi. Musicians appearing on this record include Cody and Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars) and Ellis (Colorama). Back in New York, Scott formed a new band—Simon Scott and the Band of Infidels—which performed frequently throughout the city.
Meanwhile Scott was honing a signature style of painting that increasingly dominated his focus in the latter years of his life. The same year he recorded "Rhythm Guitar, Shakers and Tambourines," Scott founded East Side Art and Design, a design firm specializing in bespoke and promotional logos, murals, calligraphy, signage and artwork for independent and corporate businesses. Scott's knack for communicating a rich, shared vision fostered successful collaborations with fellow artists, gallery owners, and corporate clients including Budweiser, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Red Bull and Pernod Ricard.
Towards the end of his life, Bowery Ballroom held a benefit concert to raise money for his cancer treatment. Performers included The Bogmen, Blubba Brothers, Beast Patrol, and Annie Ragz.
"Chances are that if you've had a pint of beer, maybe more, anywhere around town during the last eight or so years, you've come into direct contact with the work of Simon Scott," New York Magazine's Grubstreet blog wrote.
Scott died Friday, August 8, 2014 at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York Haven Hospice Specialty Care Unit at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York City, surrounded by loved ones, including his closest friends, Kieran Blake and Ted Pratt. He was the beloved son of Marie Scott, nephew to James Patrick Watson.