Russel Simins is the drummer for the band Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, who opened for the Beastie Boys during their 1995 North American tour. Simins is friends with Mike Diamond.

Simins enlisted Diamond and Beck to contribute to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song "Flavor" on the Blues Explosion's 1994 album Orange. Diamond also completed two remixes of the song, aptly titled "Flavor, Part 1" and "Flavor, Part 2" on JSBX's Experimental Remixes EP.

Simins became involved with the Grand Royal label when he produced and played on the 1996 Butter 08 album, which was released on Grand Royal. He also contributed to Money Mark's 1998 album Push the Button.

In 2000, Simins released his first full-length solo work, Public Places. This album featured former Luscious Jackson keyboardist Vivian Trimble, who worked with Simins on Luscious Jackson's Naked Eye (1996). In 2006, Simins became involved with the band Tiny Masters of Today, serving as their live drummer. In 2007, he co-produced the band's first full-length album, Bang Bang Boom Cake. He enlisted Mike Diamond to make a cameo appearance in the video for one song from the album, titled "Hologram World." The video was directed by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Grand Royal Magazine Issue #2 contains an interview of Simins by Diamond that attempted to clear the confusion between him and Russell Simmons at the time.