Profile of Stephen Darrell Smith

He has produced the likes of Erin Rocha, the Pretenders and Anthony Costa, was nominated for a Brit award for his work with Sandi Thom, played on stage with the Pope and is Keith Chegwin’s best mate. Although it is likely you may never have heard of him.

Stephen Darrel Smith was brought up in a small modest house in Poole.
Son to a builder, Stephen had very little music surrounding him in his early childhood.
“My parents weren’t rich enough to have instruments,” he said.
“The house was so small there just wasn’t the room.”
It wasn’t until he was 12 that Stephen first played an instrument.
Whilst at his baby-sitters house he would play on the piano for hours on end and after a few visits his natural talent became obvious.
Despite this talent he claims that music has never been a conscious life choice.
“I was lucky really, music found me,” said Stephen.
“I never made an attempt to look for it and I never saw it as a job, it was always too unstable.
“But things just seemed to fall into place.”
His life could have turned out quite differently however.
His mother, who was rather old fashioned, insisted on him finding a trade.
The most obvious solution would have been for Stephen to work as builder alongside his father but it wasn’t for him.
“I couldn’t cope with builders’ language, f-ing and blinding,” he said.
At 16 he decided to become an apprentice hairdresser in an effort to have a trade which wouldn’t destroy his hands.
“In fact it was one of the worst things for my hands due to the peroxide, the bleach and wet rollers,” Stephen said.
“I was no good at it anyway, I can’t make small talk.”
Not long into his apprenticeship, Stephen was asked to go on tour, playing keyboards with the Okay Band in 1976.
The band toured Eastern Europe and Russia which, at the time, was under communist rule.
Despite having had various life altering experiences, Stephen says that his first tour, during the cold war, remains the most memorable.
“That part of Europe was, at the time, starved of live music so we were treated like stars,” he said.
“Everywhere we went there were hundreds of girls screaming at us, it felt like we were the Beatles”.
“It was also such a different culture, it was a different world and at 16 it was a big deal.”
Stephen spent several years after that as a professional keyboard player and organist.
However he was never content with the choices made by the producer.
“I always wanted to be on the other side of the glass not performing but producing,” he said.
“I would always say to the engineers why don’t you do it this way or that and eventually they got so fed up they told me to have a go at it myself.”
In 1979 Stephen bought himself a small system so that he could record himself but was asked to record other musicians as well.
“At first I recorded people for free because I really enjoyed it,” he said.
“But soon I had so many requests I realised I could make a living out of it.”
He built a room with a view, a full recording studio, in the grounds of his home in 1986.
From then on he juggled producing with performing.
The highest point in his career happened in 2003 when he was asked to perform at the Royal Albert Hall.
The gig was a concert in honour of Ronnie Lane from the Small Faces.
Stephen was playing Hammond organ along side various stars, including Pete Townsend, Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene and Ronnie Wood.
“It was a fantastic experience, but it was also quite odd,” he said.
“I expected the acoustics to be a disaster, it was terribly echoing, but when it was filled with people it changed and it turned out to be superb.”

Stephen’s greatest success to date has been his work with Sandi Thom in 2006.
Sandi’s single, I wish I was a punk rocker, was the biggest selling single of that year and was nominated for a Brit Award and the Ivan Novello Award.
The single was written by, Stephen’s partner in the music industry Ian Brown.
“I produced it over two years ago and it was released then but wasn’t very successful,” said Stephen.
“I thought it was dead to be honest.”
The single which made number one in England and Australia, contains only Sandi’s voice and percussion, with no band to accompany her.
This feature was due to Stephen’s production and may arguably be the reason for its success.
But Stephen remains modest.
“Sandi recorded her vocals and then returned to Liverpool, leaving me with the production,” Stephen said.
“I tried playing all sorts of guitars and keyboard behind it, but nothing seemed to work.
“In the end I kept it simple.”
The single was set to bring home a Brit Award last year, but when Take That returned to the music scene with Patience Stephen and the team just missed out.
“You would think I would be bitter about Take That’s success, but I think they are great.”
When EMI offered Sandi Thom a record deal they instantly saw I wish I was a punk rocker as the number one single.

Professional musician Jinder has been working with Stephen for over seven years.
Stephen has been his producer since 2001 and also writes with him on a regular basis.
He knows him both as an industry colleague and as a good friend.
Jinder said, “He is a really great guy, he always brings out the best in the people he works with.”
Jinder and Stephen are currently writing music for Harvey Goldsmith and John Mclaughlin, who writes for McFly.
Jinder said, “I have seen him working with others, he really knows how to bring out the inner artist and he has a very calming influence in the studio.”

When working in the music industry, Stephen claims that, you can never allow yourself to be excited about a project, as they can easily fail.
Two years ago however, he himself fell victim to excitement.
Music legend Van Morrison asked to work with him both as a producer and an organist.
Van didn’t turn out to be the legend that Stephen had expected however.
After waiting for Van for over five hours Stephen received a phone call from him.
“He told us he was lost, but he couldn’t tell us where he was, so the guitarist and I had to go looking for him,” Stephen said.
“When he did turn up he got out of his car wearing a white t-shirt, covered in an egg sandwich that he had had for lunch.”
“It really ruined the image.”
After meeting with Stephen for 20 minutes, Van turned around and went back to Bath, promising to record with him in the future.
Stephen says he was let down by the whole experience.
“I don’t often get excited about anything but I really felt disappointment,” he said.
“It hit me quite hard for a while and I took it personally.”
Two years later Van Morrison’s manager booked Stephen and his studio once again and once again Van stood him up.
“He’s just a funny guy,” said Stephen.
“I realise now that I shouldn’t have taken it personally.”

Of course like many musically successful people, Stephen has also had his run in with the law.
Whilst on a tour in Ireland with the Brotherhood of Man, Stephen was arrested on suspicion of being a terrorist.
“Unfortunately I have the same name as Steve Smith the Doncaster bomber.” Stephen said.
Stephen played organ for the Brotherhood of Man throughout the peak of their career.
The most impressive of their gigs included playing for the Pope in 1982 and Princess Margaret at Windsor Castle.
“We were on stage with the Pope during his last visit to England,” he said.
“He wasn’t very animated; he just sort of nodded and clapped in approval.”
“But he clearly enjoyed it.”

It was during his time with Brotherhood of Man that he became good friends with Keith Chegwin.
During Chegwin’s musical career, Stephen played keyboards in his band, but ended up being both his tour manger and body guard.
“On TV he can perhaps come across as annoying”. Stephen said.
“But he is such a clever guy”.

Stephen says that he has not yet reached the peak in his career.
He hopes to gain a number one that he has not only produced, but one where he has also been involved in the writing process.
Stephen is currently working with a trio called Mercury Men who, it is hoped, will be in the charts in the near future.