Smiley first appeared at the studio with Johnny Wilks singer with wannabe boyband Slamm. As a musician he didn’t have much money but he could write a nice tune. He wanted to record a few demos and thought I might be interested in getting involved, that’s code for “we need some studio time but we can’t pay you”. I was pretty impressed with the man and his CV (he played with Robbie Williams) so we embarked on a few speculative recordings, Smiley would play all the instruments bar the lead guitar, that was left to Over the next few years we worked together on a number of projects, Smiley would record a track or two and in return he would play drums for me on stuff that I was working on, always brilliant behind the kit and a pleasure to work with.
He is still playing drums with numerous artists including Archive, The Alarm, Republica & Birdpen. Previously played with Joe Strummer, Robbie Williams, Bad Company, Mock Turtles, Billy Bragg, Lilly Allen, Squeeze, Glenn Matlock, Roy Harper, Noel Redding, Mylene Farmer, Spear of Distiny, Mick Jones, Topper Headon, Screaming Lord Sutch, Sia, Matt Goss, Chesney Hawkes, Gene Loves Jezebel, Robin Foster, Mike Dobie, Ian McNabb plus many more, and when he’s not drumming he is writing and producing in his own studio called Sunshine Corner Studios in West London.
