Fraser T. Smith

Fraser T. Smith
Background information
Born (1971-02-08) 8 February 1971
Buckinghamshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Guitar
  • bass
  • drums
  • keyboards
Years active 1995–present
Labels
  • 70Hz
  • My Audiotonic
Associated acts
Website frasertsmith.com

Fraser T. Smith (born 8 February 1971) is an English record producer, songwriter and musician.

Smith has co-written, produced and mixed six number one singles and has contributed to sixteen number one albums in the UK and US.[1] Some of the singles he collaborated on include Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain", James Morrison's "Broken Strings", Tinchy Stryder's "Number 1" and Taio Cruz's "Break Your Heart".[2] In 2016, Smith teamed up with Stormzy to produce his acclaimed debut number 1 album "Gang Signs & Prayer", which won best album at the 2018 Brit Awards. Earlier that year he'd produced 7 tracks on Kano's celebrated Made in the Manor album and co produced the debut EP from South London rapper Dave. Other artists Smith has worked with include Britney Spears, Drake, Sam Smith, CeeLo Green, Florence and the Machine and Gorillaz.

Early life and education

Smith grew up in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and attended Reading Blue Coat School and Sir William Borlase's Grammar School. After leaving school, Smith attended Woolwich Polytechnic for a year winning a scholarship to study at the West London Institute.

Having spent a year at the West London Institute studying music, Smith started his career playing guitar in pubs and clubs both as a solo musician and in bands.[3] In 1992, Smith met Rick Wakeman with whom he toured and recorded.[4] Smith then went on to work with Tony Hadley.[5] He also worked extensively with Adam Wakeman.[6] In the mid-1990s, they formed Jeronimo Road; a progressive rock band. Smith then became involved in playing guitar in studio sessions, performing on over 200 records, including hits such as Rui Da Silva's number one "Touch Me" and Tim Deluxe's "It Just Won’t Do".[7][8]

Career

In 1999, Smith was introduced to the then-unknown Craig David and spent the next five years working as his guitarist performing on television and radio around the world, as well as at concerts including the John Lennon Tribute Concert at Radio City Hall in New York, the Tsunami Relief Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and Live 8, London.[9] They remixed songs together under the pseudonym of Treats and have written songs such as “World Filled With Love”, “6 Of 1 Thing” and “Hot Stuff”. Smith decided to stop touring and performing and went on to focus on songwriting and production full-time.

In 2012, Smith won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year with Adele for 21 having produced, co-written and mixed "Set Fire to the Rain". He was also nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for his writing on "Broken Strings".[10] In 2015, Smith was also nominated for Album of the Year in the 57th Grammy Awards for his contribution to Sam Smith's album, In the Lonely Hour.[11]

Between 2013-2016, Smith worked with long time collaborator Kano on his album, "Made in the Manor". The record was subsequently shortlisted for the 2016 Mercury Prize[12] and nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2017 Brit Awards.[13][14] It went on to win Best Album at the MOBO Awards.[15]

At this time, Smith also collaborated with Mexican duo Jesse & Joy on their album, "Un Besito Más" which was released in December 2015. At the 17th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, the album received the nomination for Album of the Year and won for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album. MOBO Awards: the single "Ecos De Amor" was nominated for Song Of The Year and Record Of the Year. MOBO Awards: Un Besito Más also won a Grammy award for Best Latin Pop Album[16] and a Lo Nuestro Award for Pop Album Of The Year.

In 2016, Smith teamed up with Dave and went on to write and produce his EP Six Paths, along with 169. The single 'Wanna Know' was subsequently picked up and remixed by Canadian artist, Drake.

The same year, Smith was approached by grime and hip hop artist Stormzy.[17] They spent ten months writing and producing his debut album, "Gang Signs & Prayer" released independently through #Merky Records on 24 February 2017. The album was supported by the lead single "Big for Your Boots".

References

  1. ↑ Fraser T. Smith (2012-01-21). "Fraser T. Smith | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  2. ↑ "— The Manifesto". Themanifesto.co. 26 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Secrets Of The Mix Engineers: Fraser T Smith". Soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  4. ↑ "A&R, Record Label / Company, Music Publishing, Artist Manager and Music Industry Directory". Hitquarters.com. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  5. ↑ "#1 => Order cialis online from canada -/- Generic and Brand Cheap PILLS". Lenurbonline.com. 16 October 2013. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Explore Multimedia". Explore Multimedia. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  7. ↑ Cassandra (2001-04-02). "Release "Touch Me" by Rui da Silva feat. Cassandra". MusicBrainz. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  8. ↑ "Tim Deluxe Featuring Sam Obernik - It Just Won't Do (CD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  9. ↑ "Fraser Smith - From Craig David to Plan B". Gforce Software. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  10. ↑ https://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/ivor-novello-noms-out/
  11. ↑ "Grammy Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". Rolling Stone.
  12. ↑ "Mercury Prize 2016: David Bowie gets posthumous nomination". BBC. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  13. ↑ "Brit Awards 2017: The nominations". BBC News. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  14. ↑ "BRIT Awards 2017 full winners list". NME. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  15. ↑ http://www.itv.com/news/update/2016-11-04/kano-named-best-album-at-2016-mobo-awards/
  16. ↑ Unterberger, Andrew (December 6, 2016). "Here Is the Complete List of Nominees for the 2017 Grammys". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  17. ↑ Savage, Mark (1 March 2018). "Meet the man Stormzy hugged at the Brits" – via www.bbc.co.uk.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.