Richard Smith (born 25 May 1959) is a Welsh musician and composer. He is a founding member of British electronic music group

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

and an acclaimed composer, having collaborated extensively with director

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...

, most notably as the musical director for the London

2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proce ...

, alongside Underworld's

Karl Hyde Karl Hyde (born 10 May 1957) is an English musician and artist. He is a founding member of British electronic group Underworld. Hyde has also released a solo album, made albums with Brian Eno and Matthew Herbert, and contributed towards the sco ...

. He is also a founding member of the multi-discipline design and film collective

Tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

Career

Smith left a bank clerk job in

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

to do an electronic and electrical engineering degree; however, he dropped out during his finals after being asked to join Hyde’s band The Screen Gemz. In 1983 they formed

Freur Freur was a Welsh new wave and synth-pop band featuring Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, who went on to form the electronic band Underworld. It was their second band, following their art school collaboration, the Screen Gemz. Their best known song ...

and recorded two albums for

CBS Records International CBS Records International was the international arm of the Columbia Records unit of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. ( CBS) formed in 1961 and launched in 1962. Previously, Columbia Records had licensed other record companies to manufacture an ...

. The group disbanded in 1986. In 1987 Smith and Hyde formed

, and the pair are the longest and only original serving members of the musical project, still performing together today. Smith has been working with director

for two decades after the director used the band's music in his 1996 film '' Trainspotting''. As part of Underworld, Smith scored the soundtrack for Boyle’s stage production of Frankenstein in 2011, and in 2012 undertook a solo venture creating the soundtrack to Boyle’s film ''

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

''. Smith was appointed the musical director for the

2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proce ...

which was directed by Boyle. Smith worked with Boyle on his 2017 follow-up film ''

T2 Trainspotting ''T2 Trainspotting'' is a 2017 British black comedy-drama film, directed by Danny Boyle and written by John Hodge. Set in and around Edinburgh, Scotland, it is based on characters created by Irvine Welsh in his 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' and ...

''.

References

1959 births Living people People from Ammanford Welsh new wave musicians Welsh people of English descent 20th-century Welsh musicians 21st-century Welsh musicians {{Wales-bio-stub