Luke Smith: Serious About Music

Mancunian Luke Smith is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, composer, musical director and mixer. He has worked with and played alongside an impressive list of artists including Amy Winehouse, B.B King, George Michael and Roy Ayers to name just a few. He has also worked across a number of different musical genres.
Feb 2018

It is not every day you get to sit across someone with such musical pedigree to have a casual chat over a tasty Caribbean meal. So, when we learned that Luke was heading to Manchester, a trip he makes frequently from London since his family still resides up north, we seized the moment.

We took him to one our favorite restaurant in south Manchester. The first thing we asked for on arrival was the Wii Fi password. Luke was about to let us listen to his latest project on his private Sound Cloud account, but not before we took an oath of secrecy, in blood. So, I am afraid this is where that story has to end, if I treasure my limbs. The only thing I can disclose is that we were completely blown away.

By the time the drinks arrived [rum was the order of the day], we were engrossed in conversation. There was so much ground to cover. The last time we met Luke was at the O2 Arena in London almost two years ago. He was the MD of an all-star cast for The Floacist birthday party gig, an event that still gets mentioned till this day. We had also spent time in his studio [Brownhouse Studio] amidst some of London’s’ finest session musicians just dropping in. That is where we picked up with the interview.

Interview

JS
We first met you at The Floacist & Friends: Brooklyn Bowl Birthday Concert you were the MD. Explain what that is?
Luke
On that particular gig, I was doing two roles. I was also the Production Manager; A Musical Director’s the person that’s in charge of the music and the actual show on stage. So the musical arrangements, rehearsals making sure the artist’s happy and what’s being produced creates the right atmosphere for them to sing comfortably. The Floacist & Friends concert was different. Not only was I in charge of doing the music, I was actually in charge of the whole gig. Had to do site visits for the venue, deal with which artist is coming on at what time, technical issues etc. So, it was a lot different than my normal role. But I actually enjoyed it.
JS
Becoming a Musical Director takes time, how did you gain that experience?
Luke
As far back as I can remember, hearing people sing and people play, I can remember thinking, “I want to do that.” My parents are musicians.
JS
Is that why you play multiple instruments?
Luke
Interestingly, when I grew up in church, we used to have queues to play instruments. It was like you play, then I’ll play after you. But if there were five guys wanting to play the keyboards, you would have to wait five turns. So you go to the drums because that’s three turns. So, we naturally learnt each other’s instruments and appreciated each other’s skills.
JS
A musician life can be unpredictable. For some of the guys you grew up with, music became more of a hobby. How come your life has been dedicated exclusively to music?
Luke
Fortunately, I’ve survived. It’s a vocation. Certain doors open and allow you to make a living from it. You do it because if you don’t do it you’ll go mad. I think music is more than a job.
There is competition among musicians. You're only as good as your last gig.
JS
How do you deal with the pressure and uncertainty? Did you have doubts?
Luke
There is competition among musicians. My saying is, “you're only as good as your last gig.” You have to be on your game and even more so now that we have social media. Nowadays, when you’re at a gig, as you look into the audience, everyone’s holding their camera up. You know it’s all on Facebook live. Even if I think I’ve done a bad gig, my bad gig has got to be better than your best gig.
JS
What is the most important element of preparing a show?
Luke
I learnt early that no matter what you do on the stage, the end point of call is the engineer. If the engineer cannot translate what you’ve done on stage, it’s all a waste of time. Pablo is a unique guy, I’ve known him many years. In fact, he’s one of the reasons why I’m the musician I am. Many people think of the engineer as an after thought, do clever arrangements make it all sound great and the audience doesn’t get that experience. Whereas, with Pablo because we understand how to work with each other I am confident that what we’re doing on stage, he will translate out front to the audience. Which then means that you get the reaction that you wanted, audience going “oh my god”.
JS
Who are some of the people you have worked for as a Musical Director?
Luke
I worked for Chaka Khan, Emeli Sande, Miss Dynamite amongst others. As a musician, for George Michael, Eric Clapton, BB King, Jimmy Cliff. It’s all gone out of my head. [Laughs]. Amy Winehouse, though Amy was more studio. I did an MD for Amy for the BBC. It was a Christmas special, but generally with Amy I wrote and produced. The first album, Frank. I’m playing on two, wrote two and produced one.
JS
The music business changes so frequently, has this affected your position?
Luke
So like I mentioned before, the MD was the guy that made the decisions. Now the MD’s job is more or less to do what he is told and to pass the information to the rest of the musicians. I’m not from that school. I’m creative I have to be able to articulate my creativity, enhance what they’ve got. So, I stay out of that. I do more stuff in the studio. Producing and writing for different people. So that’s why every so often you see me come up and then go back down again.
I wrote this song “It’s Time”, invited him [Roy Ayers] to play on it. He was like “sure man, just let me know when”, which was amazing.


Interview continued...

JS
What made you want to do an album?
Luke
With the album, it’s turned out to be a biography of my life. The people who collaborated on the record have all had a relationship with me at some point professionally. That’s enriched me as a musician in different ways. Roy Ayers was someone that I learned a lot from musically, he was an encourager “man you sound amazing”. We call him Uncle Roy as an elder. I remember the first time I did a gig with him. It was strange because it was jazz and I wasn’t used to doing solos. Normally with pop music you get 8 bars or 16 bars. Uncle Roy points me to solo and does a Miles Davis on me and walks to the bar. Solo is improvisation to tell a story. It took me about three days to melodically sound the story, but I learned the art of telling the story. I learnt that from Uncle Roy. So, when I wrote this song “It’s Time”, invited him to play on it. He was like “sure man, just let me know when”, which was amazing.
Great musicians can be lousy businessmen. I’m trying to find the best way to get this record to people.
JS
When are we likely to hear this album?
Luke
As musicians, to be the greatest, we have to study music. Great musicians can be lousy businessmen. I’m trying to find the best way to get this record to people. The idea is to get licensing on it and get it out this year.
JS
Are you passing any of that on?
Luke
Definitely. I’m dyslexic and I was told as a kid you’re not going to amount to anything. It’s one of those things where I pushed against that grain because people didn’t necessarily understand what was in my head, what I was trying to accomplish at the time. I find a lot of challenged kids that are in that situation. There’s a guy, friend of mine that came from the street. I’ve been able to challenge him in a different way and allow him to use his creativity to make positive music. So, passing that information on is something that you have to do to keep the music going.
JS
Thank you

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