Steve Barnard

Steve "Smiley" Barnard
Steve "Smiley" Barnard playing with Archive in 2013
Steve "Smiley" Barnard playing with Archive in 2013
Background information
Born (1968-01-10) 10 January 1968 (age 56)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • music producer
Instruments
  • Drums
  • bass
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1997–present
Member of
Formerly of
Websitehttps://smileysfriends.co.uk

Steve "Smiley" Barnard (born 10 January 1968) is an English musician, songwriter and music producer, best known as a drummer for The Mock Turtles, Robbie Williams, The Mescaleros, Archive, Holy Holy, From the Jam and The Alarm.

Music career

Steve Barnard, also known as Smiley, began playing music at a young age and his first major success as a drummer was in 1997–1998, when he was the drummer for Robbie Williams' solo debut album, single B-sides and tours Life thru a Lens.[1][2] From 1999, he joined for two years Joe Strummer's newly formed band The Mescaleros.[3][4] Afterwards, Barnard joined the rock/electronica band Archive, which turned into a long-term collaboration spanning along several albums and film soundtracks.[5] He collaborated with various other bands and musicians, including From the Jam[6][7] and Gene Loves Jezebel.[8]

In 2010, he played in the band Los Mondo Bongo, formed by Mike Peters to celebrate the music of Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros. Subsequently, he joined Peters' band The Alarm on a full-time basis, another long-term collaboration.[9]

Since the beginning of 2022, Barnard has been playing in the band Holy Holy, performing the music of David Bowie, alongside Tony Visconti and Glenn Gregory, among others.[10]

Barnard is also a music producer at his studio, Sunshine Corner Studios, where he produced several artists and released eight albums of his songs including collaborations with musicians like Bruce Foxton, Steve Norman, Richard Archer, James Stevenson, Ian McNabb.[11][12]

Author

In 2020, Barnard published the book Clang! Smiley Drops A Few, about his experiences in the music industry.[1]

Discography

Year Album Band/Artist Credits
2023 Forwards The Alarm Drums
2022 Peninsular III Robin Foster Drums
2022 Omega The Alarm Drums
2022 These Four Walls In The Forest Drums
2022 Call To Arms & Angels Archive Drums
2022 L'Emprise Mylène Farmer Drums
2021 History Repeating The Alarm Drums, Vocals (background)
2019 Sigma The Alarm Drums, Percussion,
Vocals (background)
2019 Now Playing Mark Butcher Drums
2019 25 Archive Drums
2018 Equals The Alarm Drums
2018 Peninsular II Robin Foster Drums
2018 Our Future in Space Ian McNabb Drums
2017 Life in Space Nik Turner Composer
2016 The False Foundation Archive Drums
2015 Restriction Archive Drums
2015 Delivery Hero Fisher Drums
2014 Axiom Archive Drums
2012 Global Lows Birdpen Drums
2012 With Us Until You're Dead Archive Drums
2010 Bleu noir Mylène Farmer Drums
2009 Controlling Crowds Archive Drums
2006 Lights Archive Drums
2004 Noise Archive Drums
2003 Can You Dig It?:
The Best of the Mock Turtles 		The Mock Turtles Composer, Drums
2002 You All Look the Same to Me Archive Drums
1999 Rock Art and the X-Ray Style Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros Drums
1998 The Dream Society Roy Harper Drums, Percussion
1997 Life thru a Lens Robbie Williams Drums, Vocals (background)

References

  1. ^ a b Chamberlain, Rich (November 2020). "Smiley − From classic rock to hip hop and in between...". Rhythm. No. 297.
  2. ^ "Steve Barnard". Robbie Williams Database. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Two Mescaleros and their amigos come to the Casbah". The Hamilton Spectator. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  4. ^ Anthony Davie, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros. Vision of a Homeland., Effective Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1-903111-75-7
  5. ^ "On the Beat with UK Drummer Steve "Smiley" Barnard of the Alarm and Archive: Talks Artists, Albums, and Tours". Modern Drummer. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ "From The Jam: Aberdeen 18th May 2014 – live review". Louder Than War. 21 May 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  7. ^ "From The Jam – The Public Gets What The Public Wants Tour". Rock Zone UK. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  8. ^ "Gene Loves Jezebel play rare Brighton gig". Brighton and Hove News. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Steve "Smiley" Barnard". The Alarm Archive. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Bowie supergroup Holy Holy and Woody Woodmansey part ways over 'medical differences'". Planet Rock. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  11. ^ Steve Barnard − Puzzled album review, Vive Le Rock, April 2023, p. 82
  12. ^ "Smiley − Discography". Discogs. Retrieved 3 March 2023.