Starsmith

Starsmith
Birth name Finlay Dow-Smith
Born (1988-07-08) 8 July 1988
Bromley, England
Genres Pop, electronica, house, synthpop
Occupation(s) Record producer, composer, musician
Instruments Drums, synthesizer, saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, vocals
Years active 2009–present
Associated acts Ellie Goulding, Kylie Minogue, Cheryl Cole, Lady Gaga, Jess Glynne

Starsmith (born Finlay Dow-Smith, 8 July 1988, Bromley, England) is a multi-platinum selling British songwriter, producer, remixer and DJ. He is best known for his writing and production work with artists such as Ellie Goulding, Jess Glynne, Kylie Minogue, and Clean Bandit as well as his own solo work. He studied a classical music degree at the University of Surrey[1] majoring in performance on saxophone. He has also received widespread acclaim for the remixes he created for Lady Gaga, Robyn, Timbaland, Katy Perry, Passion Pit, and Marina and the Diamonds amongst many others.[2] His remix of "Bad Romance" was chosen as the lead remix of the track on Lady Gaga's hugely successful 2010 remix album, The Remix.[3] He was nominated for the Music Producers Guild Breakthrough Producer of the Year award in 2011[4] and then again for the Remixer of the Year in 2012.[5]

Early career

He is good friends with singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding and in addition to producing the majority of her debut album Lights also co-wrote five tracks on the album, which following its release on 1 March 2010, went straight to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart. The album has gone on to sell nearly 2,000,000 copies worldwide. He teamed up again with Goulding on her second number-one album, Halcyon, producing and co-writing three songs on the album,[6] which debuted in the top 10 in both the UK and the US in October 2012.[7] He produced tracks for Diana Vickers' debut album, Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree which also went straight to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart in May 2010. He had subsequent UK Number 1 album cuts in 2010 with both Cheryl Cole and Kylie Minogue.[8] He co-wrote and produced the track "Burn" for Clare Maguire's debut album in 2011.

Starsmith toured with Goulding in 2009 and 2010, and also played with her on Later... with Jools Holland in 2009, playing bass guitar. He is a noted instrumentalist, additionally playing piano and guitar, but his main instrument is the saxophone (tenor or alto); the saxophone solo on his 2013 rework of the Hall and Oates track "I Can't Go for That" is performed by himself.

He spent the majority of 2010 working on his own solo album, but in a post on his blog in early 2011[9] he revealed that he had decided to postpone releasing the album and was instead focusing on songwriting and production. However, one song from the album sessions, "Lesson One", which he co-wrote and produced with Alan Braxe, was released later that year on Braxe's Vulture label.[10]

In December 2011, he was the subject of an episode of the Red Bull and Vice documentary series, The Producers.[11]

Latest work

In March 2014, the track "Dead In The Water" that he co-wrote and produced with Ellie Goulding was included in the promotion and soundtrack for the film Divergent,[12] which opened at No.1 at the Worldwide Box Office.[13]

Charli XCX revealed that she had worked alongside him writing a song for Britney Spears' latest album; however, the track did not make it onto the final album.[14][15]

In June 2014 he revealed he had signed with Ministry of Sound to release his new solo music.[16]

Songwriting and production discography

Year Artist Song Album
2009 Ellie Goulding "Fighter Plane" Under the Sheets EP
2010 Ellie Goulding "Guns and Horses"
"Starry Eyed"
"This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)"
"Under the Sheets"
"The Writer"
"Every Time You Go"
"I'll Hold My Breath"
"Salt Skin"
Lights
2010 Ellie Goulding "Human"
"Animal"
Bright Lights
2010 Kylie Minogue "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" Aphrodite
2010 Cheryl Cole "Yeah Yeah" ft. Travie McCoy Messy Little Raindrops
2010 Marina and the Diamonds "Hollywood" The Family Jewels
2010 Diana Vickers "You'll Never Get To Heaven" Songs from the Tainted Cherry Tree
2010 Erik Hassle "Hurtful" Hurtful (single)
2010 The Saturdays "One Shot" One Shot (single)
2010 Starsmith "Give Me A Break"
"Knuckleduster"
Give Me A Break EP
2011 Clare Maguire "Burn" Light After Dark
2011 Starsmith "Lesson One"
"Champion"
Lesson One EP
2012 Ellie Goulding "Dead In The Water"
"Without Your Love"
"The Ending"
Halcyon
2013 Fenech Soler "Somebody"
"Glow"
Rituals
2013 Mark Owen "Us and Ours"
"S.A.D"
"The End of Everything"
The Art of Doing Nothing
2013 Starsmith "Clockwork" Clockwork (single)
2014 Joel Compass "Vanilla" upcoming album
2014 Betty Who "Better" Take Me When You Go
2014 Py "Swimming Slow" Swimming Slow (single)
2014 Starsmith "Now I Feel Good" Now I Feel Good (single)
2014 Clean Bandit "Real Love" New Eyes
2015 Pawws "Turnaround" Kitsuné New Faces II
2015 Mika "Staring at the Sun" No Place in Heaven
2015 M.O "Preach" Preach (single)
2015 Ella Eyre "Don't Follow Me" Feline
2015 Kwabs "Fight For Love" Fight For Love (single)
2015 Jess Glynne "Hold My Hand"
"Gave Me Something"
"Ain't Got Far"
"You Can Find Me"
"It Ain't Right"
"No Rights No Wrongs"
I Cry When I Laugh
2016 3LAU "Is It Love" Is It Love (single)
2016 Petite Meller "Power" Lil Empire

Remixography

Year Artist Song Title Time
2009 Private "My Secret Lover" 4:01
2009 Elviin "In Colour" 4:44
2009 Bombay Bicycle Club "Always Like This" 4:06
2009 Frankmusik "3 Little Words" (Starsmith Remix) 3:29
2009 Marina and the Diamonds "I Am Not a Robot" (Starsmith 24 Carat Remix) 5:18
2009 Little Boots "New in Town" (Starsmith Remix) 5:30
2009 The Twang "Barney Rubble" (Starsmith Remix) 5:24
2009 Girls Can't Catch "Keep Your Head Up" (Starsmith Club Mix) 5:18
2009 The Mission District "So Over You" (Starsmith Remix) 3:29
2009 Team WaterPolo "Letting Go" (Starsmith Remix) 4:29
2009 Frankmusik "Better Off as Two" (Starsmith Holiday in the Heath Remix) 4:29
2009 Passion Pit "Sleepyhead" (Starsmith Remix feat. Ellie Goulding) 3:19
2009 Animal Kingdom "Signs and Wonders" (Starsmith Remix) 4:17
2009 Paloma Faith "New York" (Starsmith Remix) 3:36
2009 Lisa Mitchell "Coin Laundry" (Starsmith Remix) 4:49
2009 Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" (Starsmith Remix) 4:56
2010 Mika "Blame It on the Girls" (Not on the Starsmith Remix) 6:17
2010 Timbaland featuring Katy Perry "If We Ever Meet Again" (Starsmith Remix) 5:21
2010 N.E.R.D. "Hot-n-Fun" (Starsmith Club Remix) 5:35
2010 Beyoncé "Why Don't You Love Me" (Starsmith Remix – Radio Edit) 3:34
2010 Robyn "Hang with Me" (Starsmith Remix) 6:04
2011 Gypsy & the Cat "Jona Vark" (Starsmith Remix) 4:58
2011 Lady Gaga "Born This Way" (Starsmith Remix) 6:45
2011 Marina and the Diamonds "Radioactive" (Starsmith Rework) 4:37
2012 St. Lucia "We Got It Wrong" (Starsmith Remix) 6:03
2013 Ed Drewett "Drunk Dial" (Starsmith Remix) 5:37
2013 Matthew Koma "Parachute" (Starsmith Remix) 5:18
2013 Hall & Oates "I Can't Go For That" (Starsmith Rework) 4:48
2013 Betty Who "Somebody Loves You" (Starsmith Remix) 6:24
2014 Joywave "Tongues" (Starsmith Remix) 4:39

References

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