Jim Smith is a musician, music producer & sound engineer based in Malvern.
Jim was gifted his first keyboard for Christmas at the age of 4 and ever since, has had the bug for playing, creating, writing and recording music.
At age 8, Jim sang in his school choir in church, opening up solo, the first verse of ‘Once In Royal David’s City’.
At age 10, after a dozen or so keyboard lessons, Jim decided he wanted to learn guitar instead, his mother purchased his first guitar from a music shop in Evesham, although knowing he was left handed (writing hand) she didn’t realise guitars came either left or right handed, so ended up buying a right handed acoustic guitar.
With a basic guitar book and a right-handed guitar, Jim self-taught himself to play, not realising he was learning to play upside down (right handed guitar in left handed play position); it wasn’t until several years later when he joined his first band, they made fun of him for playing guitar ‘weird’ and ‘like Hendrix’. Eventually Jim bought himself a left handed guitar and relearned to play.
After moving to Malvern in 2002, Jim became friends with his neighbour Aaron who also happened to be a left handed guitarist. They bounced ideas together, jamming and learning new chords to show off to each other the next time they played.
This comradery eventually lead to an avid interest in producing and recording music, kickstarted by Aaron introducing him to his first DAW software (Digital Audio Workshop). Soon after that, Jim searched the internet for a DAW he could download and use at home and came across Fruity Loops Studio (FL Studio), and although has learnt to use the likes of Cubase & Logic since, still prefers to use FL Studio.
In 2008, Jim performed solo for the first time at The Lamb in West Malvern at their weekly open mic night. Nervously pulling off numbers like Basket Case by Green Day, Creep by Radiohead and one of his first original songs Still Want You, on his beaten up Washburn Stratocaster. This became a weekly thing, and Jim started attending other music nights locally like the Great Malvern Hotel and The Marrs Bar. Slowly building up his confidence and a repertoire of original songs.
In 2010, Jim’s favourite local indie band RONDA put out an advert looking for a new bass player. Jim had never played bass before, but thought ‘how hard can it be compared to guitar?’ so he went online, found a cheap left handed bass in a cash converters in Birmingham, attended the audition and got the part, learning a set list of over 25 songs in less than 2 weeks for a new year’s eve gig (no pressure!) Some highlights were playing The 100 Club and many other venues across London and supporting Ocean Colour Scene & Dodgy at Bridge Bash Festival.
In 2011, Jim met Oliver Grizzell, later joined by Chris Lewin and they formed Answer Back, a vocally driven pop rock trio. All 3 of them songwriters and singers, they combined their influences, sharing lead vocals with tight 3 way harmonies. Their first music video Never Alone went viral as they started an anti-bullying campaign alongside it which led to them touring the UK playing in schools all over promoting their message. Another highlight was my playing at Keele University student union, where other artists such as Ed Sheeran, Pendulum & Reel Big Fish had also played recently to them.
In 2015, Jim joined Nuns Of The Tundra (Alt Rock) as their new bass player. After releasing a handful of singles and touring the UK, including headlining the 02 Institute Birmingham and playing the BBC Introducing tent at Lakefest 2017, they quickly gained interest in the industry with Steve Lamaq playing them on his show on Radio 6 and Hugh Stevens on Radio 1 and working with producer Alex Loring (Fangclub, Big Spring). Then playing the mainstage at Lakefest 2018 alongside artists such as The Darkness, The Waterboys, The Proclaimers, Reverend and the Makers, Melanie C, Peter Hook and many more.
In 2019, Jim was approached by Paul O’Neill about potentially playing some bass on his solo project. Eventually leading Jim to join the Roving Crows, a multi-award winning Irish Folk Rock band. Shortly after joining, Jim arranged an audition for his friend Laurence Aldridge who joined the band on drums. Jim takes lead role of live sound engineering for the band, using digital mixers XR18 or Soundcraft SI Expression 2 controlling front of house sound and in ear monitor mixes whilst also performing in the band. Jim has recorded and produced numerous Roving Crows Albums, EPs and music videos. Many miles, festivals, countries and service stations have been tallied up in such a short space of time.
Jimian Underhill are a duo performing well known upbeat pop & rock covers with the occasional original song featuring Jim on vocals & guitar and his Step Father Ian Saxelby-Smith on percussion, occasionally joined by Chris O’Donoghue on lead guitar.
Wizard Hips is a garage rock / experimental band and recording project, fronted by Jim who plays guitars, bass, synths and drums on the majority of the recordings. The line up is interchangeable, bringing limitless sounds and influences to the platter.
Other bands Jim has performed in include Pointless Submission, The Good Morning Battle, Red Dawe, Freaky Trigger, Krescendo, Dead Dads Club, Grimm Kin and Phat Spaniel.
Current active music projects Jim is involved with are Roving Crows, Jimian Underhill & Wizard Hips.