Neil J Smith music

Neil J Smith is a songwriter, guitarist and producer from the badlands of suburban Buckinghamshire, just outside of London, UK. Mostly working alone, he creates work that could be broadly categorised as power pop, alternative rock, indie or art rock.

It’s abundantly clear from Neil’s music that he has a love of great melody and songcraft, from The Beatles, whom he regards as ‘underrated’, to the present day. Other discernable influences are from 70’s British prog and art rock, 80’s new wave and post-punk, 90’s Britpop and the more cerebral independent rock and pop artists of subsequent decades. He also makes forays into the worlds of jazz, classical and the avant garde.

Neil was exposed to great music from an early age. His older sister’s record collection included the phenomenal invention and songwriting of The Beatles and 60s/70s Motown, which, together with his father’s love of trad jazz and classical composers, fed into his developing musical brain. Neil would then discover his own tastes in the shape of progressive and art rock, then the new wave and post punk. He has continued to seek out new and innovative sounds from rock/pop and beyond ever since.