Riton (musician)

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Riton

Riton in 2006.
Background information
Birth name Henry Smithson
Born September 1978 (age 35)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
Origin  • Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
 • Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Genres Electronic, electroclash
Occupations DJ, musician
Years active Since 2001
Labels Switch Recordings
Grand Central Records
Associated acts Gucci Sound System
Die Verboten
Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
Riton & Primary 1
Carte Blanche
Website ritontime.com

Riton (/ˈriːtɒn/ REE-ton) (born September 1978) is an English electronica DJ and musician.

Early life and education

He was born Henry Smithson in Newcastle upon Tyne. The name Riton is French slang for "Henry".

He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Career

After finishing university, Smithson started the Switch Recordings label, upon which he released his first two 12" singles. He began DJing at Newcastle's "Shindig" nightclub. There, he was discovered by Mark Rae and signed to Grand Central Records independent record label. Like Rae, he then worked in Manchester's Fat City Records label/distribution/retail outlet.

His first release on Grand Central, the song "Communicated", featured on the compilation album Central Heating 2 (2000) and was followed by his mostly instrumental debut album, Beats du Jour (2001).

Riton's second album, Homies And Homos (2004) was a much more vocal affair, and featured amongst others, Lee Jones of Howdi and Luca Santucci. It includes a cover version of The Cure's song "Killing an Arab".

In 2005, Riton and Ben Fat Trucker formed the Gucci Sound System. The pair have a monthly residency at the 333 Club in London and have their own nightclub named Druzzi's Baltimore Rave Club at Nightmoves on Shoreditch High Street in East London. Guests have included Headman, Erol Alkan, 2 Many DJs, The Rapture, Richard X, Mylo and FC Kahuna.

Since the demise of Grand Central Records in 2006, Riton has released 12" singles on several European labels, including Linxfarren in the UK.

In late 2006, it was announced in the Belgian magazine HUMO that David and Stephen Dewaele from Soulwax had formed a krautrock band with Riton called Die Verboten. An album was expected late 2007, but to date there has been no further information on the project. Instead, Riton released an album under the pseudonym Eine Kleine Nacht Musik on the label Modular Records in July 2008.

He launched together with DJ Mehdi in 2010 a project which was called "Carte Blanche".

Riton was to release new music in November 2011 ('Dark Place' and 'A.C.P) and was also working on music for his album, collaborating with artists and producers such as Surkin and AlunaGeorge – due for release in summer 2012.

Discography

As Riton

  • Beats du Jour (June 2001)
  • Homies and Homos (September 2004)
  • Dark Place/A.C.P. (November 2011)
  • Lost My Mind EP (January 2013)

Riton and Primary 1

  • "Radiates" (Dececember 2009)
  • "Who's There" (August 2009)

As Eine Kleine Nacht Musik

  • Eine Kleine Nacht Musik (July 2008)

As Carte Blanche

  • "White Man on the Moon EP" (May 2011)
  • "Black Billionaires EP" (June 2010)

As Symphony Hall

  • "One Night Stand EP" (October 2012)

External links

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