He studied a classical music degree at the
University of Surrey, majoring in performance on saxophone and graduating in 2009. He met
Ellie Goulding during his final year and together they started creating what would become her debut album, which was then signed to Polydor Records a few months after he graduated. 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. In December 2011, he was the subject of an episode of the Red Bull and Vice documentary series,
The Producers. 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, which opened at No.1 at the Worldwide Box Office. In 2015, he co-wrote and produced seven songs with
Jess Glynne on her number one debut album
I Cry When I Laugh, including the single "
Hold My Hand", which spent four weeks at number 1 in the UK and sold over two million copies worldwide. In 2017, he collaborated with Paloma Faith on her number one album
The Architect, co-writing and producing five songs. Their first writing session together resulted in the lead single "
Crybaby". That year he also wrote songs with
Jessie Ware for her album
Glasshouse and with
Rae Morris for her album,
Someone Out There. He worked with
Cloves and her longtime writing partner
Justin Parker on singles from her debut album. "Bringing the House Down", their first collaboration, was released in early 2018 as the album's lead single. He co-wrote and produced the lead single "
I'll Be There" for
Jess Glynne's second album. The song went to number one in the UK, achieving their second chart-topper, and third top 3 single together. In 2020, Smith reunited with Goulding, and worked on four songs for her fourth studio album
Brightest Blue. In August 2024, Smith released his first song as a lead artist since 2011, titled "
Leave Me Slowly" which he co-wrote with longtime collaborator,
Ellie Goulding and Sarah Troy. The song includes uncredited lead vocals from Goulding. It was released via Headroom and Another Rhythm Records. == Discography ==