Steve Barnard, also known as Smiley, began playing music at a young age and his first major success as a drummer was in 1997–1998, when he was the drummer for
Robbie Williams' solo debut album, single B-sides and tours
Life thru a Lens. From 1999, he joined for two years
Joe Strummer's newly formed band
The Mescaleros. Afterwards, Barnard joined the rock/electronica band
Archive, which turned into a long-term collaboration spanning along several albums and film soundtracks. He collaborated with various other bands and musicians, including
From the Jam and
Gene Loves Jezebel. In 2010, he played in the band
Los Mondo Bongo, formed by
Mike Peters to celebrate the music of Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros. Subsequently, he joined Peters' band
The Alarm on a full-time basis, another long-term collaboration. Since the beginning of 2022, Barnard has been playing in the band
Holy Holy, performing the music of
David Bowie, alongside
Tony Visconti and
Glenn Gregory, among others. Barnard is also a music producer at his studio, Sunshine Corner Studios, where he produced several artists and released eight albums of his songs including collaborations with musicians like
Bruce Foxton,
Steve Norman,
Richard Archer,
James Stevenson,
Ian McNabb. ==Author==