Riton

Henry Oliver Smithson (born 13 September 1978), best known by his stage name Riton , is an English electronic music DJ and producer from Newcastle upon Tyne.

Biography Smithson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. The name Riton is French slang for "Henry". He graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

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 Rymer 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 . 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 on the label Modular Records in July 2008. In 2010, he launched a project called "" with DJ Mehdi.

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.

At the start of 2016, Riton hit chart success with the track "Rinse & Repeat"; the track featured vocals from Kah-Lo. The track was released via Riton's own Riton Time record label.

He then released a collaborative album, Foreign Ororo with Kah-Lo, in October 2018 producing fan-favourite hits including GRAMMY nominated 'Rinse & Repeat', 'Fake ID', 'Up & Down' and 'Ginger' – anthems that received a wealth of radio support from tastemakers around the world including the likes of Annie Mac at BBC Radio 1. He also co-produced on the Dua Lipa and Silk City single 'Electricity', winning a Grammy for "Best Dance Recording".

In 2021, the MK remix of Nightcrawlers' "Push the Feeling On" was sampled by Riton, to record a track called "Friday". Credited to Riton X Nightcrawlers featuring Mufasa and Hypeman, the record featured a couple of social media stars and was issued by Sony's Ministry of Sound Recordings. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 60 on 22 January 2021 and eventually reached the top 5 on the Official Chart Company's chart of 5 to 11 March 2021. In November, his Gucci Soundsystem project with Ben Rymer teamed up with Jarvis Cocker to release the climate change-inspired "Let's Stick Around", which came with a video filmed in Glasgow around the time of the COP26 conference.

Discography Albums + List of albums Title Album details Beats Du Jour Released: June 2001 Label: Grand Central Records (GCCD111) Formats: digital download, CD, LP Homies and Homos Released: September 2004 Label: Grand Central Records (GCCD131) Formats: digital download, CD, LP Eine Kleine Nacht Musik (as Eine Kleine Nacht Musik) Released: 2008 Label: Modular Recordings (MODCD090) Formats: digital download, CD Foreign Ororo (as Riton + Kah-Lo) Released: 26 October 2018 Label: Riton Time (LGE-ED-1875A) Formats: digital download, streaming, LP

Extended plays + List of EPs Title EP details One to Ten Released: 12 October 1999 Label: Switch Record 01 (MR34412) Formats: LP Lost My Mind Released: 21 January 2013 Label: Ed Banger Records (ED069) Formats: LP, digital download Bad Guy RiRi Released: 26 May 2014 Label: Ed Banger Records (ED078) Formats: LP, digital download My House, My Rules Released: 29 September 2023 Label: Warner Music UK Formats: digital download

Singles As lead artist

BEA: Gold BVMI: Platinum FIMI: Gold IFPI AUT: Platinum SNEP: Gold ZPAV: Gold "Mr Todd Terry" — — — — — — — — — — "How Could I Ever" 2020 — — — — — — — — — — "Too High — — — — — — — — — — "Friday" 2021 4 12 5 1 21 3 10 3 7 2 BPI: 2× Platinum BEA: Gold BVMI: 3× Gold IFPI AUT: 2× Platinum IFPI SWI: 2× Platinum ZPAV POL: 2× Platinum "Come with Me" — — — — — — — — — — "I Don't Want You" 50 — — — — — — — — — BPI: Silver — — — — — — — — — — "Sugar" 2023 — — — — — — — — — — "Where You Want" — — — — — — — — — — "Never Knew Love" — — — — — — — — — — My House, My Rules "Run Up" — — — — — — — — — — "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

As featured artist + List of singles Title Year Album "By My Side" (Clashcorner presents Riton featuring Watine) 2004 "Don't Talk to Me" (N.F.I. featuring Riton & Faangs) 2019

Production credits