Paul Anderson, better known as Smiler, collects and plays a wide range of vintage black music and is equally at home spinning jazz, rhythm & blues, doo wop, 60s soul, ska or Afro-Latin sounds. As a DJ, he fits in perfectly with the philosophy behind Right On! and has played at the club a number of times over the years, never failing to amaze crowds with his deep and varied selections.
Smiler started seriously collecting records in 1983 and was first inspired by DJs Toski, Paul Hallam and Richard Early after attending clubs like The Phoenix and Sneakers in London. He put on his first event in 1985 and soon began to DJ around the South of England before becoming a regular on the London circuit. He is well-known as the promoter and resident DJ of the influential King's Tavern R&B club in Reading which ran from 1988 until 1992 and attracted people from far and wide.
It was in 1986 that Smiler got into the jazz scene and started going to Paul Murphy's sessions at the 100 Club as well as The Purple Pit at Camden's Electric Ballroom and The Purple Pussycat. He also went to events run by Baz Fe Jazz and Dave Hucker. Around 1989, he started to attend events run by Giles Peterson and Patrick Forge such as the now legendary Dingwalls Sunday afternoon sessions. He also attended the Brighton Jazz bops run by Russ Dewbury.
In early 1992, Smiler began to run his own jazz events in Reading with a friend called Keith Matthews. During the Acid Jazz period they ran clubs called The 4th Dimension, Cymbalism, Outrageous, and Full Circle, as well as DJing for bands such as Skooby and Corduroy.
Smiler currently runs a popular club night in Reading called Rude! which covers all aspects of vintage black music. He is also still much in demand as a guest DJ all over the UK and Europe.