Rick Smith on Underworld’s creative process: ‘Music is never finished, it just gets ready’
As Underworld take centre stage at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations, Kevin Fullerton talks to Karl Hyde and Rick Smith about reinvention, creativity and their era-defining hit
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‘Drive boy dog boy/Dirty numb angel boy/In the doorway boy/She was a lipstick boy.’ Across the pop landscape of 1996, when the mainstream courted Britpop posers and Euro-dance atrocities, there were few chart toppers less likely than Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy (Nuxx)’. This stream-of-consciousness, fragmentary tale of an alcoholic on the edge was backed by euphoric sustained notes and the kind of four-four beat that could shake the rum and cokes off nightclub tables. Both anthemic and inordinately gloomy, it was a strange fit for the Top 40, but an ideal one for Edinburgh’s underbelly, comprising the backbone to the soundtrack for Trainspotting, the now ubiquitous story of addiction in Leith’s bleakest tenements. Existing outside of the margins, the misadventures of Renton, Spud, Sick Boy and Begbie seemed to echo Underworld’s nightclub alcoholic, riding the 90s wave while falling prey to its worst excesses.
The stratospheric success of ‘Born Slippy’, and its movie associations, has tied Underworld to one hit in the popular consciousness, something they remain proud of. ‘Thirty years on and we still love playing it,’ says Rick Smith. ‘We still love sharing that moment and, surprisingly, it never gets old.’ Yet, unlike other dance acts of the era, the sheer strangeness of their output soon allowed Smith and singer Karl Hyde to strike their own path. While peers such as Andrew Weatherall or Orbital flirted with a commercial sensibility, Underworld’s underlying sense of threat and restless experimentation always made them a proposition that could straddle the fields of the art world while still dabbling in more mainstream waters.
Since those heady days, they’ve been no strangers to changing their sound in revolutionary ways, charting quiet synth odysseys on Strawberry Hotel, improvisational gambits with fellow traveller Brian Eno, or directing the music for the 2012 Olympics alongside their erstwhile champion Danny Boyle (they also provided glowering soundtrack work on his 2007 sci-fi thriller Sunshine). The pair are also unafraid to look in the rearview mirror as part of their World Of Underworld project, searching for new permutations in their most beloved material. ‘I get lost in the possibilities, honestly,’ enthuses Smith. ‘The urge for reinvention is constant for us. Music is never finished, it just gets ready. We get so much joy out of performing live that we really want to keep making it better for the fans that keep coming to see us. It’s important that we put effort in. People have invested in us both spiritually and financially. They’ve bought a ticket so it’s only right we try and give them a singular experience.’
‘Reinventing things keeps it playful for us and that’s truly a gift,’ echoes Hyde. ‘We want to make sure there’s surprise and delight in every new live show, invigorating and expanding the experience as much as we can.’ Perhaps that process of reinvention is what continues to bring the band together after almost four decades, particularly when their creative ventures regularly diverge into solo projects. ‘We’re a team and Underworld gets more exciting day by day,’ insists Hyde. ‘This is the best band ever. We take what we’ve done separately and bring it back to Underworld. It adds to the whole story. Especially recently, we’ve found so much external inspiration from other artists and other art forms.’
Though they’re unable to reveal too much, the band’s newfound inspiration looks set to build on the success of ‘Arp12’, their recently released single with Dutch DJ Ki/Ki. A new studio album is in the works alongside a live record that will showcase their restless experimentation on stage. ‘We’re always updating our catalogue for live shows,’ explains Smith, ‘so it was getting to the point where we needed to share what that sound is now compared to the original releases.’
As they round off 2026 with Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebration, the mantra for a night in their spiritual home remains simple. ‘Dance, dance, dance. Joy, joy, joy,’ says Hyde. ‘With a countdown in the middle, of course,’ laughs Smith.
Underworld headline Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, West Princes Street Gardens, Thursday 31 December; picture: Jon Gorrigan.
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