The producer, who had previously worked with Pulp, another Sheffield band, had originally put together 18 tracks by Arctic Monkeys that went on to form their Beneath the Boardwalk collection of demos, which the band would give out at gigs.
Smythe said he remembered seeing the band perform at an early gig at The Boardwalk in Sheffield in 2003.
“They did about eight or nine songs, four of which were their own,” he recalled.
“But it’s the quality between their own songs and other people’s songs. There was something immediate for me.”
Lead singer Alex Turner had already approached Smythe about working with the band after meeting the producer at his unassuming 2Fly studio on John Street in Sheffield city centre.
Smythe recounted: “John McClure, who went on to form Reverend and the Makers, was in a band called Judan Suki, who I used to produce.
“Alex Turner and Matt Helders were in that band, too. Alex was the guitarist and Matt was doing bongos and percussion.
“During one session, Alex popped himself into the little control room that I had at that studio and said, ‘Alan, we’ve got another band that we’re in called Arctic Monkeys’.”