Danny Howells (born 24 November 1970) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and DJ. His music is often described as progressive house, though he prefers to associate more with tech house and is sometimes described simply as "deepsexyfuturistictechfunkouse". At performances, he is well known to interact personally with the audience. Howells has mixed several albums for Global Underground in addition to his ''Nocturnal Frequencies'' series. Howells is also a member of the duo Science Department with Dick Trevor, which has produced the singles "Breathe" and "Persuasion"/"Repercussion" as well as remixes for artists such as BT. From 2008 he has run his own record label, Dig Deeper - named after his long running club night.

Biography

Danny Howells was born in the South East England town of

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in 1970. Howells's first event DJing came in the late 1980s and he began to perform at local clubs. In 1991,

Bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

founder John Digweed heard one of Howells's mix tapes and invited Howells to join the Bedrock club nights. Howells traveled with Bedrock until they settled at the club

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He would spend nine years as warm-up DJ for Digweed at Bedrock. In 1995, Howells began producing

experimental techno An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

tracks with fellow Hastings native, Tim Cross, under the moniker ''Squelch''. Over the next two years, Squelch produced several singles and attracted the attention of the record label

Jackpot Jackpot or Jackpot! may refer to: * A prize, such as a progressive jackpot * Gardena jackpots, a poker variant * Jackpot, Nevada, a community on the Nevada–Idaho state border Comics * Jackpot (comics), several comic book characters * ''Jack ...

, who released what would be Cross's and Howells's final single together. In 1997, Cross and Howells split, though Howells stayed with Jackpot. Jackpot teamed Danny Howells up with Rob Green to produce a remix of

React 2 Rhythm REACT or React may refer to: Science and technology * REACT (telescope), a telescope at Fenton Hill Observatory, New Mexico, US Computing * React (JavaScript library) , a JavaScript library for building user interfaces, from Facebook ** React Nat ...

's "Intoxication". Howells performed for the first time outside of the UK, traveling to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

for his first gig abroad, which gained him a large fan base there. Following his international tour, Howells signed with Dutch record label ID&T to create his debut mix album, ''Nightlife Report 1: Mick Boskamp Presents Danny Howells''. Howells and Green continued to work together, including on a remix of

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

's " South of the Border". Howells began to produce solo as well, taking on projects such as Ashtrax's "Kafka" and BT's "Dreaming". In 1999, Danny Howells began his ''Nocturnal Frequencies'' series of mix albums on the record label Obsessive. He also began remixing with Dick Trevor, and the two soon adopted the name ''Science Department'' for their original productions. Howells continued his live DJing, playing regularly at clubs including Bedrock,

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

, and

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

. After the release of his next ''Nocturnal Frequencies'' album, Howells left Bedrock and Ministry of Sound, taking a residency at Twilo in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After finishing the Science Department track "Breathe", Howells compiled his next mix album ''Nubreed 002''. The second entry in Global Underground's ''Nubreed'' series, Howells's album consisted largely of funky, progressive, tech house. Howells was voted number ten of the world's top DJs in DJ Magazine's 2001 Top 100 DJs poll. Howells continued his relationship with Global Underground, releasing the first album in their ''24:7'' series in July 2003. The first disc features a primarily downtempo or chill out music, similarly to

Nick Warren Nicholas John Warren (born 24 October 1968) is an English DJ and record producer. He is best known as a member of the electronic music duo Way Out West, his record label and global live events brand, The Soundgarden, and for his albums release ...

's Global Underground 024: Reykjavik, while the second is more of a club mix. In 2005, Global Underground brought in Howells for the 27th entry in their series. Howells entry, '' Global Underground 027: Miami'', is based on his 31 October 2004 performance at Club Space in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. The first disc is based on his morning set and the second disc on his late night set. In 2008 he launched his own record label "Dig Deeper", initially as a means of showcasing his own productions, but more recently featuring many new and established artists. In 2011 he released the first compilation on this imprint, entitled "Phase One".

Genre and style

Up until the late 1990s, DJs such as Howells allowed themselves to be categorised under genres like "deep

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

". However, with the commercialisation of trance, Howells and others began to be classified as progressive house, tribal house, or tech house. Danny Howells is also known for his unique clothing styles, including wearing

eye liner Eye liner or eyeliner is a cosmetic used to define the eyes. It is applied around the contours of the eye(s). It is often used to create various aesthetic effects. History Eye liner was first used in ancient India, ancient Egypt and Mesopota ...

and "loud" Paisley shirts, which he buys from vintage stores or thrift shops.

Selected discography

;Albums *1998: ''Nightlife Report 1: Mick Boskamp Presents Danny Howells'' ( ID&T) *1999: '' Nocturnal Frequencies'' ( Obsessive) *1999: '' Danny Howells Presents Jackpot Records'' (

) *2000: '' Nocturnal Frequencies 2'' (Obsessive) *2000: ''Nubreed 002'' (Boxed) *2001: '' Renaissance: Revelation'' (

) *2001: '' Nocturnal Frequencies 3'' (Obsessive) *2003: '' 24:7'' (Boxed) (

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Electronic Albums #10) *2005: '' Global Underground 027: Miami'' ( Global Underground Ltd.) (Billboard Top Electronic Albums #14) *2006: '' Choice - A Collection of Classics'' (

Azuli Records Azuli Records was a British independent record label, focusing mainly on house music and other forms of electronic dance music. The label was founded by DJ Dave Piccioni in London, England in 1991 but went into liquidation in April 2009. Some ...

) *2008: '' Renaissance: The Mix Collection'' (

) *2009: Dig Deeper: The New Label *2013: '' Balance 024''(EQ Recordings) ;Remixes * Felix da Housecat - ("

We All Wanna Be Prince "We All Wanna Be Prince" is a song performed by American recording artist Felix da Housecat. Co-written by Alex Croisy, it was released as the album's second single in July 2009. The song was offered as the "Free MP3 of the Day" on Spinner. Backg ...

") (2009)

References

External links

Danny Howells Official Website
* *
Danny Howells Tracklisting archive

Danny Howells's Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howells, Danny English electronic musicians English house musicians English DJs Club DJs Remixers Living people 1970 births Place of birth missing (living people) Progressive house musicians