Beth Mburu-Bowie known by her stage name HowAboutBeth is an English artist, songwriter and trustee.

Early life

Mburu-Bowie was born in Kenya and grew up in London. Her aunt, Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro, was an influential economist, writer and feminist activist. Between 2005 and 2008 she trained and worked with the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

project The WORKS, for which she composed four pieces that were performed at venues such as the

London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...

. In 2005,

Asian Dub Foundation Asian Dub Foundation (ADF) is an English electronic music band that combines musical styles including rap rock, dub, dancehall, ragga, and South Asian music. The group also includes traditional rock instruments such as electric bass and gui ...

sampled one of her choir pieces for their track "Who Runs The Place" from their album ''

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

''. Mburu-Bowie became trustee of the Roundhouse in April 2008. At the time of her nomination she was the youngest member to join the board of trustees. During her work for the Roundhouse she chaired youth advisory and got to perform with artists such as

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for ...

and Madness.

Collaborative work

In 2009, Mburu-Bowie joined

The Pipettes The Pipettes were a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released two albums, '' We Are The Pipettes'', and '' Earth vs. The Pipettes'' and released numerous singles to support ...

as a member, touring and recording with

Martin Rushent Martin Charles Rushent (11 July 1948 – 4 June 2011) was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and Buzzcocks. Early life Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father ...

. She supported The Heavy as a vocalist on their European tour. In 2011, she performed with Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip after recording vocals for Dan Le Sac's solo debut S''pace Between Words''. She is credited as a lead vocalist on two songs on the album, including the lead single "Caretaker". In 2012, after meeting Andrew Butler of

Hercules and Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, dis ...

, she joined the group as a touring member. In August that year she played

Meltdown Meltdown may refer to: Science and technology * Nuclear meltdown, a severe nuclear reactor accident * Meltdown (security vulnerability), affecting computer processors * Mutational meltdown, in population genetics Arts and entertainment Music * Me ...

festival, performing " Blind" in a duet with

Antony and The Johnsons Antony and the Johnsons is an American music group presenting the work of Anohni and her collaborators. Career British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Anohni's music through his Durtro label ...

in her only live performance of the song since its recording. Mburu-Bowie joined

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to XL Recordings. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twelv ...

as a vocalist for their ''Pala'' tour, which culminated in the band's headlining show at

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

in September 2012. In the same year, she performed with Thumpers for their early live gigs across the UK. In 2014,

Metronomy Metronomy are an English electronic music group formed in 1999. As of 2021, the band consists of Joseph Mount (vocals, keyboards and guitar), Oscar Cash (keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and saxophone), Anna Prior (drums and vocals), Olugbenga ...

invited Mburu-Bowie to record background vocals on the band's fourth album ''

Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

,'' which reached no. 7 on the UK Albums Charts. In 2015, she contributed vocals to the song "Squeeze" on South London producer My Panda Shall Fly's fourth album Too, released via Project Mooncircle. The music publication Off The Tracks described Squeeze as "Everything But The Girl on the one hand (this is so pleasant, though never unctuously polite) and the grimier Ghostpoet on the other".

Solo work

Mburu-Bowie's solo work as HowAboutBeth has been described as "off-kilter contemporary roots pop" and has gained her comparisons to

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...

. She was listed by Belgian blog On-Point as one to watch for making "brilliant, original music in 2010" alongside Ty,

Micachu Mica Levi (; b. 28 February 1987), also known by their stage name Micachu, is an English singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Levi is classically trained and since 2008 has released experimental pop music with their band Good Sad Happy Bad ...

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and others. In 2012, two of her songs, "Running" and "Robot Boy", were awarded Record of the Day by the music platform Record of the Day. Her song "English Girls Love Jade", published via Muphoric Sounds, incorporates lyrics of a

Kikuyu Kikuyu or Gikuyu (Gĩkũyũ) mostly refers to an ethnic group in Kenya or its associated language. It may also refer to: * Kikuyu people, a majority ethnic group in Kenya *Kikuyu language, the language of Kikuyu people *Kikuyu, Kenya, a town in Cent ...

folk song that her Grandmother used to sing to her as a child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mburu-Bowie, Beth 1987 births Living people English women songwriters British indie pop musicians Place of birth missing (living people) English women pop singers 21st-century English women singers 21st-century English singers The Pipettes members Hercules and Love Affair members