Howie B

Howard Simon Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbie Robertson, Elisa, Mukul Deora, Marlene Kuntz and the Gift.

Early life and career

Born into a Jewish family amidst the Catholic-Protestant sectarianism of Glasgow,Howie B interview
That's. Retrieved 2013-16-12. Bernstein attended socialist Jewish youth clubs in the city while finding a musical education in John Peel's radio shows, recording tracks from the show on a two-track tape recorder and making rudimentary mixes from them.Insights into fatherhood
SCMP. Retrieved 2013-16-12.

Later, he spent a year in Israel working on a kibbutz as part of Jewish cultural youth movement HabonimThe comedy gang: The Jewish youth group that made Sacha Baron Cohen
The Independent. Retrieved 2013-16-12. before living for a period in the United States.

Once back in the UK, he moved to a squat in Limehouse, London. When asked in 2018 "What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?", he mentioned "Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1978". In the 1980s, he was "heavily influenced" by the London Skating scene and its DIY attitude. He saved to buy an album a week and then listened to it all day long . The bands he liked the most at the time were "Siouxsie and the Banshees - of which I was a big fan - but also Santana, John McLaughlin, Sly & Robbie, a lot of reggae, and Brian Eno".

He had a desire to work in the music industry, and after establishing himself as a DJ, he found a job working as a teaboy at Lillie Yard studios – owned by film composer Hans Zimmer. He worked his way up there between 1984 and 1986, from teaboy to tape operator to assistant engineer to engineer.Howie B: Electronic Music For Live Performance
Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2013-16-12. He learnt there all the technical details and procedures.

Artist production, engineering and collaboration

He started working; mixing and engineering with Siouxsie and the Banshees, on their 1988 singles " Peek-a-Boo" and "The Killing Jar". "I could not believe I was doing it. Four years earlier I'd been jumping up on the stage trying to touch her, and then I'm in the studio with her. That was a big moment". He then engineered and mixed on Soul II Soul's debut album ''Club Classics Vol. One'' in 1989, after he befriended the group during regular visits to their parties at London's Africa Centre.Soul II Soul: The Day Of The Funki Dred
Blues & Soul. Retrieved 2013-17-12. By the early 1990s, he was hired by Massive Attack and Goldie. Following the success of these collaborations, he left Lillie Yard to go freelance. In 1993, he set up his own label Pussyfoot.

He worked as a programmer for Björk on several albums, engineering on 1995's ''Post'' and co-writing " I Miss You". His mix of "All is Full of Love" was included in the final cut of her following album, 1997's ''Homogenic''.

At the same time, he collaborated with U2 on different projects. He supervised their side-project ''Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1'' alongside producer Brian Eno.Flood & Howie B: Producing U2's 'Pop'
Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2013-17-12. He also heavily involved in the U2's electronically focused ''Pop (U2 album), Pop'' in 1997, co-producing it with Flood (producer), Flood. "At the beginning they were trying to find a role for me" he said of the beginning of the project. "My original title was 'DJ and Vibes'. It was a bit of a difficult title to be given, because some of the tunes didn't need that kind of input – it's not as though there's scratching and loops all over the record. And vibes... that's a really difficult word to describe, and to put your finger on. So it was a bit ad hoc at first. As we got further and further into the project, the role I was playing came out – I was co-producer, engineer, and mixer. I gave the band a direct line into club culture and freestyle DJing." He then embarked on their PopMart tour, for a DJ set.

Other notable credits include producing Tricky's 'Ponderosa',Tricky: Discogs
Discogs. Retrieved 2014-07-02. performing 'noises' on Marlene Kuntz's ''Ricoveri Virtuali E Sexy Solitudini'',Marlene Kuntz: Discogs
Discogs. Retrieved 2014-07-02. producing two albums (''Reale'' and collaborative album ''Not in the Face'') for Italian funk rock group Casino Royale.,Clash Music: Howie B vs Casino Royale
Clash Music. Retrieved 2014-07-02. producing and co-writing ''Take Your Partner by the Hand'' with Robbie Robertson for his own album Turn the Dark Off, producing Sly and Robbie's album ''Drum & Bass Strip to the Bone'', Drum & Bass Strip To The Bone by Howie B review
Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2014-07-02. producing a solo project for U2's The Edge and producing for Hal Willner.Hal Wilner: Pomegranate Arts
Pomegranate Arts. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

In 2021, Italian duo Pinhdar released the album ''Parallel'', produced by Howie B and including his significant musical contributions. He told ondarock that “this is one of the records I’m most proud of.”

Solo career

He has been releasing music under his own name since the early 1990s, as well as under other various monikers and as part of groups including ambient/electronica Skylab (band), Skylab. His productions appeared on seminal electronic labels including Mo'Wax and Eye Q, while he signed with major label Polydor (sister label Island in the US) for a deal that spanned four full-length albums and several singles.

As a DJ, he mostly notably compiled and mixed ''FabricLive.05'' for London nightclub Fabric (club), Fabric's nascent label in 2002.

A new album, ''Down with the Dawn'', was announced in late 2013Howie B announced Down With The Dawn
Digital Warble. Retrieved 2013-17-12. and released on 9 April 2014.

Film scores, TV, advertising music and theatre

He produced a remix of the cover version of Theme from Mission: Impossible for Mission: Impossible (film series), the 1996 feature-film remake, called ''Mission: Impossible Theme (Mission Accomplished)'' performed by U2 members Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr., which peaked at No. 7 in both the UK and US charts and sold over 500,000 copies.

He has produced, co-produced, composed and written a number of scores and soundtracks for full-length feature and short films alike, including The End of Violence with Ry Cooder, ''Dollhouse'', ''How To Sell A Banksy'', Double Xposure, ''Lost in Thailand'', ''Made in China'' and ''Rabbit''.Howie B. filmography
IMDB. Retrieved 2013-18-12. He frequently collaborated with director Run Wrake, who would animate short films and music videos set to accompany Howie B's music. He also soundtracked a pornographic film directed by Jacob Pander.Howie B interview
Time Out Hong Kong. Retrieved 2013-18-12.

His TV work includes creating music for BBC One's Imagine (TV series), Imagine documentary on The Royal Ballet's principal guest artist Carlos Acosta, for a Dazed & Confused (magazine), Dazed & Confused short film project ''Stop for a Minute''Stop For A Minute
Angelfire. Retrieved 2014-18-02. and for a Dazed series on Channel 4.Renegade Masters
Design Week. Retrieved 2014-18-02.

His work for advertising campaigns includes creating music for Maserati,Seven Notes: Howie B Live At Abbey Road Studios
WhatCulture!. Retrieved 2013-18-12. Hyundai, Hyundai launches latest Europe-wide campaign
Campaign. Retrieved 2014-04-02. Range Rover, Hugo Boss and BUPA.Song Of The Salesman: BUPA
Song of the Salesman. Retrieved 2014-04-02.

He also collaborated with Argentine theatre group De La Guarda on an album produced by one of their members, Gaby Kerpel, who he also mentored.Gaby Kerpel: Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records. Retrieved 2014-07-02.

His remix of "Cherry Lips" by Garbage (band), Garbage is used after every home run hit by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Pussyfoot Records and HB records

His label, Pussyfoot Records, ran from 1994 to 2002 and released over 20 albums and compilations and around 50 singles.

He set up HB Records in 2013 to release a new album ''Down with the Dawn''.

Discography

Albums

* ''Music for Babies'' (1996)
* ''Turn the Dark Off'' (1997) – UK Albums Chart, UK No. 58
* ''Snatch'' (1999)
* ''Sly and Robbie drum & bass Strip to the Bone by Howie B'' (1999)
* ''Folk (Howie B album), Folk'' (2001)
* ''Another Late Night: Howie B'' (DJ mix, DJ mix album, 2001)
* ''FabricLive.05'' (DJ mix, DJ mix album, 2002)
* ''Last Bingo in Paris'' (2004)
* ''Mayonnaise'' (2004) with Crispin Hunt and Will O'Donovan
* ''Music for Astronauts and Cosmonauts'' (2007)
* ''Howie B vs Casino Royale: Not in the Face - Reale Dub Version'' (2008)
* ''Good Morning Scalene'' (2010)
* ''Down with the Dawn'' (2014)

Chart singles

*"Angels Go Bald: Too" (1997) – UK Singles Chart, UK No. 36
*"Switch" (1997) – UK No. 62
*"Take Your Partner By the Hand" (1998) – UK No. 74 †

† Howie B featuring Robbie Robertson from ''Contact from the Underworld of Redboy''

Remixes

* Angélique Kidjo"Agolo (How's Tricks mix)"
* Garbage (band), Garbage"Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)" (Howie B remix)
* Unkle"The Time Has Come" (Howie B vs U.N.K.L.E. remix)
* Björk"Hyperballad" (Robin Hood Riding Through The Glen mix)
* Annie Lennox"Waiting in Vain" (Howie B Sub Aqua remix)
* Simply Red"You Make Me Believe" (Howie B remix)
* New Order (band), New Order"Age of Consent (song), Age of Consent" (Howie B remix)
* Model 500"The Flow" (Howie B mix)
* U2"Discothèque (song), Discothèque" (Howie B Hairy B mix)
* Placebo (band), Placebo"Pure Morning" (Howie B remix)
* The Creatures (Siouxsie Sioux's second band) "Prettiest Thing" (Howie B Hormonal mix)
* Steve Reich"Eight Lines" (Howie B remix)
* Leftfield"Dusted (song), Dusted" (Howie B vocal remix)
* Jeff Beck"What Mama Said" (remix)
* Serge Gainsbourg"Ballade De Melody Nelson" (Howie B remix)
* :it:Ofeliadorme, Ofeliadorme"Paranoid Park" (Howie B remix)
* Metric (band), Metric "The Police and the Private" (Howie B Remix)

Production

*East 17 – "All I Want"
* Tricky – "Aftermath"
*Tricky – "Ponderosa"
*Björk – ''Post''
*Tricky – ''Maxinquaye''
*Everything but the Girl – "Flipside"
*Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen, Jr. – "Theme from Mission: Impossible"
* U2 – ''Pop (U2 album), Pop''
*Björk – ''Homogenic''
*Elisa - ''Asile's World''
*The Gift – Film
*Overunit Machine – ''Ungod'' EP
*Casino Royale – Reale
*Les Négresses Vertes - ''Trabendo''
* Robbie Robertson – ''Contact from the Underworld of Redboy'' (1998)
* :it:Ofeliadorme, Ofeliadorme
* Nylo – Soft Escape (2011)
*Pinhdar - Parallel (2021)

Participations

*''Emmaus Mouvement'' – Emmaus Mouvement 50th anniversary record (1999)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howie B
British trip hop musicians
1963 births
Living people
British Jews
Island Records artists
Musicians from Glasgow
Scottish DJs
Scottish record producers
Scottish Jews
Electronic dance music DJs
Jewish British musicians