Owen Howells Interview
'London's Owen Howells, described as 'genre agnostic and forward thinking' by IDJ mag, proffers a heady twist on house and techno with wide-ranging appeal.
His approach has won him many plaudits; Owen's productions have been championed by Markus Schulz, Davide Squillace, Sonny Fodera, Raymundo Rodriguez, and Tomoki Tamura, not to mention Loco Dice, who picked up a then-unreleased track from Soundclound and played it out across the globe in late 2011. He has released on Wunderkammer, Sounds of Juan, Muchiq, Brikbat & has forthcoming releases on Shades of Grey, Zipped records, Trendy Mullet recordings & Nutation.
In the past year, Owen's played alongside Raymundo Rodriguez(Jaded), Mauro Picotto, Groove Armada, Rob Mello(Classic), Antonio De Angelis(Viva Music/One more), Robert James,(Hot Creations), Sigha(Hot Flush)and Pariah(R&S), to name but a few.
He's also part of Shades of Grey, a collective and label which has carved a snug niche for itself in the UK Bass scene, earning support from Mary Anne Hobbes (Radio 1/XFM) on its first release, and running a successful monthly basement party in Brixton, where Owen is resident.'
Introduce yourself…
Hi, my name’s Owen Howells, I’m an electronic music producer who mainly writes house & techno, I love to DJ and am fascinated by the effect dance music has on people. I really enjoy beans on toast in the mornings & lazing around the house.
How did you first come to electronic music?
Probably when I was really young but I didn’t realise it, the first record I bought had M people & the pet shop boys and that was well electronic! ;)
When I bought records like ‘The Orb – Fluffy little clouds’ & saw the prodigy perform live I knew that it was electronic music. And not much later I had my first sort of clubbing experience and over time became more interested in the person in the booth changing the records.
When did you decide you wanted to be a DJ/producer?
I always DJ’d in high school and have always loved music from being exposed to folk, reggae and all sorts from my parents but I started taking it really seriously when I moved back to the UK about 3 years ago.
Seeing people like Ryan Elliot DJ here in London and having amazing experiences at places like Panorama bar in Berlin definitely cemented my infatuation with electronic music & Djing.
What inspires or influences you and your music most?
Inspiration definitely comes from my family & friends, experiences I’ve had, both good & bad and living here in London.
My influences are all over the place but I like music with subtle concepts in it and also music that’s hard to pigeon hole into one particular genre.
Tell us about some things you are currently working on…
I’m working on an EP with my friend Orantes, drawing influence from the massive dub/reggae vinyl collection his dad left him before moving to Jamaica and trying to take some of the aesthetics from these records and put it into a house/techno/something context has been great fun. We’re getting there..
I’ve also just started an EP with my cousin who produces under the name ‘Stanky’. He’s done 2 remixes for me in the past, one on my ‘Steady on old boy’ EP which came out on October 3rd and one for an EP due out in Jan on vinyl for Zipped records.
After the remixes I think we both enjoyed mashing our sounds together and it seemed natural to start working on some new material together The guys amazing he’ll sample & make a loop out of just about anything.
And of course Shades of Grey recordings is also something me along with several others are devoting a lot of time and energy into at the moment. Our monthly parties here in London are now underway and going really well and our first release by label Co-owner Fybe one has been getting support from Mary Anne Hobbs on XFM so we’re all super excited about what the future holds for SOG.
What are your aims when making a tune?
I guess making something that I’d like to hear when I’m out or that I could imagine being a part of one of my sets. I have 2 quite different approaches to making music, one where I have a pretty solid idea of what I want it to sound like before I start writing and the other where I just experiment and see where things take it. It’s a nice mix(I think).
Do you work quick and freely or are you an endless tweaker?
I work quickly at first but then do have problems finishing a project, I suppose I’m a bit of a procrastinator. That said I’m definitely not an endless tweaker because there’s loads of times where I’ve sent something off to be mastered and then wished I’d make quite a few changes, ah well. Or does that make me an endless tweaker?
How’s your year been? What have been the highlights?
Like my dad, I’m seriously into my moments. I had a great moment this year sat on a balcony in the sun in the south of france eating some warm French bread with my beautiful girlfriend.
Musically, seeing how well our first Shades of Grey event went was a huge highlight. The atmosphere was amazing and seeing all different friends of friends having a dance definitely made me really happy.
Who are you outside of music day to day?
I’m a student ,who is extremely clumsy & forgetful and can be a bit of a know it all at times. But overall I don’t think I’m too bad?!?