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 and DJ. His music is often described as

progressive house Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

, though he prefers to associate more with

tech house Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term ''tech house'' developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno, ...

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 Global Underground is a British record label and compilation series founded in 1996 by Andy Horsfield and James Todd. The label symbolised the international explosion of dance music during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s and first manifesto for hi ...

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 South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

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 founder

John Digweed Thomas John Digweed (born 1 January 1967) is a British DJ and record producer. ''DJ Magazine'' voted him World No 1 DJ in 2001. As well as achieving success as a solo act, he has collaborated with Sasha as Sasha & John Digweed, and with Nick ...

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 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. 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 ...

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, 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 Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

record label

ID&T ID&T is a Dutch entertainment and medium enterprise that was founded in the early 1990s. Their event Mysteryland is named the oldest electronic festival in the Netherlands, with later events like Trance Energy and Sensation. It operates many o ...

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 The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

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

Twilo Twilo was an American nightclub in operation from 1995 to 2001 in New York City and from 2006 to 2007 in Miami. The New York location at 530 West 27th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan regularly attracted a crowd of thousands to its w ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. After finishing the Science Department track "Breathe", Howells compiled his next mix album ''Nubreed 002''. The second entry in

's ''Nubreed'' series, Howells's album consisted largely of funky, progressive,

. Howells was voted number ten of the world's top DJs in

DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

'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 Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may b ...

chill out music Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...

, 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

, tribal house, or

. 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'' (

) *1999: '' Nocturnal Frequencies'' ( Obsessive) *1999: '' Danny Howells Presents Jackpot Records'' ( Jackpot) *2000: '' Nocturnal Frequencies 2'' (Obsessive) *2000: ''Nubreed 002'' (Boxed) *2001: '' Renaissance: Revelation'' (

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

Top Electronic Albums Top Dance/Electronic Albums, Dance/Electronic Albums (formerly Top Electronic Albums) is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States based on sales compiled by ...

#10) *2005: '' Global Underground 027: Miami'' ( Global Underground Ltd.) (Billboard Top Electronic Albums #14) *2006: '' Choice - A Collection of Classics'' ( Azuli Records) *2008: '' Renaissance: The Mix Collection'' (

) *2009: Dig Deeper: The New Label *2013: '' Balance 024''(EQ Recordings) ;Remixes *

Felix da Housecat Felix da Housecat (born Felix Stallings Jr., August 25, 1971) is an American DJ and record producer, mostly known for house music and electro. Felix is regarded as a member of the second wave of Chicago house Musical career Early life Stall ...

- (" We All Wanna Be Prince") (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