Liam Paul Paris Howlett (born 21 August 1971) is an English

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, musician, songwriter, co-founder and leader of the British electronic band The Prodigy, and an occasional DJ.

Early years

Howlett was born in Braintree, Essex, England. He was trained in classical

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...

(from childhood). At the age of 14, he mixed songs recorded from the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

using the pause button on his cassette player. He was first influenced by hip hop music and culture when he began to attend school at Alec Hunter High School in Braintree. He learned breakdancing alongside his crew called The Pure City Breakers, and DJed in his first band Cut 2 Kill. After a fight at a gig in support of the band, Liam left Cut 2 Kill and started to write his own music. He went to his first rave in 1989.

Music career

The Prodigy

Howlett and dancer/vocalist Keith Flint formed The Prodigy in 1990.

Other musical projects

In 1998, Howlett was offered the chance to do a mix for Mary Anne Hobbs' radio show. He dug out some of his old favourite tracks again and this prompted him to release an edited (due to some copyright issues) version of the mix in February 1999. It was the first material which was recorded in his new home studio "The Dirtchamber", so accordingly the album was to be called ''Prodigy present The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One''. In 1990, Howlett composed music for the film '' The Uranus Experiment''. Described as an "anal space opera", the film featured the first sex scene shot in

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms '' weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the ...

. In the end of January 2006, a compilation album titled '' Back to Mine: Liam Prodigy'' was released. It was a collection of Howlett's favourite tunes, including an exclusive Prodigy track called "Wake the Fuck Up", which was often performed as an intro in The Prodigy's live concerts. Howlett was a co-producer on the track "Immunize" from Australian drum and bass act Pendulum's third album '' Immersion'', which was released in 2010. In 2012, Howlett co-produced the first single "We Hate Everyone" from K.Flay's EP ''Eyes Shut''. He also produced the song ‘Stop, Focus’ from the same EP. On March 30 2022, it was announced that Howlett would compose the musical score for the

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's movie

Choose or Die ''Choose or Die'' (formerly titled ''CURS>R'') is a 2022 British horror thriller film directed by Toby Meakins in his feature directorial debut. The film stars Iola Evans, Asa Butterfield, Robert Englund and Eddie Marsan. ''Choose or Die'' ...

Personal life

Howlett has been married to

Natalie Appleton Natalie Jane Appleton Howlett (born 14 May 1973) is a Canadian singer. She is a member of the British girl group All Saints and the duo Appleton with her younger sister Nicole Appleton. Appleton joined All Saints in 1996, becoming the fourth ...

of All Saints since 2002. They have a son, born 2 March 2004, and live in Hampstead,

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 ...

. Howlett once owned a McLaren F1 supercar, chassis #23 of the 106 ever manufactured. He later sold it to former F1 team owner Paul Stewart.

References

External links

Interview at SuicideGirls.com on 25 March 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howlett, Liam 1971 births Living people English keyboardists English record producers English electronic musicians English techno musicians Hardcore techno musicians Big beat musicians Remixers Club DJs The Prodigy members Ableton Live users People from Braintree, Essex Musicians from Essex Breakbeat hardcore musicians