Ben Howard
BIOGRAPHY
The stereotype of surfer dudes sitting around a campfire after doing a hard day’s surfing, smoking some weed and listening to someone with an acoustic guitar’s painfully sincere attempt at reggae is one which (in our experience) is disappointingly close to the truth. The Venn diagram between these types and people with artistic talent throws up very little overlap, with the occasional singer songwriter releasing some kind of easy-listening tripe into the world, aimed at the kind of people who sat around the campfire listening to their songs in the first place (we weren’t going to mention any names, but we‘re basically talking about Jack Johnson).
Ben Howard, Devon’s latest export, is an unashamed surfer dude. He’s been surfing since he was 11 and recently went on a globe-trotting trip to surfing destinations in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Morocco amongst others. This pedigree doesn’t bode well for his music, then – it's probably some kind of earnest Bob Marley-influenced strum-fest, if history is anything to go by. Yet thankfully, Ben Howard had sensible parents. He was raised listening to his mother’s collection of records by classic singer-songwriters, John Martyn, Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell to name a few, while his father had vast collection of prog rock (which, you may be pleased to hear, has had little impact on his music).
The result is Howard’s updated version of the earthy folk from that era, with the simple arrangement of acoustic guitar, cello and occasional drums backing his stories about nature, love and tragedy. His guitar playing is pleasantly although not derivatively reminiscent of Nick Drake, using unusual tunings to create these rather intriguing voicings, and providing a platform for a style which has the kind of expressive virtuosity that hints at jazz rather than cod-reggae.
Fresh from dropping out of university to focus on music full-time, Howard released an EP, These Waters in 2010, and after playing a well received set at one of their gigs, was convinced by Ben ’Mumford & Sons’ Lovett’s Communion Records to release his next EP with them. The association with folk’s biggest stars has gone a long way to increasing Howard’s profile, even though the similarities between his work and theirs are few, and has opened the door to many new opportunities, including meeting his cellist and backing vocalist India.
The Old Pine EP has received very positive reviews since its release, and has lead to Howard being labelled ‘the next Ed Sheeran’ by many. Yet the similarity between the two is purely circumstantial, there is very little danger of Howard incorporating dubstep into his purely acoustic sound, with the only real similarity being that they are both young guys who play guitar and tend to draw big crowds wherever they go.
This summer will undoubtedly see Howard further raise his profile ahead of the release of his debut album via Island in September, playing every festival you’ve ever heard of and some that you haven’t. His live performances are the real roots of his success up to this point, thriving in the intimacy of the surroundings and leaving audiences clapping and weeping in equal measure. We were lucky enough to be able to film Ben on his godfather’s houseboat on the Thames recently, with the resulting session streamed track by track on Rockfeedback TV every day this week. For someone so young, and with so much potential for artistic shipwreck, Ben Howard has managed to ride the wave of success perfectly to this point, carrying him towards the fast-approaching beach of stardom, and inspiring plenty of disastrous surfing analogies along the way. Apologies.
Live Dates
23-July Grassroots Festival
06-Aug Belladrum Festival
07-Aug Ignition Festival
08-Aug The Edge Festival
13-Aug Boardmasters Festival
14-Aug Summer Sundae
19-Aug Green Man Festival
19-Aug Beautiful Days Festival
11-Sept Bestival
09-Oct Exeter, Phoenix
10-Oct Falmouth, Princess Pavilion
11-Oct Brighton, Komedia
12-Oct Bournemouth, Old Fire Station
14-Oct Bristol, Thekla
15-Oct Birmingham, HMV Institute
17-Oct Sheffield, The Plug
18-Oct Leeds, Brudenell Social
19-Oct Liverpool, Stanley Theatre
20-Oct Manchester, Ruby Lounge
22-Oct Oxford, Jericho
23-Oct Cardiff, SWN Festival
24-Oct Nottingham, Bodega Social
26-Oct London, The Scala
29-Oct Newcastle, Riverside
30-Oct Aberdeen, The Tunnels
31-Oct Glasgow, King Tuts
Links
Videos
Old Pine
The Wolves
Under The Same Sun (Live)