Howard Billington
Hi there! What I'm basically trying to achieve here is good upbeat music that's a little different from the normal big name chart toppers. I hope what I do becomes big because I think so much music nowdays in the west sounds really similar and there seems to be so little creativety going on. Plus it would be nice to hear more upbeat happy music out there!
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
As a solo artist I only usually play live when I have a backing band. As I run a small unofficial artist label I have many musicians of different styles (from rappers to rock bands to a choir!) that I call on to do gigs with. This usually results in some pretty huge and varied gigs, which is good, because I like a gig to be more of a big show and it's awesome to have your artists as your warm up acts!
Your musical influences
It's really varied. I guess that one's that show most in my music are things like Blur, Ai Otsuka, Republica, Surferosa and so on. A lot of my music is influenced by the fact I listen to a lot of J-Pop and 90s Brit-Pop. I do like to think I draw a little from my interests in other styles including Hip-Hop, Japanese Classical and Blues Jazz. I think I try to listen to as much as possible so as to keep as many influences in my mind and therefore as much ammunition in my writing style. I really hope it shows!
What equipment do you use?
Anything and everything that makes sound!
