Biography
Howie B established himself as a sought-after London DJ and emerging studio presence before committing fully to recording and production at the start of the 1990s. Glasgow-born Howard Bernstein drew on connections with Bristol favorites Soul II Soul and Massive Attack to shape a blend of soul, hip-hop, house, jazz, and funk that surfaced first through joint efforts such as Dobie and Nomad Soul. In 1994 he started the Pussyfoot imprint after already placing tracks under his own name and as Olde Scottish on the outward-looking hip-hop outlets 2Kool and Mo'Wax. A modest yet consistent series of releases that pushed hip-hop instrumentals past conventional boundaries positioned him alongside DJ Shadow, U.N.K.L.E, Portishead, and Coldcut at the leading edge of Britain’s breakbeat resurgence.
Although his boundary-crossing contributions to Skylab’s 1994 album #1 exposed his skill for structured disorder to broader listeners, production work on records by Tricky, Björk, and later U2 ultimately secured a multi-album contract with Polydor Records. That arrangement delivered the albums Music for Babies in 1996, Turn the Dark Off in 1997, and Snatch in 1999. Production commissions persisted into the early 2000s, leading to a partnership with the eclectic Italian outfit Casino Royale, which had also collaborated with U2 the decade before. The band enlisted him to oversee its return album Reale, issued across Italy in 2006. Retaining an interest in the material, Howie B obtained permission to reshape the original masters, resulting in the 2008 release Reale: Not in the Face that presented his reconfigured versions. He established HB Recordings in 2013 and issued Down with the Dawn on the label the following year.
Although his boundary-crossing contributions to Skylab’s 1994 album #1 exposed his skill for structured disorder to broader listeners, production work on records by Tricky, Björk, and later U2 ultimately secured a multi-album contract with Polydor Records. That arrangement delivered the albums Music for Babies in 1996, Turn the Dark Off in 1997, and Snatch in 1999. Production commissions persisted into the early 2000s, leading to a partnership with the eclectic Italian outfit Casino Royale, which had also collaborated with U2 the decade before. The band enlisted him to oversee its return album Reale, issued across Italy in 2006. Retaining an interest in the material, Howie B obtained permission to reshape the original masters, resulting in the 2008 release Reale: Not in the Face that presented his reconfigured versions. He established HB Recordings in 2013 and issued Down with the Dawn on the label the following year.
Albums
Singles
