Biography
Howie Statland, a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who once played in the late-’90s alt-rock band Thin Lizard Dawn, now fronts the New York-based group NYCSmoke. Growing up in Chicago, he took up piano in childhood and later turned to guitar after discovering the Who. He moved to New York City in 1989 to pursue college studies, where he encountered the musicians who would form Thin Lizard Dawn; the band later secured a deal with RCA and issued two albums, the self-titled Thin Lizard Dawn in 1996 and Go in 1999. While still active in Thin Lizard Dawn, Statland pursued a lo-fi side project called Low Flame that yielded the albums Slave to the Party and a self-titled record, the latter serving as the soundtrack to a film written and directed by Statland himself and earning an unexpected admirer in Philip Glass. NYCSmoke’s first release, For the Posers, appeared in 2001.
Albums
