Biography
Rowland S. Howard played a central role in shaping Australia's punk and post-punk landscape, forging a raw and distinctive style through his tenures in the Birthday Party, Crime and the City Solution, and These Immortal Souls as well as numerous side projects and independent releases. His forceful, heavily reverberated guitar approach lent the material a visceral power rarely equaled by other players, and fresh attention to his catalog was building when he succumbed to illness on December 30, 2009, at age 50.
Born in 1959, Howard took up guitar and songwriting during adolescence; in 1975 he assembled the Young Charlatans, a short-lived outfit that managed only about a dozen gigs before dissolving. Three years later he entered the Boys Next Door, the Melbourne group fronted by Nick Cave, bringing several original compositions. The band issued its 1979 album Door, Door on Mushroom Records, featuring Howard's track "Shivers," which found cult success. His increasingly abrasive style pushed the ensemble toward a harsher attack; after relocating to London they adopted the name the Birthday Party. The group's ferocious sound, driven by Howard's serrated guitar work and Cave's raw vocals, pushed past conventional punk limits and won devoted audiences in both Australia and Britain. Internal tensions and heavy substance use led to their 1983 dissolution.
Although several former members joined Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Howard contributed only sporadically to Cave's projects before pursuing independent work. In 1984 he co-founded Crime & the City Solution alongside Simon Bonney, fellow Birthday Party veteran Mick Harvey, Epic Soundtracks, and his brother Harry Howard. With that lineup he recorded the EPs The Dangling Man and Just South of Heaven plus the album Room of Lights, and appeared in the film Wings of Desire. He, Harry, and Soundtracks soon departed to launch These Immortal Souls, which produced the 1987 album Get Lost (Don't Lie) and the 1992 album I'm Never Gonna Die Again before fragmenting. By then Howard was already sought after as a collaborator, having worked with Lydia Lunch, Fad Gadget, Jeremy Gluck, and Barry Adamson; subsequent sessions included Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks, Henry Rollins, and two further Nick Cave albums, Let Love In and Murder Ballads.
Howard issued his debut solo effort, Teenage Snuff Film, in 2000 and maintained an active schedule of recording and performing with various partners. Serious health issues emerged later in the decade, culminating in a liver cancer diagnosis. He pressed ahead regardless, completing his second solo album, Pop Crimes, amid treatment; in one interview he explained that he rushed to finish the record after realizing he could not predict when or whether another opportunity would arise. Declining health curtailed touring for the release, yet critical acclaim for Pop Crimes was generating renewed interest in his catalog when he died of the disease on December 30, 2009.
Born in 1959, Howard took up guitar and songwriting during adolescence; in 1975 he assembled the Young Charlatans, a short-lived outfit that managed only about a dozen gigs before dissolving. Three years later he entered the Boys Next Door, the Melbourne group fronted by Nick Cave, bringing several original compositions. The band issued its 1979 album Door, Door on Mushroom Records, featuring Howard's track "Shivers," which found cult success. His increasingly abrasive style pushed the ensemble toward a harsher attack; after relocating to London they adopted the name the Birthday Party. The group's ferocious sound, driven by Howard's serrated guitar work and Cave's raw vocals, pushed past conventional punk limits and won devoted audiences in both Australia and Britain. Internal tensions and heavy substance use led to their 1983 dissolution.
Although several former members joined Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Howard contributed only sporadically to Cave's projects before pursuing independent work. In 1984 he co-founded Crime & the City Solution alongside Simon Bonney, fellow Birthday Party veteran Mick Harvey, Epic Soundtracks, and his brother Harry Howard. With that lineup he recorded the EPs The Dangling Man and Just South of Heaven plus the album Room of Lights, and appeared in the film Wings of Desire. He, Harry, and Soundtracks soon departed to launch These Immortal Souls, which produced the 1987 album Get Lost (Don't Lie) and the 1992 album I'm Never Gonna Die Again before fragmenting. By then Howard was already sought after as a collaborator, having worked with Lydia Lunch, Fad Gadget, Jeremy Gluck, and Barry Adamson; subsequent sessions included Nikki Sudden, Epic Soundtracks, Henry Rollins, and two further Nick Cave albums, Let Love In and Murder Ballads.
Howard issued his debut solo effort, Teenage Snuff Film, in 2000 and maintained an active schedule of recording and performing with various partners. Serious health issues emerged later in the decade, culminating in a liver cancer diagnosis. He pressed ahead regardless, completing his second solo album, Pop Crimes, amid treatment; in one interview he explained that he rushed to finish the record after realizing he could not predict when or whether another opportunity would arise. Declining health curtailed touring for the release, yet critical acclaim for Pop Crimes was generating renewed interest in his catalog when he died of the disease on December 30, 2009.
Albums
