Interviews CD Reviews Unsigned Artists

Howie Day

Words of anger and resentment come forth from the mouth of Howie Day, but not without the wisdom of an old man that has felt the heartache of decades. Not only is his music good, he does something that has scarcely been done before: Howie orchestrates his songs right there in front of you. With a collection of 10 pedals and two modulators he makes a full-band sound by recording a beat and a bass line, then adding voice and rhythm guitar, soloing and changing the tempo for fun. This 21-year-old artist screams experience and is charming to boot.

Recoil: Where are you from and how have you been influenced by that place?
Howie Day: I'm from Bangor, Maine. There is not a whole lot of music scene going on in Bangor, other than [at] the University of Maine, which is about ten minutes away. Starting out I used to play at the college a lot, around bars and coffeehouses up near the school because it was the kind of pseudo music scene that was happening in Bangor. Other than that I played sports bars. There's a lot of nature in Maine, so that had something to do with the way I am. It's kind of quiet, not like growing up in NYC.

R: You have toured with people like Sheryl Crow and OAR. How have these artist influenced you?
HD: I've toured with a lot of different artists and opened for a lot of different artists and talked to a lot of different artist and I think that every single one I learn something from, [I] take away something from that show. It's almost like any other job, [you] talk with people in your field and learn things - ideas, tips, tactics, whatever.

R: You have been touring since you were a teenager. Do you enjoy it after so many busy years?
HD: It gets tiresome at times, like anything that you have to get up and do everyday. But for the most part it is pretty cool, especially the shows. I don't get as tired of that as I do of traveling and flying and riding on a bus or [in] the van. Riding in a rental car waiting for a train to get there or a bus to get there, all that kind of stuff kind of sucks, so that part is kind of the most wearing.

R: Australia has been out for a while. You actually recorded it about two years ago.
HD: Yeah, about three years ago it was recorded, when I was eighteen, and it came out when I was nineteen. I guess to me it's three years old and a lot of people are discovering it for the first time so it's like a breath of new life into the songs and in the shows.

R: Are you working on a new disc?
HD: Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time at home in my barn. I live in a barn. They moved all the hay out and everything, they renovated it into an apartment. I've been up there writing songs and demoing music.

November 2002