Howie Day

Posted in MusicWorld on October 15, 2002 by Rob Patterson

Singer/songwriter Howie Day knew from early on that music would be his life. "When I was five I wrote in my little book, 'When I grow up, I want to be a rock singer'." Now, at the age of 21, he's already well on the way to establishing himself, having released his debut album, Australia, on his own in 2000 and selling some 30,000 copies before Epic Records signed him and reissued the disc. He was also recently featured on the soundtrack to I Am Sam performing the Beatles song "Help."

Day hit the stage with his guitar, voice and songs when he was 15, first playing the restaurant his parents own in Bangor, ME, and soon after gigging at clubs around the area. By his late teens, he was hitting clubs in Boston, where his talents earned him two Boston Music Awards: one in 2001 for Best Debut Album by a Singer/Songwriter and another in 2002 for Best Male Singer/Songwriter. Last year, even before his major label release, he logged some 300 dates across the U.S. "I never get tired of performing," he says. "I do get tired of the same songs I guess after a while. There are good shows and bad shows. It all depends on the crowd, rooms and the weather."

Day's work has a melancholy and bittersweet ambience that he says is entirely natural. "My songwriting is somewhat moody. It's not intentional, I just write what I feel."

His stage show is augmented by effects pedal and loops, bringing a fullness as well as an experimental bent to his sound. And since he spends so much time on the road, Day even uses his performances as a way to work out his song ideas. "I like writing that way," he notes. "I don't have a chance to edit myself and worry if something is cool or not. Sometimes I come up with something genius and other nights it's just gibberish. It's such a pure form of inspiration because I'm writing from my subconscious and not allowing time to second-guess myself."

SOURCEMusicWorld TAGS Rock Musicworld Hitmaker Artists The Beatles