Early Life
One of Howell's first passions in life was skateboarding. As a youngster he was a champion in a major competition and has continued to skate as a hobby ever since.
On an early school report, his music teacher said that he had no ear for music and that his exam result of 13% reflected this. He was a huge fan of hip-hop music and DJ'd in his spare time well before he experienced the UK rave scene and hardcore music. In fact, he has said that he and his friends ridiculed hardcore music when they first heard it, as much of it sampled hip-hop and sped it up. However, he was persuaded to go to the hardcore club Labrynth in 1990, and it changed his view of the music and the scene forever. He soon began buying hardcore music in Music Power Records in Ilford, London, and Boogie Times in Romford, Essex. It was here that he met fellow record buyer Tom Orton, with whom he also worked in a supermarket. Orton DJ'd as "Mr. Tom" and helped run a weeknight rave called "Ultimatum". Howell began DJing alongside Orton at these raves, and the two of them continued to buy records together in Boogie Times.
Boogie Times had its own record label, Suburban Base, and after talking to the shop owners, Howell and Orton decided to make a record, purely for fun. Orton had a friend, Nick Arnold, who had his own studio and had some experience in music production. The three of them decided on the name Smart E's and set about making a tune.
Read more about this topic: Luna-C
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“For the writer, there is nothing quite like having someone say that he or she understands, that you have reached them and affected them with what you have written. It is the feeling early humans must have experienced when the firelight first overcame the darkness of the cave. It is the communal cooking pot, the Street, all over again. It is our need to know we are not alone.”
—Virginia Hamilton (b. 1936)
“You want to prepare your child to think as he gets older. You want him to be critical in his judgments. Teaching a child, by your example, that there’s never any room for negotiating or making choices in life may suggest that you expect blind obedience—but it won’t help him in the long run to be discriminating in choices and thinking.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)