Crowned By Sorrow

Back in 1998, when I was 18 years old, my best friend Willy Graves and I were introduced simultaneously to a band called The Birthday Party via our friends Brady and Travis. They insisted we pick up The Birthday Party's Hits record one day while we were all out record shopping at Off The Record in San Diego. I remember both of us being in a bit of awe and confusion about the sounds we heard churning out of the speakers as we put it on for the first time. From that day forward, we pledged allegiance to the sinister stylings that Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard, Tracey Pew and Mick Harvey concocted, and morphed our musical direction in that path. Willy took a real particular interest in Nick Cave, and became obsessed with the Aussie crooner, snatching up all his solo records and even his literary work. While I also was quite fond of Cave, my real attraction was to guitarist Rowland S. Howard.

To me, Howard emitted a haunting cool, with his sunken cheeks, dark hair, large-eyes, wirey figure and ghostly guitar prowess. I was always perplexed how he got his guitar to squeal and sustain with such power without becoming piercing or overly distorted. He created this lurching and spindly style of playing that I often attempted to emulate. Rowland S. Howard was not only a musicial inspiration, but also an aesthetic one. I remember on several occasions going so far as to ask my Mom, a former hair stylist, to give me a haircut just like his. Even the last guitar I bought, a Fender Jazzmaster (Howard played a similar Fender Jaguar), I held out for until I could find one with the trapezoid inlays on the fretboard due to Howard's having the same.


(Birthday Party-era Rowland recording his parts for “Jennifer's Veil”)

Sadly, last night my best friend William Hart informed me that Rowland S. Howard had just been reported to have passed away. William described it most earnestly, saying “I've never felt upset like this about someone I never met.” Beyond musical influence, he is responsible for adding a common thread to some of the closest relationships I've had with friends, particularly the two William's mentioned. The latter William and I took keen liking to Howard's post-Birthday Party work in Crime & The City Solution, These Immortal Souls, as well as his collaborations with Lydia Lunch, Nikki Sudden, and his solo efforts. In the early 2000's, we even started a band called Baby's Breath that drew heavily from those influences.

In October of this year, Rowland S. Howard released his second full-length solo record entitled Pop Crimes. It's a beautiful return to form from a man whose reemergence couldn't have been more welcomed or time appropriate. His playing style reshaped post-punk music, and its influence has been strongly popularized as of late with the success of younger bands like The Horrors, Crocodiles, HTRK and several others. While his death at any age would've likely seemed untimely, it is especially sad considering how well-received his newly released record is. Fortunately, there is no doubt in my mind that his legacy will love on beyond any expectant lifespan for such a talented individual.

R.I.P. Rowland S. Howard, 1959-2009