Born and raised in Gloucester, Luke began his musical journey at the age of 5. He continued to develop his musical knowledge and skill through his local gospel church as well as his school. At the age of 18 he left Gloucester to study at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in the hopes of working in the music industry.
Fast forward 5 years and Luke’s musical career has been in full swing. Working with notable artists including Clarence Clarity, Mura Masa, Eliza Lovechild and Louisa Johnson plus notable television work with ITV, BBC and national TV adverts.
Having achieved success in the session musician department, Luke began working on his own original project called Howes3: a jazz fusion based trio with stylistic influences coming from Gospel, Funk Jazz, RnB and Hip Hop. Now signed to the Record Label Deep Matter, Howes3 released their first album in April and have achieved almost half a million streams. With session work in one hand and a successful original project in the other, Luke’s career has come a long way since he first picked up a pair of sticks and long may it continue.
So Luke, what have you been up to the last 6 months/what projects have you been working on?
Over the last six months I’ve been rehearsing and gigging with original artists, Namely Howard Kaye and Eliza Lovechild. I have also been gigging with my own Originals band named Howes3. It’s a three piece band consisting of Oli Howe on keys, Marcus Porter on bass and myself on drums. It’s basically a mix of jazz, funk, disco, gospel and a lil bit of hip-hop. We’ve just released our first album and it’s doing quite well so far. I’ve also started running my own 90s/00s RnB cover band.
Has the lockdown affected you in any way or has the unexpected solitude allowed your creativity to flow?
I think for the first week or so I was thinking less about music and much more about video games and eating junk. This put my mind in a bad headspace but I managed to knock it on the head before it became too much of a problem. I honestly think that I’m more creative when I’m actually on a gig, however this lockdown has presented an opportunity for me to further my knowledge and therefore further my creativity.
Will what’s gone on change or influence your work in future?
For sure. After a while there are certain gigs that you turn down or don’t enjoy as much because you’ve been doing them for so long but this pandemic has made me realise how futile the music industry is and I can’t take it for granted.
Will it make you look at life differently, if yes/no why?
I think it’s inevitable that I will look at life in a different scope because this is a life changing experience. However I hope that with a new outlook I will be able to act differently as well. For example a lot of people including myself are missing their friends, family and are probably regretting not spending enough time with them in person. Once this lockdown is over, it’s easy to see how important these people are but it’s a whole different ball game to put this new outlook into action. Otherwise we’ll just digress back to the person we were before this all started.
What can we expect to see from you when the lockdown’s over?
A whole lot of rehearsing and a whole lot of gigging!!!
What are you looking forward to the most?
Hmmmm there are two main things. Gigging with the amazing people that I work with plus others and having a good long ol’ hug with the people closest to me.
If you had to be locked down with another Artist with the view of writing in collaboration, who would it be and why? #LockdownWriteDown
Pharrell Williams or Robert Glasper. It’s too hard to pick between them. They are both incredible at what they do and they both work in two separate genres (Pharrell is mainly pop, mainstream, RnB and Glasper is Jazz fusion, Hip-Hop) but I would be able to learn from them as well as writing absolute bangers.
Is there any particular music or artist that you’re listening to as a way of lifting your spirits/inspiring you during these uncertain times #LockdownGetDown
Gospel Music. Every. Single. Time. If I need something to get me dancing, I can put on gospel music. If I need something to calm me down, I can put on gospel music. If I need to have an emotional outpour and cry my eyes out for a good while, I can put on gospel music. Gospel music has been my life since I was a kid and it will always be my go-to genre however I’m feeling.
Do you find yourself eating different food during the lockdown, have you a favourite go-to comfort food #QuarantineCuisine ?
I think I’ve mentioned it earlier that I got a bit junky at the start but together with my partner (she noticed my “love” handles) we both decided to stop and start eating healthy. I’m eating a lot of veggie alternatives instead of copious amounts of meat. Instead of crisps and cake, I’ve found myself eating more and more fruit, oranges to be specific. I’m a massive fan of Kale at the moment. It’s so quick and easy to cook, healthy and goes with everything.
