HOWQUA – The Rebound Guy?

By Ash London on October 14, 2014 in Arts

HOWQUA may be a relatively new act, but from the second this bloke picks up a guitar and opens his mouth, it’s clear that he’s been doing this for a while, and he has a lesson or two to share. After raising $12k through Pozible, his debut EP is on its way, as are a bunch of national tour dates, which means us Sydneysiders will soon get a chance to taste the HOWQUA glory.

The first time I played as HOWQUA… was in May this year, supporting US band Midlake when they played The Corner Hotel in Melbourne. It was super exciting to be chosen to perform all these tunes for the first time at the Corner and to know that it was going to be a full house. The nerves took over before I got on stage, but the crowd was amazing and dead silent for my set, so it didn’t take long to get into the swing of things.

The name came from… a property my grandparents had on the Howqua River in the Victorian Alps. We used to go there on school holidays and camp by the river with family and friends. I have great memories as a kid climbing trees, jumping from ropes into the river and skimming stones. I wanted a name for this project that would reflect something personal, that had meaning to me and was also unique. HOWQUA ticked all the boxes.

Your song, ‘Fishing For Gold’, came about… when I was travelling across Australia by myself in a van. I took off west in search of some life answers. I got to a point where I found myself in a dark place feeling lost and depressed. I decided the only way I could beat this negative beast was to look it in the face and tell it I was no longer willing to accept what it had to say. It’s a song about conquering those demons that try to bring you down.

For HOWQUA, 2014 has been… extremely exciting so far! I had a ball recently playing my first headline show at The Toff in Melbourne and was pretty damn chuffed that it sold out. I’m even more excited to end this year with a bang, releasing my debut EP, touring it, and playing NYE On The Hill.

There was this one time when I was starting out that… I wrote and performed a song to a girl called ‘Am I The Rebound Guy?’ It was the title of the song and it was also pretty much the entire lyrics through out. It was destined to be a global hit; the only problem was that it was terrible. She didn’t love it. I never found out if I was the rebound guy.

If I could have written any song, it would be… ‘Happy Birthday’ – that gets a fair run. However, ‘Am I The Rebound Guy?’ was definitely a proud moment.

My biggest fan has got to be… my friend’s dog. Every time she plays one of my tracks to her dog he starts to howl and shake his bum. What more could you ask for from a fan?

If you come and see me play, you can expect… howling dogs shaking their bums to raw, honest tunes with a mix of genre flavours and a hairy dude on stage giving it everything he’s got.

My dream gig… is to play The Forum (with people in it). We recently filmed a stripped back version of ‘Fishing for Gold’ there with no audience. It was a pretty intense feeling.

I’ll know I’ve made it when… people feel from my art. And when I can afford Maggi noodles over Homebrand.

To find out more about HOWQUA, go to www.howquamusic.com.