Born in Glasgow during the 1960s, Howard Bernstein grew up in an unenviable position; a Jewish child within the west of Scotland's sectarian divide. Rejecting all forms of bigotry and division he found solace in music. Invigorated by John Peel's scattershot broadcasts, he began collecting 70s vinyl from the likes of John McLaughlin, Santana and Gong. After moving to London he gained production skills with a 3 year stint at Lilley Yard in Fulham, manning the controls for Swing Out Sister and the Banshees. By the mid 80s he was part of Soul II Soul's 'weekend posse' and reinforced the connection with Nellee Hooper and Jazzy B with contributions to the first Soul II Soul album. During the 90s he worked with Massive Attack and a pre-jungle Goldie, began releasing 'Howie B Inc' 12s on James Lavelle's Mo' Wax label and helped to programme Tricky's Island-deal securing demo's. 1993 saw the launch of his own imprint, Pussyfoot, and two years later he collaborated on and co-produced U2s 'Pop' album. He was invited to produce the live sound for its accompanying world tour, and the project went far beyond previous attempts in merging rock spectacle and electronic ingenuity. Howie's solo studio album, Folk, was released last September.