B., here now

>> Mr. Howard Bernstein set free

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Superstar producer and DJ, co-conspirator with Eno, U2 and Sly & Robbie, and now improv musicmaker at the FIND dance fest. On the horn from Spain, Howie B. explains himself:

Mirror: Tell me about the performance you'll be doing here.

Howie B.: It's going to be pretty free-form, a case of acting on what's right in front of me at that moment. Seeing what's happening with the dancers, picking up on that and giving them something to move to. They'll move me and I'll move them. And who knows where it'll go? I've done this before, with a company in Dublin. Every night was a different event, and it was really interesting and dynamic.

M: Have you worked with the dancers here before? Who are you working with here?

HB: I haven't a clue! I've no idea! I'm walking into the situation totally... I was approached by the promoter, they asked me if I was interested in the idea, and I said, "Yeah." If it works, magic. If it doesn't work, it doesn't.

M: Do you like that, that sense of not knowing what's going to happen 'til you get there?

HB: I love that. Imagine if, every morning, you got out of bed and knew what was going to happen. Boring, that.

M: The other thing I want to know about is Daddylonglegs. I just got the advance CD of the album Horse and it's wicked good. Tell me more about it.

HB: It's a collaboration between me and a very close friend of mine called Jeremy Shaw, from Naked Funk. He works with me whenever I produce bands or do remixes, he comes in and is part of, I don't know, the musical lab that I've got together. Sometimes we verge off and go make a tune on our own. The subject matter of Horse is all related to love of the animal, its movement, its rhythm, just the image of the horse. It conjures up a lot of things to me and Jeremy. It gave us a real focus for the record.

M: Are you a big animal lover, you?

HB: Me, I'm into everything, really. I'm into animals, I'm into avocados, I'm into nature. Where I'm standing right now is the middle of the Andalusian Mountains--I'm working on a flamenco record--and it's gorgeous. It's just wicked.

With Tactical Crew, DJ Ram, Maues, the Bad-Ass Ballerina Ensemble and more for O-Zone at Ex-Centris on Saturday, October 9, 10pm, $20