ABOUT

I’m Andrew Howie and I make music as Calamateur.

I’ve been doing it since the year 2000 when I put out my first 7″ record, ‘White Light Unknown’.

I’ve put out another 13 or 14 (I’ve lost count) collections of songs since then.

I get bored easily so, infuriatingly for some, find it hard to stick to any one genre.

I sing songs about marriage, murder, anger, doubt, imaginary brothers, banoffee pie, bible stories, precipitation and bad architecture.

The album I put out last year was pretty, quiet and acoustic.

The album I’ve put out this year is noisy, angry, a wee bit industrial and mostly electronic.

But if you see me live it’ll most likely just be me and my acoustic.

I live in Stirling in central Scotland.

I’ve had some radio-play (Peel, Late Junction, Radio Scotland) and some nice reviews in my time. Here are some of them:

- Scottish Sunday Express

- Sunday Mail

“The world needs mavericks like Calamateur….this latest offering is typically brimming with invention and considerable skill…it’s utterly engaging and heartfelt… 4/5.”
– The List

“…nothing short of brilliantly absorbing…”
- Is This Music?

“…stunning… a work of beauty…what took Snow Patrol’s 3 albums and 4 people to accomplish, Calamateur’s Andrew Howie manages straight off with songs of desolate beauty underpinned with a savage hope…”
- John Earls, Planet Sound

“…the aim is true and the heart is strong in this beautiful little record. 4/5.”
- The List

“…providing one of those moments where your head says nothing really out of the ordinary happening here but your heart suggests otherwise,trembling as if touched by something altogether magical….”
- Losing Today

“…writes as though guided by voices, massaging his words through a voice as swoonsome and melancholic as the finest american roots singers…ideal for late night listening, even at lunchtime. 4/5.”
- Logo Magazine

“…nothing short of brilliantly absorbing…the stark production only adds to an impressive set of eerie ‘folk’ tunes.” -
Is This Music?

“…bloody good…”
- The List

“…the songs…pack a real emotional resonance…high quality music…” – Diskant.net

“…full of uplifting beats, textured samples and heartbreaking simplicity…exudes confidence and quality in equal measure.”
- whisperinandhollerin.co.uk

“… excellent songs…with rave reviews for his previous albums, this record should be no different as the quality which seems to have pleased the critics before is certainly present here.”
- Maverick Magazine

“Comprising quiet bits, noisy bits, and a smattering of electronica, it’s a more ‘proper-song’ led affair than previous outings where his use of texture was given foreground. Any fans of American Music Club, Elliott Smith or Sparklehorse should find much to love in his heartworn tunes.”
- Shout4Music