Virgil Howe began playing, writing and recording music in his early teens. His father, guitar legend Steve Howe, inspired him to follow in his footsteps, from the piano to the drums, to djing and producing. Taking in early influences like Vangelis and Jimi Hendrix, djing on pirate radio at the birth of Jungle and breaking drum sticks with Little Barrie at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2008.

After releasing a ‘Yes Remix’ album (Rhino/Elektra 2003), Virgil found a home at Scenario Records, under the name Sparo. There he released several 7″ singles, including ‘I Would’ featuring Karime Kendra, who would later join his super-heavy funk band ‘The Killer Meters’.

Along with ‘The Killer Meters, Tribute to the Meters’ album (2004), a critically acclaimed mix cd entitled ‘Sparoworlds’, additional remix duties for The Nextmen and a couple of club, smash-up bootlegs thrown in for good measure, Virgil built a name on the UK underground scene as Sparo, with write-ups in Dazed, IDJ, Wire, Hip Hop Connection and DJ magazines. His last release using the Sparo moniker, ‘The Falling’ (3BARFIRE, 2007), was a lush, down-tempo delight which caught the ear of Judge Jules, who included it on his Radio 1 show and Joe Ransom on Kiss Fm.

Having written and recorded scores for several small independent films, toured the UK creating live sound-scapes on stage using only two turntables for the Box Clever Theatre Company and playing drums for Bryan Ferry, The Pet Shop Boys, Little Barrie, The Dirty Feel, The Killer Meters, Shawn Lee and Future Sound Of London, Virgil Howe is well and truly forging his own path.

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