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| Dominic Howard | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
Birth name
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Dominic James Howard
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Born
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December 7th, 1977 Stockport, England |
Height
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5' 8" (1.73m)
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| Other information | |
Genre(s)
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Instrument(s)
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Percussion, Vocals
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Years active
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1991-present
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Associated act(s)
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Carnage Mayhem Muse |
Dominic James Howard - commonly known as Dominic/Dom Howard - is the drummer of Muse. Dom also plays any percussion parts needed on studio recordings, as well as a very brief rhythm guitar part on "Unintended".
Biography
Childhood
Dominic James Howard was born in Stockport, England on December 7th, 1977, before moving to Devon with his family at the age of 8. Howard became interested in music and began to play drums when he was 11 years old, inspired by a jazz band he had heard at his school, Teignmouth Community College.
While at TCC, Howard played drums for Gothic Plague, a band which Bellamy later auditioned for and got in. Gothic Plague split up soon after, but Matt and Dom remained friends and had the intention to create a new band, for which they needed a bass player who could also provide backing vocals. Chris eventually joined the boys as bass player for a new band which would be known as Rocket Baby Dolls, who won a battle of the bands contest at Broadmeadow Sports Centre in Teignmouth, after which the three boys decided to forget about university and undertake a career in music with their new band, Muse.
Career in Muse
Muse have grown quite popular, and Howard has played a huge role in the band's success. He has played other percussive instruments such as human or animal bones (Screenager), bubble wrap and plastic bags (Screenager), timpani (Exogenesis Symphony Part 1: Overture and Supremacy), gong (I Belong to You (+Mon Coeur S'Ouvre a at Voix) used only at the very end of the song), and many more. He demonstrated his inability to sing when the entire band (and possibly Tom Kirk) were recording backing vocals for tracks on Absolution. The techs noticed that someone wasn't singing in tune, so they had everyone sing one by one. Thus, Howard was not allowed to sing, although he does sing the "Into the supermassive" parts of Supermassive Black Hole (album version and live) but there is a heavy vocoder filter over his voice (possibly to help keep him in tune).
Trivia
He is left handed.
He sings exclusively in Supermassive Black Hole (the vocoder parts saying "Supermassive Black Hole"), but has yet to sit in any other songs due to him being tone deaf.
He designs (or helps design) artwork and merchandise for the band.
He has been injured on numerous occasions due to Matt flinging guitars. Once, he cut Dom on the face and he (Dom) had to get a tetanus shot.
Dominic plays timpani in Supremacy and Exogenesis Symphony Part 1: Overture.
A large reason that he has to replace his drum kits frequently (other than newly available upgrades) is that Matt and Chris often destroy his kits at the end of large gigs, similar to how Matt would smash guitars.
He owns an old mask of Corey Taylor's (lead vocalist of Slipknot). This is because Muse once performed with Slipknot, and Taylor tossed his mask to a female fan in the audience. She gave it to Howard, and he can be seen on the Hullabaloo DVD wearing it and screaming (whilst backstage or in a private area) in a "mock Slipknot fashion" yelling for all who are present to "SIT THE FUCK DOWN!" Matt can be heard uncontrollably laughing in the background. Dominic has stated that he may bring the mask out again soon...
Where are they now?
(June 2016) Dominic has just finished the Drones your with the rest of Muse, and they are now scheduled to perform at several festivals later this year.