Biography

Howe Gelb was born in Wiksbury, Pennsylvania, USA. He is known for Big Nothing (2006), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) and Quantum Cowboys (2022). He is married to Sofie Albertsen. They have two children. He was previously married to Paula Jean Brown.

Lead singer and principal song writer in the band, Giant Sand.

Shares his time between his homes in Tucson, Arizona and Aarhus, Denmark.

[on "All The Way From Memphis" by Mott the Hoople] The first time I saw them was when I was 15, and an unbilled band called Queen opened up for them. Ian Hunter couldn't really sing, so I related to him because of that. Also, I was beginning to hate the piano - my first instrument - because it wasn't the sound of rock'n'roll, but in this track, they used it heavily, which allowed me to cling to the piano again.

I swore that "Misty Mountain Hop" - one of my favourite songs ever - was written about us and the park we used to hang out in as kids. The way Robert Plant could deliver the poetry of those lyrics and make hooks out of, "ooh, yeah, ooh-ooh-yeah"... they just stay in your head. That guy has probably the best male voice on the planet, ever. He has something going on that's real, mysterious magic.

[on "The Fall and Rise of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars"] I don't think we'd have the Ramones or Sex Pistols without Bowie [David Bowie]. I'm a minimalist and on this you can hear every instrument separated; it's a small band, but the arrangement and performance is huge, and the writing... well, brilliant is an inadequate description. The chord changes in "Rock'n'Roll Suicide" - I can't even count 'em. The sound of this record is like nothing before or since.

[on "Blonde On Blonde" by Bob Dylan] The wonderful thing about this is all the mistakes. Listen to the bass player alone - man, he's really fucking up. And they didn't care. The thing that matters is the end effect. Those elements that make the song "incorrect" enable it to live forever. They make it impossible, and that impossibility continues to entertain and sticks with you forever.