Proton Radio

Derek Howell
Derek Howell grew up surrounded by music. His first encounters with music at close range were personified by the purchase of his first record player. A seemingly new world opened up as he was introduced to single after single of popular classics by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and The Who. Little time passed before cassette tapes, and eventually CD's boasting the sounds of Pink Floyd and Def Leppard filled his cluttered living quarters.

His mother, a Country Western singer, greatly encouraged his musical and vocal abilities at every turn, eventually resulting in the desire to create music of his own. This desire was realized when his father purchased what would become Derek's first musical instrument. The guitar consumed Derek's life for the better part of four years as he spent countless hours, day after day, picking away and experimenting with chaining every distortion and effects pedal he had on hand. When the underground dance bug hit southwestern America Derek quickly dropped his guitar and picked up turntables.

After listening, fervently, to the sounds of the time in Dance Music (Sasha, John Digweed, Dave Seaman), Derek decided that he wanted to spread the good news. He strove to create something fueled by his musical roots, but driven by the future. To this day he has sought to invent a place where the products of his musical latter-day and his visions of the future of Dance Music can come together and groove. Derek's goal for tomorrow, and the years to come, is to create dance songs, not simply dance tracks. Music has always remained a very important part of his life, and that trend shall continue. Hopefully, with a lot of hard work, and a boat load of faith, his music will become an important part of so many others' lives as well.