Howie Lee

Clattering percussion. Skittering rhythms. Found sounds and field recordings. The sound of traditional China, dragged kicking and screaming into the electric age. With his uniquely “Made in China” aesthetic, Howie is an electronic music visionary – creating a hybrid club sound rooted in the Middle Kingdom, but built for our densely interconnected globe. Howie’s debut EP was released via renowned UK tastemaker Trapdoor Records and followed by a 2015 full-length on Alpha Pup.

Most recently he scored and sound designed for ‘Sifu’ a game released in 2022 by French studio Sloclap. ‘White Plain’, off 2015’s ‘Mù Chè Shān Chū’, was featured in Apple’s ‘Shot on iPhone’ campaign and his intricately produced re-work of Charli XCX’s ‘Boys’, topped streaming charts in China and became a viral pop confection.

And music is just the beginning. As founder and label boss, the Do Hits collective he established in 2011 is now one of Asia’s most forward-thinking crews. As a curator, he’s overseen some of the country’s most exciting releases, with a string of successful EPs and LPs from label mates Jason Hou, Yllis, and Guzz. As a filmmaker, he’s produced several stunning abstract CGI works that carry subtle marks of his Chinese identity.