Today we’d like to introduce you to Hing Zhe Lee.
Hing Zhe, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a songwriter/artist born and raised in a modest household with a loving family from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I’ve always had a strong passion towards music ever since I was young and my love for music stemmed from both my parents. They’ve always had an innate love for music, my mother played the violin whereas my father played the harmonica basically, I grew up around music.
I was 13 when I first picked up the electric guitar because I heard Metallica’s Black album for the first time and I was perplexed because it wasn’t like anything I have ever heard before. The riffs, the power in their music it was amazing. That was the moment I dived into the rabbit hole of rock and metal.
The first time I’ve ever written a poem was when I was 18 when one of my dearest friends passed away due to a car accident, and I figured I could slap a chord progression on that poem and create a song. That was when the first song I’ve ever written in my life. And I played it in front of an audience for the first time during a talent competition in the college I was in back then, and it moved the audience and the judges. Albeit I didn’t win the competition, I was proud that day of being able to move an audience with the song that I’ve written. That was the day, to my parents’ dismay I decided to drop out of business school to pursue my passion, music. Though they weren’t happy with my decision but they’ve always been supportive of me regardless.
I left Malaysia when I was 19 to come to LA to pursue music. I joined the esteemed Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) and I learned the craft from industry greats like Kasia Livingston, Phillip Swann, Erin Workman, Lisa Harriton, etc. Learning and being pushed to be better by esteemed people from the industry definitely sharpened my skills with the pen. Being here in LA is an otherworldly experience, prestigious/historical music venues with global stars playing music here almost on a weekly basis really is inspiring. Even though LA’s competitive and almost everyone here’s just as good or better than I am and we’re all trying to chase the same goal, it really does push me to be better to be stronger, an experience that I wouldn’t have experienced back home in Malaysia.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it wasn’t always a smooth road for me. I suffered a lot of health problems when I was younger, I had really bad asthma. It interfered a lot when I was a younger, I couldn’t play/function like all the other kids. Luckily as I grew older, it got better.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I specialize in writing and playing rock and metal music, with influences from old and new rock/metal artists. I’m trying to create a hybrid of music I love with influences of Asian cultural music, I’m most proud of the versatility of my sound and style of composition/writing. I like to utilize a lot of percussive rhythms and odd scales from multiple different cultures that I grew up with. Like Malay, Arab, Chinese and Indian cultures.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the proudest moments I have so far in my career is being able to play guitar and write with Malaysian Artist Akademi Fantasia 3rd place winner Reshma Martin. Though I’ve written a lot with other great up and coming musicians here in LA and Malaysia but being able to write and play with an established artist is one of my crowning achievements.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hingzhe.wixsite.com/hingzhe
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekinghing/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hingzhe
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
