Meet Alowbelow (Lee Zhan Yung): Music Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alowbelow (Lee Zhan Yung) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alowbelow, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I recently started a creative solutions/branding consultation company in my hometown of Kuala Lumpur because I want to change the narrative of the city that I grew up in with all the new perspectives i’ve gained living in LA for the past 4 years, and from my travels since leaving home to attend Berklee College of Music in 2017. As a former British colony, our current consumer culture has always suffered from a inferiority complex, pandering to the west and other Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan instead of looking at the wealth of references that our own history has historically thrived on. I believe that we sitting on a wealth of design culture, historically being a crossroads of many cultures (from Arab, Persian, Chinese, South Indian, Malay and even Portuguese and British) due to our strategic geography as an international trading port in the past, that are being underutilized. But with COVID happening, the Malaysian diaspora are currently returning from all over the world, equipped with all the information they’ve acquired from years of being abroad. Almost a renaissance of ideas, history repeating itself in a current context. I want a Malaysian to reclaim this identity and hope to inspire the current generation to do the same.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have always wanted to create relevant products that contribute to the conversation in the art world as a whole. My interest in fashion, architecture and art allows me to continue the conversation beyond my background as a trained musician. I am currently most excited about my new project titled Temporary Lobby that is an amalgamation of all of those interest under one roof. Through an experiential rave with our own unique design language that draws from my heritage as a Malaysian/South East Asian, we are trying to combine music, design and interactive spaces under one roof. We are working with the city’s top creatives and will launch our first event in Kuala Lumpur sometime this summer (both physically and electronically through social media). The journey has not been easy but the main lesson I learnt throughout my personal creative journey, from producing music to leading the production of an event in this scale, is that it is a scarier notion to create something mediocre by trying than to create nothing by not trying altogether.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Food : Seong Buk Dong, 3303 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020, United States, (best homemade korean food), Proof Bakery (for the best baked goods in town) Parks : LA Historic Park (great view of DTLA skyline and to see a different side to DTLA)
Shopping : Replika Vintage (iykyk)
Drinks : Bar Caló (great mezcal selection), Psychic Wines (great natural wine selection)
Late night street tacos : Angel’s taco on Sunset
Weekend : Hollywood Farmers Market

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My friend and former employer, Morgan Dorr. Morgan gave me my first opportunity in LA as an assistant producer though I was self taught in production (only having begun my journey into production the week after landing in LA from Boston). He not only showed me the tricks of the trade without any reservations but also provided me with genuine support that allowed me to continue growing on my own after I left to start working as a freelancer in sync. This goes without saying that everyone else i’ve met so far in LA and my family have no less a role to play in giving me the strength and inspiration to continue doing what I do today. It is because of them that I have the certainty in what I am doing today and what continues to fuel my desire for continued growth, both in my career and of my my role in the creative community I come from.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alowbelow/

Image Credits
Lee Zhan Yung