Yi Hsuan “Kate” Lee is out on the road touring with rockers LCD Soundsystem — a remarkable journey that had its start in Taiwan and included learning English as well as backstage production. But dedication, a “be humble, be teachable” approach to the business, and an inspired work ethic has turned an unlikely career path into a likely one.
Growing up in Taipei, Lee was always a music fan. “When I was young, I didn’t have any money, but after school I would go to the record store and listen to all kinds of music,” Lee says. She would go to concerts whenever she could, “but it never clicked that you could actually do this for a living.” During college, she volunteered at the Formosa Music Festival (Muse was headlining — a big deal). There she saw all the behind-the-scenes crew members making it happen, and then she started asking the basics — where is the sound coming from? Where does the lighting come from? “That’s when it clicked.”
Meanwhile, Lee had taken up the drums, and her teacher had a band. “The singer of that band was also a production manager for a popular venue in Taipei, called “The Wall,” she says. “He was looking for an intern, and I was like, ‘hell yeah,’ even though I had no idea what I was doing.”
That would change.
MI School — and Work
During her eight-month stint at The Wall, she handled all the basics, including some audio engineering and lighting design. But she wanted to achieve more. Searching for an educational opportunity and finding none in Taiwan, Lee discovered Musicians Institute in Hollywood. She was serious and determined enough to move to L.A. to attend the school. There instructor Joe Fiorello took her under his wing and “took a chance on me” she says.
Lee received much from his knowledge and loved all the production stories Fiorello told, and her confidence grew under his tutelage. While at MI, she was exposed to some of the various aspects of music making, trying different effects that alter tones on instruments and voilà experimenting with all the equipment. She sat in on some classes and clinics just because she was interested and would stay late to get her hands on the consoles in the studio. She says she feels lucky to have been in a place where mistakes were seen as vital to learning and is grateful for the resources that let her learn and grow. She learned to “listen more and speak less.”
Her third semester emphasized live production, and that’s when she realized she wanted to focus on that. Fiorello had so much faith in her that after graduation, she was hired to help with the many live productions happening at the school. “I look back and I think that was a great place to get started, and I was able to increase my ability to the do the work.”
Along the way she discovered SoundGirls.org and its executive director, Karrie Keyes. “She is awesome and has really helped me along the way,” Lee says of the Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder monitor engineer and recent recipient of the Parnelli Audio Innovator Lifetime Achievement Award. Lee attended some of their workshops, including one hosted by Rat Sound. There she met Ivan Ortiz and learned that Rat was looking for a shop tech and jumped at that opportunity. She credits Ortiz as being another major mentor in her career so far.
Complications ensued though, including getting a work visa. Also, while she worked hard to learn English, there was still a language barrier. She powered through. Another issue she wrestled with was where to focus — audio or lighting? She would get to work Coachella, and there she saw a real production for lighting including rigging, and “I thought, okay I’ll stay with audio so I can stay on the ground,” she says with a laugh.
The Big Picture
At Rat Sound, she learned everything in the shop from the ground up, preparing her for the big touring productions and festivals. Because of Ortiz and the rest of the Rat team, she was able to learn production on a top level and begin developing skills while working in the shop. But her full-time work came to a halt during Covid. “Dave [Rat] was doing his best to take care of us, and reaching out when he could for this or that streaming gig. And whatever it was, I always wanted to do the gig.” During this period, Keyes would then take Lee on the road for a few weeks with Pearl Jam. “Those three weeks were amazing… at the time it was the peak of my career!”
As the pandemic wound down, Lee was offered a chance to go back to the shop, but at that point, she really wanted to hit the road. Her first tour was with Vampire Weekend, which was mostly one-off festival work. “That’s how I met the LCD Soundsystem camp, because members of that production team worked for both bands.” After that string of festivals, she was asked to be part of the LCD team.
Lee’s work as a stage tech is enhanced by her ability to be organized and see the big picture, she says — working with the engineers on what they need and how they need it while juggling other large and small responsibilities. “I know their priority, and I prioritize accordingly. Being an engineer is being in the hot seat, so prioritizing their requests is important; and if they need something to happen, I make that happen. So now I’m comfortable being a tech on a big tour — I think I’m pretty good at it.”
Still at the beginning of her career, and really enjoying and being happy where she is, she is focusing on her current path. “I just want to keep going at where I am and see what happens,” she says of being a tech. “I’ve haven’t been thinking much about [moving to engineering], as I am working on being a good P.A. tech as well. There seems to be more tech work. It doesn’t matter if it’s rock, jazz, metal, hip hop, whatever, everyone needs a P.A. tech.” She’s also clear-eyed about the personnel challenges of engineering. “You might be the most amazing engineer but if the band or the management, doesn’t like the sound, you’re fired. There’s less personal taste in being a tech.”
A Day in the Life
During the show, Lee is watching the band and the engineers do their work while she stands by for any problem that needs to be solved; otherwise, “I always like to watch the audience like they are pumping with the music. And that keeps reminding me why I’m doing this,” she says. “I’m doing my job and everyone had a good time. That’s what I want to see.”
Although the work is gratifying, Lee has observed a tendency for local crew members to be less responsive to her requests to get things done than they are when a fellow crew member making the same request happens to be white, male, and speaking in his first language.
She also notes cultural differences that must be overcome. “As an Asian student, we’re typically quiet in class and don’t ask questions. It’s just how we’ve been taught over the years. So, all this year I have had to learn to overcome all that. Then most people will see I know what I’m doing, but it all forces me to get out of my comfort zone. You can’t be hiding; you can’t be quiet. I have learned over the years that I just need to speak up and stand up for myself. And I have been lucky enough to always have a supportive touring crew that will back me, as does my crew chief. I’m here to get things done.”
In addition to being seeing more women out on the road Lee has also seen more crew members who share her background. “At Coachella, I saw two Asian monitor engineers. That’s really great. We just connect immediately,” adding that she really appreciates that in general, women support women out on the road.
A Typical Day
Currently holding down stage tech/monitor tech duties, she says before unloading the truck she makes sure she meets with the house stage manager and audio people. She determines exactly where monitor world will be and figures out what they have and what she needs. Storing cases, where to tie power, how many stagehands are available, the path for the snake — all that and more gets figured out before she starts to unload the truck. She makes sure it’s all clear as she says she doesn’t like doing things twice.
Although more women than ever are now working backstage, Lee notes that, early on, she sent a lot of resumes out to get on tours that never got a response. Getting her foot in the door was the hardest part, and she didn’t complain about having to start at the bottom. “No problem — I just want to work my way up.”
