Meg Lee Chin is a Taiwanese-American singer and songwriter, as well as an audio and video producer. As a key figure in the alternative and industrial music scenes of the late 1990s, she gained prominence as a member of the influential band Pigface, founded by Martin Atkins (PIL, Killing Joke, Ministry). She played a pioneering role in the home studio revolution with cutting-edge, incendiary contributions to music and production.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, to a Taiwanese mother and a U.S. Air Force electronics engineer, Chin moved to the USA at a young age. She later completed a BA degree in Experimental Art and Video Production at San Francisco State University.
Chin's work with Pigface included contributions to the 1997 LP A New High in Low and the 1999 follow-up Below the Belt. As a core member of Pigface, she toured the U.S. extensively, performing with a who's who of industrial music notables, including Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd, Ministry, Killing Joke, Brian Brain, Murder, Inc., Rx), Chris Connelly (Ministry, Murder, Inc., The Damage Manual, Revolting Cocks), En Esch (KMFDM, Slick Idiot), Nivek Ogre (Skinny Puppy, ohGr, Rx), Danny Carey (Tool, Green Jellö), Pat Sprawl (Skinny Puppy, Dead Surf Kiss, Drown), Genesis P-Orridge (Psychic TV, Throbbing Gristle, Thee Majesty, Splinter Test), Jared Louche (Chemlab), Charles Levi (My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult), Laura Gomel (My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult), Michelle Walters Seibold (Voodou, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Super Sport, Bomb Gang Girlz, Missy Hell), Steven Seibold (Hate Dept., Damage Manual, Super Sport), Lee Fraser (Sheep on Drugs), Dave Wright (Not Breathing), FM Einheit (Einstürzende Neubauten), Caspar Brötzmann (Caspar Brötzmann Massaker), Jennie Bellestar (The Belle Stars), Sigtryggur "Siggi" Baldursson (The Sugarcubes), Joel Gausten (The Undead, Electric Frankenstein, Squiggy), Chris Randall (Sister Machine Gun), Louis Svitek (Zoetrope, Ministry, Lard, Mind Funk, Project .44), Andrew Weiss (Regressive Aid, Gone, Rollins Band, Ween, Butthole Surfers, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine), Chris Haskett (Rollins Band), Taime Downe (Faster Pussycat, The Newlydeads), Slymenstra Hymen (a.k.a. Danielle Stampe) (Gwar, Girly Freak Show, Brothers Grim Sideshow), Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn, Lull), Jason McNinch (Lick), Krztoff (Bile, Black From the Dead, Napalm), Mary Byker (Apollo 440, Gaye Bykers on Acid), Martin King (Test Dept), Gus Ferguson (Test Dept), Curse Mackey (Grim Faeries, Evil Mothers), Christina Petro (My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult), Robert "BobDog" Catlin (S.A. Slayer, Juggernaut, Pseudo Buddha, Evil Mothers, Flesh Fetish), Jamie Duffy (Acumen Nation, DJ? Acucrack), Mark Spybey (Dead Voices on Air), DJ Lumis (Bazerk), Dirk Flanigan (77 Luscious Babes), James Teitelbaum (Evil Clowns), Martin Bowes (Attrition), Anna Wildsmith (Sow), Kirsten Reynolds (Project Dark), Cynthia Plaster Caster, Joe Trump (Elliott Sharp's Carbon, Brian Brain), Jason Miller (Godhead), Julian Beeston (Nitzer Ebb, Cubanate), Günter Schulz (KMFDM), Jeff Scheel (Gravity Kills)
In 1997, Chin built a PC-based recording studio in her Soho, London, UK bedroom, which she dubbed "Egg Studio." There, she recorded her solo debut album, "Piece and Love", which was released in 1999 on Martin Atkins' Invisible Records. The album achieved critical acclaim within the darkwave and industrial underground scenes, receiving attention amongst other places in Billboard magazine's "Heatseeker" section. Piece and Love was celebrated for its innovative production and genre-blurring sound and was was recognized as a forerunner in home-brewed production. She was featured in prominent publications like EQ Magazine, Tape Op, and Electronic Musician. Her tracks have appeared on popular TV shows such as Showtime's Queer as Folk, Warner Bros.' Witchblade, and Sleeper Cell. She is an accomplished video producer and multimedia artist, with her home-produced video "The Ocean" gaining rotation on MTV Europe in 1990, a groundbreaking achievement at the time.
In the late 1980s, Meg established Crunch, an all-female band that became one of the first Western bands to perform in Ukraine following its 1992 independence from the USSR. Their powerful and anthemic music struck a chord with the newly independent Ukrainians earning them interviews on Moscow’s Russian State TV and accolades from Pravda, which dubbed them "The Rock Stars from the West." During a press conference, Chin’s comment, “We don’t pretend to have the answers to world problems; we’ll leave that to huge male egos like Sting,” surprised the media and prompted smiles, especially among female journalists.
Beyond her music, Chin co-created Gearslutz (now Gearspace) in 2002, the internet's largest pro-audio forum for producers and sound engineers. In 2007, a legal battle over the site's ownership arose, a dispute detailed on the "Gearwarz" page, https://gearwarz.com. This experience sharpened her awareness of systemic injustices and fueled her resolve to challenge entrenched inequities and advocate for social change.
Chin describes herself as politically 'à la carte,' voting based on issues rather than party lines. She is critical of the herd mentality, advocating for free thought and independence. Currently based in London, England, she founded the "Temple of Ideas," a collective of unstoppable artists, musicians and creatives through which she continues to solidify her legacy as a pioneering artist and champion of independent thought.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Lee_Chin
