Mark Hawkins

The faceless Berlin-based, U.K.-born artist Marquis Hawkes never set out to create a persona that was mystifying or intriguing. Instead, he shied away from interviews and photo opportunities and let his music do the talking. His first release, 2012's Detroit-referencing, lo-fi house EP Cabrini Green, appeared on Glasgow-based label Dixon Avenue Basement Jams and was followed a year later by the Sex, Drugs & House and Higher Forces at Work EPs. Fitting nicely into the resurgence of acid house-influenced, hardware-led production work that was coming out on labels such as L.I.E.S. and Power House, Hawkes' work steered him into the consciousness of London label Houndstooth. The U.K. garage-inflected Fifty Fathoms Deep appeared at the end of 2014, while releases for Crème Organization and Clone's <I>Jack for Daze series also appeared that year. In April 2015, Hawkes dropped his second EP for Houndstooth, Raw Materials, which earned him praise for his take on the lo-fi house sound that had graced his earlier work. The producer followed up with his debut full-length, Social Housing, in 2016. ~ Rich Wilson, Rovi