Dale Howard (@dale_howard) makes his COCO debut with “On Lock,” which dropped on June 19, 2026, as SOSA’s imprint moves into a refreshed visual and creative phase. The UK producer has spent more than 15 years building a steady place in modern house music, with support from Marco Carola, Chris Stussy, Jamie Jones, East End Dubs, Patrick Topping, Prunk, Mau P, and more.
With over 40 million streams and regular BBC Radio 1 support behind him, Howard comes into the release with the kind of long-term experience that fits the way he talks about craft, consistency, and staying true to what actually feels good to make.
“On Lock” is a direct, peak-time club cut built around bouncy percussion, a limber bassline, and a sense of forward motion that keeps the record moving without overcomplicating the point. It is designed for dancefloor control, but there are enough playful details inside the groove to keep it from feeling too rigid. That balance makes sense for an artist who clearly understands the difference between making records that work in the room and chasing whatever is currently moving fastest online.
In the interview below, Howard talks about depth as a DJ and in DJ culture as a whole, stepping away from the pressure of streams and playlists, and why becoming a dad changed the way he approaches his studio time. His answers are direct and grounded, especially when he talks about returning to music that he actually enjoys making after a period of feeling low on release days.
For him, the long game is less about trying to outpace hype and more about building a career he can keep standing behind.
Interview With Dale Howard
How do you define depth in your work as a DJ?
As a DJ, I think it is about versatility and being able to adapt your set to the variety of crowds you play to, as well as the different set times you play.
Sometimes what you play does not land, so you cannot just ignore the feedback you are getting. You have to figure out what they are into and get them on board, although sometimes they might never get on board, haha.
Having a crowd trust where you are going with your set and keep the energy the whole time is an amazing experience, and having depth helps facilitate that.
You also cannot just play the same set regardless of whether you are opening or closing. If you do, you do not know what you are doing.
Have you ever had to consciously step away from hype cycles to protect your process?
Yes. Pretty recently, actually.
After having a long break from touring due to COVID lockdowns and becoming a dad twice, I decided to just go back to making music that I liked and was passionate about.
In the years prior, I had fallen into a trap of focusing on streams, playlists, and the numbers, and I found myself feeling really low on release days because I was pushing something that, a lot of the time, I was not happy with and did not even help my career either.
So I asked myself: why am I doing this?
After that, I decided to go back to making the music and ideas that were actually in my head, and since then, it has been so much easier and more enjoyable. Nothing is contrived, and that is how it should be.
What is something you have built over time that you are proud of, even if it did not trend?
There are a lot of tracks in my discography that never really did much at the time that I still like.
I remember I wanted to make a proper summertime tune, so I made “Real Love” in autumn 2019 so it was ready for summer 2020.
Turned out that would be the year where we never got a summer because the world went to shit and no one could go anywhere. I have never made another summer tune since, ha.
Even though it never did anything at the time, people did end up catching on to it, and I can see on streams that people go back to it every spring and summer. So it did become the summer tune I hoped it would be in the end.
How do you cultivate growth that feels real, not performative?
For it to feel real, you have to be real.
I could never make videos of myself dancing or playing the air piano in my studio to a new tune I am working on because it is going to get more reach. That is just not me.
I am in the music industry, so I am trying to cultivate growth through my sound and be myself while I am doing it.
If people want to get on board, that is ace, but if they do not, then that is okay too.
When you look back, what do you notice about the things that aged well versus the things that burned out fast?
A lot of my old house and deep house tracks from 10 to 15 years ago still get played and still work today.
We all already know this, but house music is timeless, innit.
“A good idea is a good idea forever.” David Brent.
Is there a part of your work that the public does not see, but fuels everything?
It is not necessarily my work per se, but being a dad.
Wanting to give my daughters the best life I can is something that keeps me disciplined with my studio time, which is something I struggled with in the past.
How do you stay committed to the long game when hype is louder than craft?
I am just making music that I am happy to stand behind and being consistent with it.
I want to have a long, successful career producing and touring, so the long game is not something I am making a conscious effort to do. It is just being consistent and true to myself.
To be honest, I really do not care about hype or whether other people are blowing up on social media because they are doing some form of content or subgenre of music that I am not.
People like what they like, do they not? So you just have to get on with your own career.
Trends and hype come and go, but if you really believe in what you are making, and you enjoy making it, none of that other stuff matters.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
