Five Underground House and Tech House Artists to Know This August

The underground house world isn't built on big names alone. For every headline slot, there's a roster of producers and selectors doing the quieter groundwork — building catalogs, testing tracks in smaller rooms, earning the kind of trust that eventually gets you on Peggy Gou's label or Sidney Charles' imprint. Beatportal's August 2026 emerging artists radar turned up a strong haul. Here are the five most relevant to anyone invested in house, tech house, and minimal.

Hidde van Wee — Dutch Deep Tech on Heavy House Society

Amsterdam-based Hidde van Wee makes groove-led house with a sharp Dutch sensibility — pulling from UKG, electro, deep tech, and stripped-back club functionality without getting caught between them. His catalog has been building steadily across Up The Stuss, HOME//GRXWN, LOCUS, and Eastenderz, with booth time at Shelter, Thuishaven, BRET, and Toffler confirming the name in circles that matter.

The move to watch is his Apollo EP, a four-tracker landing August 21 on Sidney Charles' Heavy House Society. Rich percussion, warm synths, chopped vocals, and deep tech low-end — the kind of record built for both open-air sessions and darker underground rooms without trying to split the difference. The Heavy House Society placement alone signals where he's headed.

Matrefakt — Liverpool Groove on Peggy Gou's GUDU

Liverpool duo Matrefakt have spent the past several years building one of the UK's more consistent catalogs in groove-driven house and techno. Releases on Shall Not Fade, Running Back, Of Unsound Mind, and Sous Music have established the sound; support from Mella Dee, Sally C, Bicep, Skream, and Peggy Gou herself has widened the audience without repositioning the music to chase it.

Their Raid EP on GUDU — Gou's label — follows the well-received Filt on the same imprint. Four tracks of club muscle that stays playful and sharp without sanding off the personality. Sets at Watergate, Sisyphos, and Creamfields suggest the live side is matching the studio work. This is the kind of duo that DJs trust when a room needs to move, and that trust is earned.

Ellia Jaya — UK House Energy From Manchester

Manchester DJ and producer Ellia Jaya found her spark during an Ibiza season in 2018, and that island snap is still present in her records — clean grooves, direct drums, no dead air. Her signature lane is groove-heavy UK house with driving basslines, chopped vocals, and peak-time punch that doesn't require a build-up to earn.

New single "Super Powers" arrives loaded with chopped '90s hip-hop vocals, following releases on Bass Jamz, Max Dean's neXup, TSZ, and Dansu Discs. She's a key part of the Bass Jamz world, appearing across Gaskin's Energy Crew album series and holding down the label's Ibiza residency at 528. The momentum is real, and the sound is punchy enough to travel.

Lilya Mandre — Minimal Depth and a Hï Ibiza Residency

Born and raised in Casablanca, Lilya Mandre moves between deep house, melodic house, minimal, and techno with a sound built for rooms that want feeling as much as function. She's locked in Keinemusik support, a summer residency alongside Damian Lazarus at Hï Ibiza, and sets at MOGA, Stereobar Montreal, Day Zero, and KOKO — a circuit of events that selects carefully.

Her new KOOKOO Records single "Harper" goes moodier: warm analogue touches, glassy synths, a smattering of '80s nostalgia, and a vocal that has presence without overshadowing the groove. There's real emotional pull in her productions, but it never tips into sentiment. Minimal house at its most purposeful — music with somewhere specific to go.

Wigs — Progressive House Built to Breathe

South London producer and DJ Wigs (born Wilf Auty, raised in rural Devon) sits in the warm, atmospheric corner of progressive house, with electro, balearic, and techno all moving through his sets and productions without turning them into genre exercises. His VSION05 EP on Vision Recordings distils the approach into four patient, rolling cuts built on hazy summer tension, driving basslines, and grooves that reveal themselves in layers rather than announcing themselves upfront.

Support from Spray, Kettama, Chris Stussy, HAAi, Mama Snake, and Roza Terenzi places Wigs in strong company for an artist still building his profile. As a resident at Meanwhile, his sets have become proper word-of-mouth business — the kind of DJ people mention the next morning. That's the best sign there is.

These five artists represent the depth that keeps underground house interesting: producers and selectors building track by track, residency by residency, earning placements on labels that don't rush their decisions. The next wave doesn't announce itself — it shows up in the queue for Terminus, in a 9am Pavilion set, in a four-track EP on exactly the right imprint.