My Robot Friend is an indie-pop project from New York City, led by musician and performance artist Howard Robot. Despite remaining relatively under the radar, My Robot Friend’s songs have been recorded by top-selling and critically acclaimed artists like Robbie Williams, Pet Shop Boys, Alison Moyet (Yazoo), ANOHNI, and Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna). Tracks have also featured in popular shows such as Tiger King, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and Malcolm in the Middle.
Howard Robot began his musical career performing and recording with the New York City band Princess in the late 1990s. The members of the band included Autojulie3000 (violin, keyboard, vocals), Howard Robot (acoustic guitar, bass, vocals), and Miguel Gutierrez (acoustic guitar, bass, violin, keyboard, vocals). Princess almost signed on to the legendary label Too Pure (original home of P.J. Harvey, Stereolab, Mouse On Mars), but they broke up before the contract was inked.
The inspiration for My Robot Friend came from a modern dance choreographed by Miguel Gutierrez. In 2000, Miguel developed a piece for Le Tigre's song Deceptacon and asked Howard Robot to dance with him and make some costumes. After several performances around New York City, including at the Performing Garage in SoHo, Le Tigre heard about it and asked the two to perform with them at the now defunct Thread Waxing Space. The energy of the live show, combined with Le Tigre's influence, inspired Howard Robot to start an electronic pop music project of his own.
Following his experience with Le Tigre, Howard Robot developed a unique concept for live shows that was groundbreaking for intimate club settings in the early 2000s. He designed an elaborate light-up suit and performed without any external stage lighting. His shows were ambitious performance art, featuring illuminated objects, wireless video cameras, pyrotechnics, and other handmade props.
My Robot Friend was a key player in the early Electroclash scene in NYC, performing at legendary clubs like Bowery Ballroom and Webster Hall. Within a few years, My Robot Friend became a staple on international festival stages such as Sónar and T in the Park, and in art museum spaces like MASS MoCA. The innovative performance and music style garnered press attention, earning spots on Rolling Stone's Hot List of 2002 and Pitchfork's top 100 tracks of 2006.
Howard Robot pursued collaborations with artists and musicians he admired. One of the most notable was the song “We’re the Pet Shop Boys,” originally self-released in 2001. This homage to the Pet Shop Boys captured the band's attention, leading them to feature it in their first DJ set in London in 2003 and later record their own version. The song's journey culminated in a cover by Robbie Williams on his 2006 album Rudebox.
Two decades into his career, Howard Robot is reemerging from a period of dormancy (like a cicada, but much sexier).In 2024, he released "Freak Out!" — his first original song in eight years — along with an AI-generated music video, one of the first of its kind. Recently, Howard Robot has also utilized his technical stagecraft skills as a prop designer for theater, including the New York Times Critic’s Pick show Bottom of the Ocean in 2023.
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