Ashin
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Ashin | |||||||||||||||||||
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Born | |||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Taiwanese | ||||||||||||||||||
Occupations |
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Years active | 1999–present | ||||||||||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 陈 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Musical career | |||||||||||||||||||
Genres | |||||||||||||||||||
Labels | Rock (1999–2008) B'in Music (2006–present) | ||||||||||||||||||
Chen Hsin-hung (Chinese:
He is also the founder and designer of the clothing line StayReal and a shareholder of the music label B'in Music. He was elected as a board member of the Taiwan Public Television Service in 2013.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Ashin was born in Beitou District, Taiwan into a family of four, consisting of his parents, himself, and a younger brother. His family owned a record store, which inspired his passion for music. Ashin's childhood ambition was to become a singer, but his vocal range was too narrow. He claims his bandmates selected him to be Mayday's singer as he was the worst instrumentalist out of all of them. Ashin can play both guitar and drums.
Education
[edit]Ashin attended a public elementary and middle school in Beitou District. After graduating from middle school, he was accepted into one of the top high schools in Taiwan, The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, where he majored in visual arts. Ashin joined the high school's guitar club and was made president the following year. It was in the guitar club that he met the other members of Mayday: Monster, Masa, and Stone. At the age of 19, he started composing. The first song, "Hao Ju Hao San", was released on Richie Jen's 2001 album "Fei Niao." After graduating from high school, Ashin attended Shih Chien University, where he majored in interior design. Mayday began to have success while Ashin was still in college.
Career
[edit]SoBand
[edit]In 1995, together with Monster and Qian You-Da (Mayday's original drummer), Ashin formed "SoBand". Shortly after the band formed, Masa came on board as the band's bassist. Ashin was both the lead vocalist and the guitarist and during their formative years the band played at a number of major bars across the country. In 1997, shortly after Stone joined the band, the members decided to change their name to Mayday. Ming joined the band later as the group's drummer.
Mayday
[edit]Mayday first started off as an underground rock band. They sent demo tapes to the then major record labels and were spotted by renowned producer Jonathan Lee (
Composer/songwriter
[edit]Ashin used to be Mayday's sole composer; it was only during production of the band's fourth album that other band members began to contribute their own work. Ashin's compositional talents have been highly sought after by other artists and as a result he has composed a significant number of songs for other artists, such as: Fish Leong, Rene Liu, S.H.E, Jolin Tsai, JJ Lin, Richie Ren, Twins, Fran, Alien Huang, Leehom Wang, Denise Ho, Nicholas Tse, Victor Wong, Della Ding, Aska Yang, Wakin Chau, Jam Hsiao, Energy, Stefanie Sun and others.
In 2019, he collaborated with Jay Chou for the first time and released a single called Won't Cry (
Author
[edit]Ashin published his first book, Happy.Birth.Day, in 2006. It features the lyrics of 60 of his songs, as well as a selection of his photography.
In 2008, he published "Escape to Japan", a guidebook to unconventional travelling in Japan.
In 2012, he collaborated with Ninagawa Mika and published a photography book called "Stairway to Heaven".
Influences
[edit]Ashin's has stated that he's highly influenced by: The Beatles, Lo Ta-yu (
Collaborations
[edit]- 2008 - Fire to the Devil (
走 火入 魔 ) with Della Ding - 2009 - Fireworks (
花火 ) with Della Ding - 2012 - Fateful Opportunity (
天機 ) with Magic Power - 2013 - Dark Knight (
黑 暗 騎士 ) with JJ Lin - 2015 - The Future is Right Now (
未來 就是現在 ) with Magic Power - 2015 - Same Answer (
同 一 個 答案 ) with Hush - 2016 - Cheers! (
乾 啦乾 啦) with Richie Ren and 831 - 2018 - When Every Star (
當 每 顆星星 ) with Huang Bo - 2018 - Core (
沙 文 ) with Sandy Lam - 2019 - Won't Cry (
說 好 不 哭) with Jay Chou - 2022 - We are All Living in Evolution (
我 們都活 在 進化 之 中 ) with Bai An and Accusefive
Commercials
[edit]- 2006: MusiQ MP3
- 2007: Guerlain
- 2008: 2008 Taipei International Book Exhibition
- 2009: 7-Eleven – Coffee
- 2011: Familymart
Books published
[edit]- 1)Happy.BIRTH.Day: Birth of Rock Poems
- 2)Escape to Japan:
浪漫 的 逃亡 - 3) Stairway to Heaven Ninagawa Mika x Ashin