Yen-j

Yen-j
Background information
Chinese name 嚴爵 (traditional)
Pinyin Yán Jué (Mandarin)
Pe̍h-ōe-jī Giâm Chiok (Hokkien)
Origin Taiwanese
Born (1988-04-23) April 23, 1988
Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Occupation Singer-songwriter
Genre(s) Mandopop
Instrument(s) Voice, Piano, Trombone, Guitar, Bass, Drums
Label(s) B'in Music Co. (相信音樂)
Years active 2009-present
Influenced by Charlie Parker , John Coltrane
Website yenj234.pixnet.net/blog

Yen-j, also known as Yan Jue, is a Taiwanese jazz-pop singer-songwriter. He has achieved rising success as a newcomer on the Mandopop scene, due to testimonials from popular artists such as Wang Leehom,[1] Mayday’s Ashin, Dee Hsu, Blackie Chen and DJ Xiao Shu. His fresh combinations of jazz and pop have made him a noticeable star on the rise. His debut album, Thanks to Your Greatness (谢谢你的美好) contains 11 songs, all written, and produced by him, or with his input. He also plays many instruments, such as the piano, trombone, guitar and bass guitar.

Life

Yen-J was born on 23 April 1988 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He moved to the United States at the age of 10 to continue his studies. He started playing the piano and the trombone at an early age, and at the age of 11 started composing his own music and also learned to play other instruments to further his interests in jazz music. During his high school years, he took to performing with his high school teachers at jazz bars in San Francisco. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles to further his education at the University of Southern California, studying music.[2] However, he withdrew from the university after his first semester and decided to move back to Taiwan to begin his career as a singer.[2]

Yen-J who comes from a family of doctors, was given a deadline of two years to start off his music career by his father, who wanted him to study medicine.[3] Seeing how successful he has been since his decision to become a singer, his father has since changed the deadline to ten years, instead of two.[3]

He is known for being greatly influenced by past loves and stated that all the songs from his first album <謝謝你的美好>(Thanks for your greatness) were written for his ex-girlfriend, with another ex-girlfriend being the inspiration for his third album <單細胞>.

Music career

After only three months, he was able to land a contract with a recording company in 2008, with Taiwan’s Bin music. In January 2010, he released an EP, Trapped in Taipei (困在台北, Kùn Zài Táiběi) and went on various live gigs around Taiwan to be able to get used to performing by himself, and to raise audience awareness. Yen-J states that learning how to perform live was not enjoyable in the beginning as he was only learning the ropes, but he gradually learned to enjoy performing live and interacting with the audience.

His 2010 album, Thanks to your Greatness (謝謝你的美好, Xièxiè Nǐ De Měihǎo) was released on the 29th of April, proved to be a huge success, with his Facebook page and blog receiving tens of thousands of hits. His new album took out KKBOx’s “Most Played Album” spot which was contending with albums by other Mandopop veterans, and also reached number four on HIT fm’s global music charts.[4] It also peaked at number 2 on the G-Music’s Mandarin album charts a month after its release. He has been nominated for a number of awards in prestigious awards ceremonies such as the Golden Melody Awards as "Best Newcomer" and also the Singapore Hit awards, where he was nominated for and won the Best Newcomer Award. His 2011 single, "Good Things" (好的事情, Hǎo De Shìqíng) has reached #1 on the KKBOX Charts in Taiwan.

Yen-J has also received much interest towards his music from providing songs for some drama soundtracks, such as Queen Of No Marriage (敗犬女王), P.S Man (偷心大聖PS男) as well as the popular Autumn's Concerto (下一站,幸福), which featured some of his songs, such as “拓也的秘密心願 - 我以為" (I Presumed - secret version) and "相遇就不放手" (Not Letting Go).

His idols include Wang Leehom, Khalil Fong, Jay Chou and Stevie Wonder, who he hopes to be able to sound like in 5 years’ time. He has shown himself to be a hardworking artist, with him re-recording some tracks in his album many times in order to get the best result for his album. At the present time, he has said in an interview that he has already presented his record company with songs for his second album. His 2nd album, Good Things (好的事情, Hǎo De Shìqíng) was released on the 27 May 2011. Prior to the album release, Yen-J also released a duet with Rene Liu, "Méiyǒu xuánlǜ pèi de shàng nǐ" (沒有旋律配得上你) for the television drama Mr and Mrs single (隱婚男女).

In 2012/2013 he established his own production company named "爵隊制作"(Team Yen-J Productions) with the help of long-time friend and American drummer Tim Carr most notably. His production team and himself were the main producers,arrangers and instrumentalists behind his 2013 album "Love x Pi"(好的情人).This album and his first single of the same name were based on the success of his previous single <好的事情>(Good things) and reached number one on the KKBOX Charts.

Discography

<謝謝你的美好> (Thank You For Your Greatness)(4/22/2010)

  1. 追尋 (Searching)
  2. 一心二用 (A Heart With Two Uses)
  3. 謝謝你的美好 (Thank You For Your Greatness)
  4. 愛就是咖哩 (Love Is Curry)
  5. 我喜歡(不,我愛) (I Like (No I Love))
  6. 救命恩人 (Lifesaver)
  7. 需要點時間沉澱 (Needs Time To Settle)
  8. 困在台北 (Trapped in Taipei)
  9. 夏日羅曼史 (Chronicles of a Summer Romance)
  10. i給得不夠 (I Didn't Give Enough)
  11. 我的愛438 (My Love 438)

<不孤獨> (Not Alone) (5/27/2011)

  1. 謝謝你的靈感 (Thank You For Your Inspiration)
  2. 全世界最最美麗的女孩子(Interlude)
  3. 李唐娜 (Donna Lee)
  4. 好的事情（台視、三立強檔偶像劇《醉後決定愛上你》片尾曲）(Good Things)
  5. 拿你的意志力 (Take Your Willpower)
  6. 又不是這樣就不孤獨（台視、三立強檔偶像劇《醉後決定愛上你》插曲）(Again Not Like This, Only Not Alone)
  7. 沒有你怎麼辦 (What to Do Without You)
  8. 沒有旋律配得上你(feat. 劉若英) (No Melody is Deserving of You)
  9. 無法想像 (Unable to Imagine)
  10. 明星的愛 (Celebrity's Love)
  11. 真的 (Really)
  12. 隔壁大樓 (Large Building Next Door)

<單细胞> (Simple Love)

  1. 世界還不错 (The World Is Not Bad)
  2. 我的射手座女友 (My Sagittarius Girlfriend)
  3. 暂時的男朋友 (Temporary Boyfriend)
  4. 狮子需要梯子 (Lions Need A Ladder)
  5. 打噴嚏 (過敏慢版) (Sneezing (Slow Ver.))
  6. 火上加油 (Adding Fuel To Fire)
  7. 單细胞 (Simple Love)
  8. 照樣 (As Usual)
  9. 吾在場證明 (An Alibi)
  10. 悲觀樂觀 (Pessimistic Optimism)
  11. 是妳 (Outro)
  12. 打噴嚏 (發燒快版) (Sneezing (Fast Ver.))

<好的情人＞(Love x Pi)

  1. 畢業生 (Graduation)
  2. 貳零零零年(the year 2000)
  3. 好的情人(a good lover)
  4. 潔癖 (嚴爵+五月天合唱版) 【五月天[綠箭口香糖DOUBLEMINT]廣告曲】(Cleanliness feat. mayday ; theme song for Wrigley's Doublemint advertisement)
  5. 沒有答案(no answer)
  6. π
  7. Everyday
  8. 超級巨星(International Superstar)
  9. 勝券在握 (feat.MP魔幻力量 廷廷) (Winner feat MP's Ting Ting)
  10. 至少我有我【嚴爵[鋼鐵情人]世界巡迴演唱會主題曲】(At least I have me ;theme song for Yen-j's [Piano Man] World Tour Concert)
  11. 沒有你的日子的我(the days that I am without you)

Compositions for other Artists

-“没有如果”。梁静茹（2007）

-“他們”，張惠妹（2011）

-“未來的情人”，丁噹（2011）

-“偷偷的愛” ，丁噹，嚴爵（2011）

-“分開的常理＂家家 (2012)

-“花火祭＂家家，嚴爵(arrangement only)" (2012)

-“無邪” ，楊宗緯（2013）

-“承擔” ，古巨基（2015）

Endorsements

His rising success has also led to endorsements deals with many brands such as GOZO, a menswear fashion brand and also many university campus performances.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Cheong Poh Kwan (5 August 2010). "Yen-j: Wang Lee Hom Clone?". Straits Times. Archived from the original on August 11, 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 Huang, Andrew C.C. (25 June 2010). "Nothing succeeds like success". Taipei Times. p. 13. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  3. 1 2 "It's jazz over medicine for me, says newbie Yen-J". Asia One News. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  4. 1 2 "「最勤勞新人」嚴爵 小S、王力宏網路推薦". Epoch Times (in Chinese). 2 June 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
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