Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song " Your Woman".

Early life

Jyoti Prakash Mishra was born in

Rourkela Rourkela () is a planned city located in the northern district Sundargarh of Odisha, India. It is the third-largest Urban Agglomeration in Odisha after Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. It is situated about west of the state capital Bhubaneswar and is ...

, India, on 30 July 1966, and emigrated to England with his family at the age of three. He grew up in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, England.

Career

White Town was originally the name of a band formed by Mishra in 1989, inspired by a Pixies concert he had attended. Initially, there were other members on guitar, bass, and drums; they played support gigs for various bands, most notably

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

. In 1990, the project released its first self-financed record, ''White Town EP'', on 7" vinyl. This featured Nick Glyn-Davies on drums and Sean Deegan on bass, with Mishra on guitar and vocals. Sean Phillips, who is credited as a guitarist on the EP, joined the band shortly before the release. In time, Deegan and Glyn-Davies left and were replaced live by a drum machine and Leon Wilson on guitar. The rest of the band drifted away in 1990, and Mishra continued with the project as a one-man band from then on, occasionally collaborating with musicians such as Gary Thatcher of

the Beekeepers The Beekeepers were an English rock band from Derby, signed to the Beggars Banquet Records label. Their releases included the mini-album ''Third Party, Fear and Theft'' and the single, ''Do You Behave Like That at Home?'' History The Beeke ...

on guitar. The lead single from White Town's second album, '' Women in Technology'', titled " Your Woman", reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1997. It also peaked at No. 1 in Spain and Iceland; No. 2 in Australia; No. 4 in Canada, Denmark, and Finland; and No. 23 on the U.S. Pop Airplay chart. After a troubled working relationship with EMI, Mishra was dropped from the label in 1997. Since then, he has gone back to working with indie labels such as Parasol Records. In 2006, he contributed the song "The PNAC Cabal" to the charity album ''Voyces United for UNHCR''. The EP ''A New Surprise'' was released in September 2006 by Swedish indie label Heavenly Pop Hits, and was followed by the album ''

Don't Mention the War ''Don't Mention the War'' is the fourth studio album by British indie pop musical project White Town, released in 2006 through Bzangy Records. The title is a dual reference to "The Germans", an episode of the English sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'', a ...

'', which launched Mishra's own Bzangy Records label. A 7" White Town single titled "I Wanna Be Your Ex", with the B-side "Rainy Day", was released by Golly Jane Records in November 2014. Mishra released the albums ''Deemab'' and ''Polyamory'' in 2019. As of March 2020, he accumulates over 500,000

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

streams per month; his work received a boost in popularity in 2020 when

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

sampled the same trumpet hook White Town sampled in "Your Woman" in her song " Love Again".

Artistry

Mishra has said, "I'm a mediocre singer, I'm a terrible guitarist, I'm a pretty good keyboardist, I'm a good producer, not amazing, but good." Noting his status as a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

, he said it is "better than a no-hit wonder" and elaborated, "To be a professional musician and to be entertaining people twenty years after my biggest hit, I feel like I'm the luckiest person alive. Just to have one song that connects with people—most musicians dream their entire lives of having that."

Personal life

Mishra became

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

at the age of sixteen and is a radical

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

; he has been outspoken about his beliefs.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1966 births Living people People from Rourkela English people of Indian descent Odia people Indian emigrants to England British alternative rock musicians British trip hop musicians English Marxists English techno musicians English dance musicians Musicians from Derby People from Sundergarh district Chrysalis Records artists Parasol Records artists Alternative dance musicians