Chen Hsin-hung (), nicknamed Ashin () (born 6 December 1975), is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. He is best known as the vocalist of the rock band

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

. When Ashin majored in art in college, he began his musical career. He is also the founder and designer of the clothing line StayReal and a shareholder of the music label

B'in Music B'in Music, otherwise known as Believe in Music International Limited () in full or B'in Music (), is a Taiwan-based recording company, formally established on July 1, 2006, and founded by Ason Chen in Taipei. Current artist roster B’in Musi ...

. He was elected as a board member of the Taiwan Public Television Service in 2013.

Biography

Early life

Ashin was born in

Beitou District Beitou District is the northernmost of the twelve districts of Taipei City, Taiwan. The historical spelling of the district is Peitou. The name originates from the Ketagalan word ''Kipatauw'', meaning witch. Beitou is the most mountainous and ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

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

Ashin attended a public elementary and middle school in

. After graduating from middle school, he was accepted into one of the top high schools in

, 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 A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

, 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 Shih Chien University (USC; ) is a private university in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It has two campuses: one in Dazhi, Zhongshan District, Taipei and the other in Neimen District, Kaohsiung. History It was established in 1958 by Hsieh Tun ...

, where he majored in interior design. Mayday began to have success while Ashin was still in college.

Career

SoBand

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

. Ming joined the band later as the group's drummer.

Mayday

first started off as an underground rock band. They sent demo tapes to the then major record labels and were spotted by producer Jonathan Lee (李宗盛) of

Rock Records The Rock Records Co., Ltd. () commonly known as Rock Records (), is a record label based in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in the 1980s as the Rock Music Publishing (滾石有聲出版社; ) by Tuan Chung-tan and Tuan Chung-i, It is the largest record ...

. Mayday released their first official album in 1999 and began to gain a steady stream of fans. They released five albums under Rock Records, before teaming up with director of

, Chen Yong-Zhi(陳勇志) to found B'in Music Co. Ltd (相信音樂) in 2006.

Composer/songwriter

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 Fish Leong Ching Yu (, born Leong Chui Peng on 16 June 1978) is a Malaysian singer and songwriter. Having sold more than 20 million records to date, she has achieved popularity and success in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and M ...

Rene Liu Rene Liu Ruo-ying (; born 1 June 1969) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actress, director and writer. In the Sinophone world, Liu is widely known by her affectionate nickname "Milk Tea". Her music often focuses on love stories and has built an ...

S.H.E S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. They formed in 2001 and are managed by HIM International Music but decided not to renew their contract in 2019 due to having their own management company. Si ...

Jolin Tsai Jolin Tsai I-lin ( zh, c=蔡依林, p=Cài Yīlín; born September 15, 1980), also romanized as Jolin Cai, is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Recognized as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of C-Pop ...

JJ Lin Wayne Lim Junjie (; born 27 March 1981), professionally known as JJ Lin, is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer, and businessman. One of the most successful artists in the Sinophone, Chinese-speaking world, Lin achieved recogniti ...

Richie Ren Richie Jen Hsien-chi (, born 23 June 1966), also known as Richie Ren, is a Taiwanese singer and actor. He graduated from the Chinese Culture University's physical education department. Jen debuted in December 1990 with the studio album ''Ask ...

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, Fran,

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Leehom Wang Wang Leehom ( zh, c=王力宏, poj=Ông Le̍k-hông; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. His music is known for fusing hip-hop and R&B, with Guoyue, tradi ...

Denise Ho Denise Ho Wan-see (born 10 May 1977) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian Cantopop singer and actress. She is also a pro-democracy and Hong Kong human rights activist. In 2012, Ho came out as lesbian, the first mainstream Cantonese singer to do so. In ...

Nicholas Tse Nicholas Tse Ting-fung (born 29 August 1980) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, songwriter, martial artist, entrepreneur and TV chef.EEGmusic.EEGmusic." ''Nicolas Tse profile.'' Retrieved on 22 April 2008. Tse debuted as a singer in 1996 before shif ...

, Victor Wong,

Della Ding Ding Dang ( zh, t=丁噹, s=丁当; born Wu Xian on 17 April 1982), also known as Della, is a Taiwan-based Chinese singer who is known for her wide vocal range and emotive soundtracks for numerous television series. Early life and education ...

Aska Yang Aska Yang (, born April 4, 1978, in Taoyuan City (now Taoyuan District), Taiwan) is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer. Education He graduated from the National Changhua University of Education (NCUE), with a major in Guidance and Counselling. Durin ...

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Energy Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...

Stefanie Sun Stefanie Sun Yanzi (; born Sng Ee Tze; 23 July 1978) is a Singaporean singer and songwriter. Known for her Ballad, ballads and girl next door image, Sun made her debut with the album ''Yan Zi (album), Yan Zi'' in 2000. Featuring the single "Cl ...

and others. In 2019, he collaborated with

Jay Chou Jay Chou Chieh-lun ( zh, s=周杰伦, t=周杰倫, first=t, p=Zhōu Jiélún; born 18 January 1979) is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter, actor, director, and businessman. Regarded as one of the most influential artists in the Chinese-speaking worl ...

for the first time and released a single called Won't Cry (說好不哭), a song from his 15th studio album released on 15 July 2022, ''

Greatest Works of Art ''Greatest Works of Art'' () is the fifteenth studio album by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou, released on 15 July 2022 by JVR Music. It is Chou's first album since '' Jay Chou's Bedtime Stories'' in 2016. The album draws inspiration from Eu ...

''. In 2021 he composed the official main theme from

Brave Animated Series Brave Animated Series ( Chinese: 勇者動畫系列 Pinyin: Yǒngzhě dònghuà xìliè lit. 'Brave Animation Series') is a Taiwanese comedy fantasy animated series based on the comic book series of the same name, created by Yellow Book. It is p ...

, in association with the rock band LION.

Author

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

Ashin's has stated that he's highly influenced by:

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Lo Ta-yu Lo Ta-yu (; born 20 July 1954), also known as Luo Dayou and Law Tai-yau, is a Taiwanese singer and songwriter. During the 1980s, Lo became one of the most influential Mandopop singer-songwriters with his melodic lyrics and love songs, and his ...

(羅大佑),

Wu Bai Wu Chun-lin (; born 14 January 1968), better known by his stage name Wu Bai (), is a Taiwanese rock singer, songwriter and actor. He formed the band Wu Bai & China Blue with Dean Zavolta (drums), Yu Ta-hao (keyboards), and Chu Chien-hui (bass g ...

(伍佰) and

Mr. Children , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one ...

to name a few. He writes songs in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien ( , ), or simply Taiwanese, also known as Taigi ( zh, c=臺語, tl=Tâi-gí), Taiwanese Southern Min ( zh, c=臺灣閩南語, tl=Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí), Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively ...

as his parents and grandparents are fluent in both languages.

Collaborations

*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

*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 Hush may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi *''Hush!'', a 2002 film dir ...

*2016 - Cheers! (乾啦乾啦) with

and

831 __NOTOC__ Year 831 (Roman numerals, DCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Abbasid Empire and Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Arab wars (780–1180)#Period of 780–842, Byzantine–Arab W ...

*2018 - When Every Star (當每顆星星) with

Huang Bo Huang Bo ( zh, c=黄渤, p=Huáng Bó; born August 26, 1974) is a Chinese actor, film director, singer and the current vice-chairman of China Film Association. He is the winner of multiple Chinese film awards, and ranked 34th on Forbes China ...

*2018 - Core (沙文) with

Sandy Lam Sandy Lam Yik-lin (; born 26 April 1966), is a Hong Kong singer, actress and producer. She rose to fame in the 1980s, before expanding her fan base significantly in Asia, releasing more than 30 stylistically diverse albums in Cantonese, Englis ...

*2019 - Won't Cry (說好不哭) with

*2022 - We are All Living in Evolution (我們都活在進化之中) with Bai An and

Accusefive Accusefive () is a Taiwanese rock band founded in 2017 in Yilan County, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist Pan Yun-an, singer Tsai Hsin-lun (Chuan Ching/Quan Qing), and drummer Richard Lin. Musical career 2017–2019: Career beginnin ...

Commercials

* 2006: MusiQ MP3 * 2007: Guerlain * 2008: 2008

Taipei International Book Exhibition The Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE; ) is a Taiwanese book fair organized by the Taipei Book Fair Foundation and supervised by the Ministry of Culture (former Government Information Office). It was established on 15 December 1987 ...

* 2009:

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

– Coffee * 2011: Familymart

Books published

* 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

References

媒體爆料五月天阿信身世　父親開過應召站！？

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashin 1975 births Living people Taiwanese Mandopop singer-songwriters Taiwanese rock singers Taiwanese male singer-songwriters Singers from Taipei Shih Chien University alumni Taiwanese idols 21st-century Taiwanese male singers 21st-century Taiwanese singer-songwriters