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Biography
Infobox musical artist | name = Towa Tei| image = TOWATEI.jpg| caption = Towa Tei in 2009.| image_size = | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| origin = Tokyo, Japan | birth_name = Dong-hwa Chung| alias =| Born = birth_date and age|1964|9|7|mf=y, Yokohama, Japan | death_date =| instrument = Keyboard instrument|Keyboards | genre = Shibuya-kei Electronica Dance music|Dance House music|House Drum and Bass | occupation = Music producer , disc jockey | years_active =| label = Elektra Records|Elektra | associated_acts = Deee-Lite | website = URL| http://www.towatei.com/ Towa Tei (born September 7, 1964) is a DJ , artist and record producer in Yokohama, Japan. While he goes professionally by the name in alphabet only, his birth name is ???, pronounced Tei Towa in Japanese, and Chung Dong-hwa in Korean. Towa debuted as a member of Deee-Lite , from the United States|U.S. record label|label Elektra Records in 1990, and shot to fame via their international hit single , " Groove Is In the Heart ". His solo was with his album Future Listening! in 1994 and he has since relocated back from New York to rural Nagano prefecture in Japancite news|url= http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fm20090213a1.html|title=Towa Tei wallows in optimism for art's sake|author=Robert Michael Poole|publisher= The Japan Times |accessdate=2011-05-06|date=2009-02-19
His concept party, "Hotel H", started in 2009 as a social spot for music industry people in Tokyo.cite web|url= http://oops-music.com/info/view_news.html? nid=50205 |title=Oops-music.com |publisher=Oops-music.com |date= |accessdate=2011-12-21
Biography
Towa began making demo tapes at the age of 16 having bought his first synthesizer, a Korg MS-10 . While studying at Musashino Art University Junior College of Art and Design he sent his tape to a radio program of Ryuichi Sakamoto titled "Sound Street".
In 1987 Towa moved to the US to study graphic design and joined house act Deee-Lite , a trio with Super DJ Dmitri and Lady Miss Kier , enjoying almost instant success after debuting in 1990 with their album World Clique and the single " Groove Is In the Heart ".
In 1994 Towa returned to Japan after seven years in New York. He hinted in a 2011 interview that his time with Deee-Lite made him ill, though he didn't expand on the reasons why.cite web |url= http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/3330/Towa-Tei-the-interview |title=Towa Tei: The Interview |accessdate=8 July 2011 |last=Hadfield |first=James |coauthors= |date= May 18, 2011 |work= Time Out Tokyo |publisher= Towa debuted as a solo act with Future Listening! that same year, incorporating an array of musical styles, including electronic, bossa nova, house, jazz and pop. It featured collaborations with Joi Cardwell , Bebel Gilberto , MC Kinky , Hiroshi Takano , Ryuichi Sakamoto , Haruomi Hosono , Toshihiko Mori , Satoshi Tomiie , Yuichi Oki of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and Pizzicato Five vocalist Maki Nomiya .
Sound Museum followed in 1997, then Last Century Modern in 1999. 2002 brought the album Towa Tei, under the pseudonym Sweet Robots Against the Machine . Flash (Towa Tei album)|Flash surfaced in 2005 by which time Towa was DJing regularly in Japan. He has admitted though, that he doesn't enjoy performing and prefers producing and using computers.
Big Fun, featuring Verbal (rapper)|Verbal and Mademoiselle Yulia was released in 2009 and was the third album to feature the artwork of San Franciscan painter and graffiti artist Barry McGee .. For the album, Towa utilized MySpace to collaborate with artists from around the world even if he didn't know them, such as with German act Taprikk Sweezee. Another collaborator he worked with for Big Fun was Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto , though they also only met on MySpace .
Towa has also established his own creative company, hug inc, which among other things, manufacturers his trademark sunglasses.
Discography
Studio albums
1995 Future Listening!
1998 Sound Museum
1999 Last Century Modern
2002 Towa Tei (as Sweet Robots Against the Machine )
2005 Flash (Towa Tei album)|Flash
2009 Big Fun (Towa Tei album)|Big Fun
2011 Sunny (Towa Tei album)|Sunny
DJ compilation albums
2004 Motivation-Songs for Make Up
2004 Motivation-Driving Sweets
2005 Motivation3
2005 Motivation4 -Dusty Dance Halls
2007 Motivation Five
2008 Motivation 7
Singles and EPs
1995 "Technova"
1995 "Luv Connection"
1997 Nihongo|"Happy"|????
1997 "Intro"
1998 " GBI: German Bold Italic " feat. Kylie Minogue - UK Singles Chart|UK #63cite book
| first= David | last= Roberts | year= 2006 | title= British Hit Singles & Albums | edition= 19th | publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London | isbn= 1-904994-10-5 | page= 551
2006 Nihongo|"Koi no Upload"|????????|"Love Upload"
2008 "N705i"
Digital singles
2008 "A.O.R." feat. Lina Ohta
2009 "Mind Wall" feat. Miho Hatori
2009 "Taste of You" feat. Taprikk Sweezee
2009 "Taste of You" (Zickzack Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)
2009 "Lyricist" (ajapai Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)
2009 "Taste of You" (Michael Fakesch Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)
2009 "Mind Wall" (SO TT Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)
2009 "Taste of You" (Atom TM Remix) (BIG FUN Remix)
Remix albums
1994 Future Recall!
1995 Future Recall 2
1997 Stupid Fresh
2000 Lost Control Mix
2000 Lost Control Mix 2
2003 Re: Towa Tei (as Sweet Robots Against the Machine)
2006 Flasher
Compilation albums
2002 Towa Tei / Best
2003 Best Korea (Korea only)
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.towatei.com Official TOWA TEI Website
http://www.myspace.com/towatei Official TOWA TEI Myspace
http://twitter.com/towatei Official TOWA TEI Twitter
Persondata | NAME =Tei, Towa | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1964-09-07 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Tei, Towa Category:1964 births Category:Dance musicians Category:Japanese DJs Category:Electronic musicians Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Tokyo Category:Remixers Category:Shibuya-kei musicians Category:Zainichi Korean people
