Jan Linton
| Jan Linton | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Dr.Jan (guru) |
| Genres | Electronic, ambient, rock, dance |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels |
Burning Shed King Records, Entropy Records |
| Associated acts | Dr.Jan (guru) |
| Notable instruments | |
| Guitar, Keyboards,Synthesizer, Sampler | |
Jan Linton is a singer, musician and producer from Warrington, England, who helped internationalise the music scene in Tokyo, Japan.
Jan Linton studied violin from the age of four, moving briefly onto piano, before discovering pop music and electric guitar as a teenager. When he was 17 years old, his first synthesizer exploded, leading him to try bass guitar instead.
After graduating from Birmingham University, he left for Japan in January 1990 after encouragement from P-Model's Tatsuya Kikuchi then subsequently Susumu Hirasawa, and secured a recording agreement from King Records after just three days. The project combined electronics with Asian pop and a world music flavour, including a performance by violinist and Chinese Kokyū player Masatsugu Shinozaki (who performed on the soundtrack to "The Last Emperor"). A change in A&R management delayed Linton's first CD, "Oinaru Sekai (TrueNirvana)"; it was finally released at the end of 1992 from Polystar Records. The producer also worked with the Japanese boy band SMAP,with the result that the album swung between electro-pop and Asian World Music. The album was sung in ten languages, including Japanese, with a cover version of Kimi ni Mune Kyun by YMO.
In 1993 Roger Eno introduced Linton to renowned guitarist and artist Bill Nelson, of whom Linton had been a fan since his university days. Nelson contributed guitar to some new tracks Linton was recording. One was released by Sony in 1994 on Juliana's Tokyo's "Global Dance Network" (Sony Records SRCS7425) which sold 15,000 copies. This established Linton as one of the few non-Japanese musicians in the Japanese scene of the time, which centred on Juliana's Tokyo, modeled superficially on British style "raves". However, Linton's track "6 Ritual" was clearly going in a different direction.
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