Biography
Jansen was a founding member of the band Japan, along with his brother David Sylvian (vocals, guitars and keyboards) and Mick Karn (bass guitar), having met in Catford. [2] [3] Japan began as an amateur band in 1974, and the trio were later joined by Richard Barbieri (keyboards) and Rob Dean (guitar). [2] Their first studio album entitled Adolescent Sex was released in 1978, followed by Obscure Alternatives the same year. [4] Both albums saw polarized reviews and poor sales domestically in the UK, but were commercially successful overseas. [5] The band's third album Quiet Life marked a significant departure from their original alternative glam rock style, with the change in sound causing them to be associated with the New Romantic movement by critics, though this was repeatedly rejected by the members themselves. [6] Virgin Records released Japan's final studio albums, Gentlemen Take Polaroids and Tin Drum , while the band had their last live performance on 16 December 1982. Japan suffered from personal and creative clashes and decided to split during a period when they were beginning to experience significant commercial success both in their native UK and internationally. The band briefly reunited in 1991 under the name Rain Tree Crow and released a self-titled album. [4] [7]
After Japan's break up, Jansen recorded with bandmate Richard Barbieri under the name Jansen/Barbieri and released an instrumental album Worlds in a Small Room and later (Catch the Fall) as the Dolphin Brothers, with Jansen handling lead vocals as well as drums and percussion. [8]
In 1991, Jansen, Barbieri, and Karn formed Medium Productions as a venue for releasing their own music, as well as releases by other artists. [9]
Jansen has worked as a session musician and in collaboration with a wide range of international artists, such as Yukihiro Takahashi and Italian singer-songwriter Alice. He collaborated with David Sylvian and Burnt Friedman on the Nine Horses project, [10] which has given birth to one album and one extended play CD released through Sylvian's record label Samadhi Sound. Jansen performed with Sylvian during his live tours, [11] playing drums and percussion.
He released his first solo album, entitled Slope in 2007. [12] Regarding the creative process behind the album, Jansen stated that he "approached composition attempting to avoid chord and song structures and the usual familiar building blocks. Instead I wanted to piece together unrelated sounds, music samples, rhythms and 'events' in an attempt to deviate from my own trappings as a musician." [13] The album was released on Samadhi Sound, and features Sylvian in a "bluesy" duet with Joan Wasser, and contributions by Anja Garbarek, Sweet Billy Pilgrim, Thomas Feiner and Nina Kinert. On 15 April 2016 Jansen released a second solo album entitled Tender Extinction via Bandcamp and other digital music retailers. [14]
Jansen has continued to work on new compositions, some of which he has released as standalone tracks, and continues to be in demand as a producer and collaborator, working with musicians across a range of genres. A recent re-release of the 1995 Jansen/Barbieri album Stone to Flesh includes a new track entitled "Map of Falling," composed by the two musicians in 2015. [15]
During his time with Japan, Jansen dabbled in photography, documenting the band and their transient lifestyle. [16] He held small-scale photographic exhibitions in Tokyo and London during 1982 and 1983, respectively. A selection of these images are available on his website. In October 2015, Steve released a book of his photography entitled Through a Quiet Window through the Japanese publisher Artes Publishing. [17]
Jansen maintained a Tumblr blog under the username of "Sleepyard" as an additional avenue to publish his photography and answer fan questions, but wrote a post on in April 2016 stating that he would no longer maintain it, citing his displeasure with the platform as a whole. [18] Later in the same month, Jansen re-launched his blog through WordPress.
In 2014, Jansen formed a new musical project, Exit North, with three Swedish musicians Charlie Storm, Ulf Jansson and Thomas Feiner. They worked together in Charlie Storm's studio in Gothenburg, and the album was released on 1 October 2018, called Book of Romance and Dust. [19] Exit North played live in Tokyo, Japan, on 27 September 2019. [20] In 2020, Exit North released a new single, Let the Hearts Desire. Their second album, Anyway, Still, was released on 14 April 2023. [21]
