John Tejada (born 21 April 1974) is an Austrian-born American

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

producer and composer. Tejada's output of music began in 1994, including four albums for Kompakt, plus releases on Pokerflat, Cocoon, Plug Research, Seventh City, Playhouse, Defected, and his own label of 22 years, Palette Recordings.

Early life

Tejada was born on 21 April 1974 in Vienna, Austria, and moved to Los Angeles in 1982 with his parents, both classically trained professional musicians. After learning the piano at age 4 and drums at age 8, Tejada was introduced to

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

music, and at age 12 received his first

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

and mixer. His first gig was that same year, when he began DJing the school dances. By 1991, he was already creating his own recordings, and in 1994 he released a single with Arian Leviste.

Disc jockey career

Tejada began traveling internationally in 1997 to showcase his DJing skills around the globe. He has traveled to more than 25 countries and performed live at clubs and festivals around the world, including the

Detroit Electronic Music Festival Movement Electronic Music Festival is an annual electronic dance music event held in the birthplace of Techno, Detroit, each Memorial Day weekend since 2006. Previous electronic music festivals held at Hart Plaza on Memorial Day weekend includ ...

(aka Movement),

Sónar Sónar is a festival dedicated to music, creativity and technology, founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Ricard Robles, Enric Palau, and Sergi Caballero. The festival has been divided into two parts since its inception: Sónar by Day and Sónar b ...

(in Spain and Tokyo),

Decibel Festival The Decibel Festival was an annual music and digital arts festival in Seattle, Washington, which featured live electronic music performances, visual arts, and new media. History The festival was launched in 2003 by Sean Horton and a team of vo ...

(Seattle),

Dance Valley Dance Valley ("The Woodstock of Dance") is an annual dance music festival organised by United Dance Company (UDC) in the summer in Spaarnwoude, Netherlands. The first edition was in 1995 when 8,000 people attended (and in 2001 90,000 visitors). ...

(Netherlands), Sync Festival (Greece),

Mutek MUTEK is a Montreal-based festival dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts. Its central platform is an annual six-day event in Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and ...

(Montreal and Mexico), as well as internationally known spaces such as

Berghain Berghain () is a nightclub in Berlin, Germany. It is named after its location near the border between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain and is a short walk from Berlin Ostbahnhof main line railway station.

(Berlin),

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

(London), Yellow (Tokyo), Rex Club (Paris), Output (NYC), Dekmantel (Amsterdam), Guggenheim (Bilbao), The

Dorothy Chandler Pavilion The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center, which is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt ...

(Los Angeles), and twice at

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 23, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Av ...

in Los Angeles.

Collaborations

Tejada has also been responsible for remixing dozens of acts including

The Postal Service The Postal Service was an American indie pop group from Seattle, Seattle, Washington, consisting of singer Ben Gibbard, producer Dntel, Jimmy Tamborello (also known by his stage name, Dntel), and Jenny Lewis on background vocals. The band relea ...

, Télépopmusic, The Field,

Bomb the Bass Bomb the Bass is an electronic music alias of English musician and producer Timothy Simenon (born June 1967). As a name, Bomb the Bass came from Simenon's approach to collaging and mixing sounds whilst DJing in the mid- to late 1980s; he says ...

, Way Out West,

Kevin Saunderson Kevin Maurice Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) is an American electronic dance music DJ and record producer. He is famous for being a member of a trio, along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May, who came to be known as the Belleville Three, w ...

Darren Emerson Darren Paul Emerson (born 30 April 1971) is an English musician, DJ and producer best known as a former member of the British electronic music group Underworld. Career Early life Emerson began mixing hip hop records at the age of 14, and by ...

Gui Boratto Guilherme Boratto (born 1974) is a Brazilian electronic music producer. In the 1990s, he was a member of the Eurodance group Sect. His debut solo record, '' Chromophobia'', was named album of the month by ''Mixmag''. He has since released six m ...

, and

Simian Mobile Disco Simian Mobile Disco are an English electronic music duo and production team, formed in 2003 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production. Ford is also known for his production work. ...

. Tejada's latest venture is as Wajatta (with international star

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinfo ...

) with their debut album being released on May 11, 2018.

Discography

Albums

*''Little Green Lights and Four Inch Faders'' (1998) – A13 *''The Matrix of Us'' (2000) –

Defocus In optics, defocus is the aberration in which an image is simply out of focus. This aberration is familiar to anyone who has used a camera, videocamera, microscope, telescope, or binoculars. Optically, defocus refers to a translation of the f ...

*'' Daydreams In Cold Weather'' (2002) –

Plug Research Plug Research is an independent record label, based in Los Angeles, California, US. Created by Allen Avanessian in 1994, the label specialized in IDM, folktronica and experimental music. The label began with young artists that have made its repu ...

*''

The Toiling of Idle Hands The Toiling of Idle Hands, is the 2003 moniker-free, solo release from John Tejada John Tejada (born 21 April 1974) is an Austrian-born American electronic music producer and composer. Tejada's output of music began in 1994, including four albums ...

'' (2003) – Immigrant Records *''Logic Memory Center'' (2004) – Plug Research *''Cleaning Sound is a Filthy Business'' (2006) – Palette Recordings *''Where'' (2008) – Palette Recordings *''Parabolas'' (2011) – Kompakt *''The Predicting Machine'' (2012) – Kompakt *''

Signs Under Test Signs Under Test is the tenth full-length release for the California-based techno DJ/producer John Tejada John Tejada (born 21 April 1974) is an Austrian-born American electronic music producer and composer. Tejada's output of music began in 1994 ...

'' (2015) – Kompakt *''

Dead Start Program ''Dead Start Program'' is the eleventh studio album by American Techno DJ/producer John Tejada. It was released in February 2018 under Kompakt Kompakt ( Labelcode: LC 12012) is a Cologne-based electronic music independent record label and ...

'' (2018) – Kompakt *''Live Rytm Trax'' (2018) – Palette *''Year of the Living Dead'' (2021) – Kompakt *''Resound'' (2023) – Palette

EPs

*''Ebonics'' (1997) – Palette Recordings *''Genre'' (1998) – Palette Recordings *''Sonic Life'' (1998) – Ferox Records *''Song Forms & Freedom'' (2000) – Mosaic *''The Cover Up'' (2000) – 1200 Music *''Connection Remixes'' (2001) – Sheep Records *''Mating Rhythm'' (2001) – Mosaic *''The Toiling of Idle Hands'' (2004) – Immigrant *''Voyager'' (2005) – Palette Recordings *''Sweat (On the Walls)'' (2004) – Poker Flat Recordings *''Not That, But This'' (2011) – Trapez *''Acid Test 10'' (2016) – Absurd Recordings *''Therapy'' (2016) – Palette Recordings *''Acid Test 12'' (2017) – Absurd Recordings

Compilation albums

*''Fabric 44 – John Tejada'' (2009) – Fabric (London) *''The 7th City Years'' (2012) – Palette Recordings

Collaborative albums

Wajatta

*''Casual High Technology'' (2018) – Comedy Dynamics *''Don't Let Get You Down'' (2020) –

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, ...

References

External links

Palette Recordings
* *
RBMA Radio On Demand – Train Wreck Mix – John Tejada (Palette Rec., LA)
*
Interview John Tejada – Actualites Electroniques
*
Interview John Tejada – Actualites Electroniques
1974 births Living people Austrian electronic musicians Plug Research artists {{Music-producer-stub