# Slow (DJ)

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{{Short description|Finnish DJ and music producer}}
{{BLP refimprove|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Slow
| image               = File:DjSlow Levi Finland 2011.JPG
| caption             = Slow in 2011
| birth_name          = Vellu Maurola
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| alias               = DJ Slow
| birth_date          = {{birth year and age|1975}}
| birth_place         = [Vantaa](/source/Vantaa), Finland
| genre               = [Nu jazz](/source/Nu_jazz), [hip hop](/source/Hip_hop_music)
| occupation          = [DJ](/source/Disc_jockey), [record producer](/source/record_producer)
| years_active        = since 1992
| label               = [Plastinka](/source/Plastinka), [Columbia](/source/Columbia_Records)
| website             = [http://www.slow.fi/ Slow.fi]
}}

'''Slow''' or '''DJ Slow''' (born '''Vellu Maurola''', 1975, in [Vantaa](/source/Vantaa), Finland) is a Finnish [DJ](/source/Disc_jockey) and [music producer](/source/Record_producer). Slow is known for his [nu-jazz](/source/nu-jazz) style and for his production of commercial music for high-profile advertising projects for TV and cinema.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}

==Career==
Inspiration from [hip hop](/source/Hip_hop_music) acts such as [Run-DMC](/source/Run-DMC), [Public Enemy](/source/Public_Enemy_(band)) and [Eric B & Rakim](/source/Eric_B_%26_Rakim), led Slow to begin a career in [DJing](/source/DJing), later making music and remixing other people's tracks. In 1990 Slow met fellow DJ [JA-Jazz](/source/JA-Jazz) when they worked together in the music department of a department store. With money from his evening job, Slow bought a pair of [Technics](/source/Technics_(brand)) turntables and some records.

He participated in the Finnish [DMC](/source/Disco_Mix_Club) Mixing Championships and won the contest four years in a row: in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rinneradio.net/slowhill/finndisc.html |title=FINNDISC by SLOWHILL |access-date=2010-07-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724033520/http://www.rinneradio.net/slowhill/finndisc.html |archive-date=2011-07-24 }}</ref> using two [Technics SL-1200](/source/Technics_SL-1200) [direct-drive turntable](/source/direct-drive_turntable)s and a [DJ mixer](/source/DJ_mixer), with musical styles ranging from [hip hop](/source/Hip_hop_music) to [funk](/source/funk) and [jazz](/source/jazz).

In 1995 Ja-Jazz introduced Slow to [James Spectrum](/source/James_Spectrum), and the three of them formed a band called [Pepe Deluxé](/source/Pepe_Delux%C3%A9), playing a mixture of [big beat](/source/big_beat), [trip hop](/source/trip_hop), and [hip hop](/source/Hip_hop_music). The band's first release was a 1998 EP entitled ''Three Times a Player'', which was chosen as Record of the Month by ''[Muzik](/source/Muzik)'' magazine.{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} Pepe Deluxé's first full-length album, ''Super Sound'', was released in 1999 by UK's [Catskills Records](/source/Catskills_Records). Due to clearance problems with the samples, they had to produce a new version of the album with many of the tracks rerecorded with cleared samples or live instruments. The new version of the album was released in [France](/source/France), [Italy](/source/Italy), [Spain](/source/Spain), [The Netherlands](/source/The_Netherlands), the [United States](/source/United_States), [Australia](/source/Australia), and [Germany](/source/Germany).

One track from the album, "[Woman in Blue](/source/Woman_in_Blue_(music))" (later renamed "Before You Leave"), was chosen to be used for a worldwide advertising campaign for [Levi's](/source/Levi's) jeans in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.answers.com/search|title=Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions|website=Answers.com}}</ref> During this time Pepe Deluxe were also asked to do remixes for artists including [Tom Jones](/source/Tom_Jones_(singer)), [The Cardigans](/source/The_Cardigans), and [Eminem](/source/Eminem).
After a lot of promotion and concerts around the world, Slow left the group to pursue solo projects.

Between 1999 and 2001 he worked as Head of [A&R](/source/A%26R) at [EMI](/source/EMI) Finland, launching a new dance label called Nozle, which released singles from dance acts such as [Campaus](/source/Campaus), [Z-MC](/source/Z-MC), and [Jori Hulkkonen](/source/Jori_Hulkkonen)'s [Step Time Orchestra](/source/Step_Time_Orchestra). Campaus was a dance act Slow started with a Finnish producer [Rauli Eskolin](/source/Rauli_Eskolin).

In 2002 Slow formed [SlowHill](/source/SlowHill) with Finnish saxophonist [Tapani Rinne](/source/Tapani_Rinne) of the band [RinneRadio](/source/RinneRadio). Fusing jazz sounds with electronic beats, their first album ''Finndisc'' was released on [Blue Note Records](/source/Blue_Note_Records). In the same year, DJ Slow's single "Got to Funk" reached #1 in the Finnish dance chart,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.deejaypromo.com/charts.asp?chart=FDC|title=Dee Jay Promotions|website=Deejaypromo.com|access-date=2007-02-11|archive-date=2006-06-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615043325/http://www.deejaypromo.com/charts.asp?chart=FDC|url-status=dead}}</ref> and peaked at #19 on the Finnish singles chart.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://areena.yle.fi/radio/ohjelmat/30-543|title=YleX|website=Areena.yle.fi}}</ref> The track was originally made for [Hartwall](/source/Hartwall)'s Upcider drink commercial, but due to positive reception, was eventually released as a single.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.findance.com/haastattelut.php?id=70 |title=Dj Slow haastattelu Findance.com |access-date=2010-07-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711003603/http://www.findance.com/haastattelut.php?id=70 |archive-date=2011-07-11 }}</ref>

In 2003 Slow worked on various remixes such as [The Crash](/source/The_Crash_(band))'s track "Star", and TV scores for Finnish television.

In 2004 Slow released his debut album ''This Is Now'', and began broadcasting a weekly radio show, ''Burner'', on Helsinki's Groove FM with hip-hop artist [Paleface](/source/Paleface_(Finnish_musician)).

In 2005 [SlowHill](/source/SlowHill) released their second album ''Fennika'' on Plastinka Records, and remixed [BWO](/source/BWO_(band))'s "Sixteen Tons of Hardware". With [Tapani Rinne](/source/Tapani_Rinne), Slow also wrote the score for Finnish movie ''Koti-ikävä'', which was nominated for a [Jussi Award](/source/Jussi_Award).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mediaviikko.fi/kaikki/uutinen/jussi-ehdokkaat-nimetty.html?p1543=84 |title=Mediaviikko: Jussi-ehdokkaat nimetty - Mediaviikko - Viestinnän ja median uutisia |access-date=2010-07-26 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720190752/http://mediaviikko.fi/kaikki/uutinen/jussi-ehdokkaat-nimetty.html?p1543=84 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2006, Slow played a set at [Midem International Music Market's](/source/MIDEM) 40th anniversary opening night in [Cannes](/source/Cannes).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.musexfinland.fi/midem2006/index.html?home |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-07-26 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720072231/http://www.musexfinland.fi/midem2006/index.html?home |url-status=dead }}</ref> He also released his second album ''Pronto!'', and later that year the album was also released in [Japan](/source/Japan) by [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records). He also played at ''[Wallpaper](/source/Wallpaper_(magazine))'' magazine's design awards in [London](/source/London), the [Artek](/source/Artek_(company)) pavilion at Milan's furniture fair, and the Klara Festival in [Brussels](/source/Brussels), and produced music for [Nokia](/source/Nokia), [IKEA](/source/IKEA), and [Finlandia Vodka](/source/Finlandia_Vodka) among others.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.djslow.fi/slow/?page_id=14 |title=Slow |access-date=2010-07-26 |archive-date=2009-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021225536/http://www.djslow.fi/slow/?page_id=14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2010 [SlowHill](/source/SlowHill) returned with their third album, ''Muzak''.

Slow co-produced on "Brujería" on the album ''[Aguilera](/source/Aguilera_(album))'' by [Christina Aguilera](/source/Christina_Aguilera) in 2022.

==Discography==
===Albums===
*2002 ''Finndisc'' (as SlowHill; Blue Note)
*# "Slowjazz"
*# "Super Blue"
*# "Positive"
*# "Fishbass Fusion"
*# "Just A Phrase"
*# "Valo"
*# "Yesterday Star"
*# "Small Stone"
*# "Fragonardo"
*# "Song For eetu"
*2004 ''This Is Now'' (as DJ Slow; Tiger Helsinki/BMG)
*# "These Jeans (R Way 2 Hotta!)" featuring [L.A. Skin](/source/L.A._Skin)
*# "Feel The Vibe" featuring [Jungle Brothers](/source/Jungle_Brothers)
*# "Got To Funk"
*# "(I'm Over You) Pablo" featuring [Teemu Brunila](/source/Teemu_Brunila)
*# "Sunshine" featuring [Max C](/source/Max_C)
*# "Top-20 People" featuring L.A. Skin
*# "Start To Pray"
*# "Get Down, Give It Up" featuring L.A. Skin and [Élancy](/source/%C3%89lancy)
*# "Keep Moving" featuring [Midnight Sun](/source/Midnight_Sun)
*# "This Is Now" featuring L.A. Skin and [Christa Renwall](/source/Christa_Renwall)
*2005 ''Fennika'' (as SlowHill; Plastinka Records)
*# "Come Back As A Butterfly"
*# "Fundador"
*# "Riekko"
*# "Everyone Is A Star"
*# "La Noche En La Isla"
*# "Ammulla/Illalla"
*# "Thursday"
*# "Fennika"
*# "Lost Friends"
*# "Niko's Dream"
*2006 ''Pronto!'' (as Slow; Plastinka Records)
*# "Suite No.&nbsp;431"
*# "Little By Little"
*# "Back In L.A."
*# "Sambesque Tin-Tin"
*# "Track Down Pronto!"
*# "Fall Upon Love"
*# "Again And Again"
*# "Carnivále Mystique"
*# "Lullaby At 8:45pm"
*2010 ''Muzak'' (as SlowHill; Universal Music)
*# "Tenho"
*# "Parasol"
*# "Finnlite"
*# "Pohjalo"
*# "Shine"
*# "Le Vapour"
*# "Toiset Meistä"
*# "Saunatheque"
*# "Utu"
*# "Sshhh"

===Singles===
*2001 : SlowHill : "Super Blue" (Blue Note)
*2003 : Paleface with DJ Slow : "Wannabe MC" (BMG)
*2003 : [Paleface](/source/Paleface_(Finnish_musician)) with DJ Slow : "Til The Break Of Dawn" (BMG)
*2003 : DJ Slow : "Got To Funk" (Tiger Helsinki/BMG)
*2004 : DJ Slow : "These Jeans (R Way 2 Hotta!)" (Tiger Helsinki/BMG)
*2004 : DJ Slow : "Keep Moving" (Tiger Helsinki/BMG)
*2004 : DJ Slow : "(I'm Over You) Pablo" (Tiger Helsinki/BMG)

===Compilations===
*2005 ''Various Artists Eat&Joy vol.1'', mixed and compiled by DJ Slow (Plastinka Records)
*# SlowHill : "La Noche En La Isla"
*# [Husky Rescue](/source/Husky_Rescue) : "Rainbow Flows"
*# [ToneKroup](/source/ToneKroup) : "Mood Division"
*# [Lightman](/source/Lightman) : "Oil On Canvas"
*# [ACCU](/source/ACCU_(band)) : "Out Of the Blue"
*# [Teddy Rok Seven](/source/Teddy_Rok_Seven) : "Feel" (featuring Okou) 4:36
*# [Korpi Ensemble](/source/Korpi_Ensemble) : "Everything’s All Right"
*# [Infekto](/source/Infekto) : "Beautiful" (Instrumental)
*# [Ro*danmaa](/source/Ro*danmaa) : "Track 7"
*# Quintessence : "Friday"
*# [Jazzgangsters](/source/Jazzgangsters) : "Feeling Sad Tonight"
*# [Uusi Fantasia](/source/Uusi_Fantasia) : "Fantasia"

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.slow.fi/ Slow.fi] – official website
*[http://www.myspace.com/slowmusicdesign Slow] at [Myspace](/source/Myspace)
*[http://www.discogs.com/artist/Slow+(3) Slow] at [Discogs](/source/Discogs)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061118112036/http://www.suomijazz.com/slow.htm ''Slowhill'' album review on Suomijazz page] {{in lang|fi}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slow}}
Category:1975 births
Category:Living people
Category:Club DJs
Category:Finnish electronic musicians
Category:Nu jazz musicians
Category:Remixers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Slow (DJ)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_(DJ)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_(DJ)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.