chen was born in boston to taiwanese parents but soon moved to arcadia, california, when he was a few months old. he attended ucla in 2006 and graduated in 2010 with a ba in economics. although he grew up in the united states, he can still speak fluently in his main language, mandarin; thus, he is able to easily communicate to his fans in taiwan through his secondary channel – jasonchenasia. furthermore, chen’s mother is a piano teacher, so he had the advantage of growing up under the influence of music and was given opportunities to learn many different instruments, such as the piano, the guitar, and the violin. chen discovered his vocal talent at the age of 18 when he was planning a proposal to his high school crush. after graduating from ucla, he became an accountant for about a year, but later decided to mainly focus on producing music.