About the Artist: The Architect of Sound Hiroaki is the artist behind the project Happy Sad. He began making music during his student years, recording demos while performing solo acoustic sets and playing in café bars. His influences span soul, British rock, folk, trip hop, neoclassical, world music, film scores, and ambient, alongside a strong connection to literature and the arts. His work balances live instrumentation with programmed elements. To date, Happy Sad has released seven albums and 19 EPs. Alongside his solo work, Hiroaki is a Sound Designer and Sound Director with around 14 years of experience in the game industry. He has held senior roles at companies including NetEase Games, FunPlus, NHN PlayArt, IGNIS / Studio King Inc., and Noisycroak Inc., contributing to more than 60 projects. His work covers music composition (BGM), sound design, MA, direction, promotional video production, and audio for games, commercials, and short dramas. In 2013, his track “Everyday” won the domestic DJ category and became a finalist in MTV and Lenovo’s “CO:LAB” contest. Happy Sad is his personal artistic outlet, developed since his student days. It reflects his inner landscape and explores both beauty and darkness in life, connected to a wider tradition of art and philosophy focused on human experience. In recent years, he has traveled across ten countries in search of sounds and traditional instruments. Along the way, encounters with displaced people left a strong impression and reinforced his desire to share music that carries shared human emotion. He views music as a universal language—capable of connecting people in the same way visual art can capture and communicate a single, lasting moment. |
