ABOUT
Born in Saigon, Vietnam to parents who were medical workers, Hoa Nguyen moved to Canada when he was four.
The pop music radio of the late 80s carried a heavy dose of pop electronic music, and Hoa gravitated to that sound. As a devoted 80’s New Wave music fan, he was devouring the MuchMusic Channel on television every day, establishing a life-long interest in music, fashion and world events while developing the social conscience that forms the backdrop of his songs.
This is where he first saw artists like Duran Duran, U2, Depeche Mode perform live, which greatly influenced his musical tastes.
For years, he jammed with friends all the while writing poetry, setting it to melodies in his head and singing it to himself.
Though his songs are cleanly structured, he rarely writes himself into a tight formal box, and you can feel his narrator ’s eye moving across the landscape like a great, kindhearted novelist who stops to probe gently into each of his characters and their desires (sometimes his own) before moving on to the next scene.
“ Hoa’s straightforward songs tell honest stories of real people and real places. Catchy hooks and a keen ear for melody are trademarks of the man and his music. His songs and stories are a direct connection for audiences seeking depth and meaning in the day-to-day.” Ms. MISSA
Concerned with making music that is relevant and vital to his audience, he engages with challenging narratives tackling the complexity of the human emotions underpinned with a promise of hope. In his own words “ Really what I do is to try and write songs that might step up and make some sense of a moment in time. A good song makes you feel like you’re not alone in the world, helps you remember a special moment in time.” There is a versatility to Hoa’s music that is hard to categorise.
In 2015, he released, along with singer MISSA and mix engineer Mr David Bizzard, a CD entitled, " What a Feeling " , penned five of the tunes, among them the exuberant title cut and the sweetly soulful "What a Feeling,"
Where Hoa has come from is a tradition of great pop-rooted music-making and where he finds himself now is on the cutting edge of inspired creativity: “ There’s a natural high, a rush of adrenalin that I get when I'm writing, producing and recording.”
It's no surprise that Montreal-based Hoa Nguyen is gaining a reputation as one of the finest contemporary songwriters to emerge from Montreal, Canada in recent years.
Widely known as an artist with an original sound and a keen ear for melody, Hoa relies on “ raw talent ” , solid groove, and a love for good melody whether writing catchy contemporary songs or heartfelt ballads. His music is raw, lush, honest, always real. The result of his eclectic musical journey is soulful and skilled.
