We Speak Music

An-Ting 安婷, Daniel York Loh Share Soundtrack ‘every dollar is a soldier/with money you’re a dragon’

Published

3 years ago

March 5, 2024

Former Kakilang Artistic Director An-Ting 安婷 and writer/performer Daniel York Loh have released the soundtrack to their award-winning multimedia work, every dollar is a soldier/with money you’re a dragon.

Juxtaposing the harsh experiences of the impoverished first Chinese settlers in London with the opulent world of privileged, but nevertheless bitter, émigré William Waldorf Astor, An-Ting 安婷 and Daniel York Loh create a powerful lament on the immigrant experience with spoken word and electronic music, taking in myriad reflections on the need for money and status and the right to call ‘home’ a land that can either reject or embrace you.

An-Ting’s score is a soaring combination of unique ‘Asia beats’, a lonesome tack piano, a jaunty waltz, and elegiac erhu and pipa melody which transports us effortlessly across entire continents, oceans, and winter prairies, into the dark holds of ships, the haunting magnificence of Astor’s very own Xanadu of Two Temple Place, smoke-drenched Victoriana London, even smokier opium dens and the burgeoning concrete mountain range of Manhattan across centuries and all the way to the present while acclaimed classical actor Daniel York Loh narrates his own epic text described by The Upcoming as ‘striking… his delivery of words portraying an array of emotions that perfectly complement the swell from the music…’

Originally commissioned as a live performance at Two Temple Place (the gothic London mansion William Waldorf Astor designed and had built for himself), but moved online as necessitated by the pandemic, every dollar is a soldier/with money you’re a dragon won the 2021 Arts Council Digital Culture Award (Storytelling) and was selected for the prestigious Horizon Showcase at Edinburgh Festival. It was performed live for the first time in Two Temple Place at the 2023 Kakilang Festival.

“As a concert pianist with a heritage rooted in East culture, the prospect of creating a project that harmoniously integrates traditions from both East and West is incredibly exciting. I embedded the distinctive sounds of Chinese instruments into a contemporary style, conveying a different musical expression” – An-Ting

“I wanted to write about migrant journeys. About loss and loneliness, about what we take with us and what we leave behind, and the legacy we want to impart to the next generation. And what we’ll do to ‘belong’” Daniel York Loh

Originally commissioned by Two Temple Place and Kakilang, every dollar is a soldier/with money you’re a dragon, is part gig-theatre, part spoken word rap, performed by writer and actor Daniel York Loh, set against a thrilling combination of electronic music composed by An-Ting 安婷 accompanied by classical Chinese instrumentation.

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We Speak Folk

Happy Sad Unveils Cinematic Video for New Single “Changeable”

Published

2 hours ago

October 26, 2026

We Speak Media

Ambient folk project Happy Sad has released the music video for “Changeable,” a track from the album The World Is Grand When We See, out now via Epictronic.

Built as a post-classical piece, “Changeable” moves through Eastern-inspired scales and instrumentation, unfolding with constant variation in mood and structure. The composition reflects a clear focus on contrast and movement, with musical ideas shifting rapidly rather than settling into repetition.

The track was originally developed under the working title “NHK Taiga Drama Style,” inspired by the orchestral openings of Japanese historical dramas. Those themes, known for their intricate arrangements and frequent shifts, shaped the piece’s structure — each section was designed to evolve quickly, creating a sense of changing scenery within a short runtime.

Happy Sad describes the writing process as a long-held idea that stayed unused for some time, originally envisioned for potential outside projects. When no fitting context emerged, it was developed independently into its final form, keeping the original concept intact: a composition built around transition, motion and emotional variation. The result is a focused, cinematic work that connects ambient folk sensibilities with post-classical orchestration and subtle Eastern influences.

Happy Sad is the solo project of Hiroaki Kusano, a Japanese artist and sound professional based in the game industry. He began making music during his student years, playing café bar gigs and recording demos. His influences take in soul, British rock, folk, trip hop, neoclassical, world music and film scores, alongside a strong connection to literature, and his recordings balance live instrumentation with programmed elements. To date, Happy Sad has released seven albums and 19 EPs.

Outside the project, Kusano has around 14 years of experience as a sound designer and sound director in the games industry, contributing to more than 60 projects at companies including NetEase Games, FunPlus, NHN PlayArt and Noisycroak Inc. In 2013, his track “Everyday” won the domestic DJ category and reached the finals of MTV and Lenovo’s CO:LAB contest. In recent years, he has travelled across ten countries in search of sounds and traditional instruments — and the encounters along the way have shaped his approach to music as a form of shared human expression.

The World Is Grand When We See is out now via Epictronic. Stream the album here: https://orcd.co/twgwws — and connect with Happy Sad at happysadsong.com and on Instagram @happysad_kusano.

Photo: Epictronic Records