Quick Facts
Biography
Haco is a Japanese singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and sound artist, known for her work with After Dinner and Hoahio, among others.
Following formal studies in acoustics, electronic music and recording technology Haco came to international attention fronting the group After Dinner (active between 1981–1991), helped by their association with the "Rock in Opposition"-related label Recommended Records. Haco would later appear in Step Across the Border, a 1990s documentary film on Henry Cow's Fred Frith, as well as contributing music to the soundtrack.
Haco released her first solo album in 1995, and embarked on her first solo European tour a year later. More recently, Haco has worked with the groups Mescaline Go-Go, Happiness Proof and Hoahio, and has recorded or performed with countless other artists, such as Otomo Yoshihide.
In addition to her more conventional album releases Haco has also worked in the fields of sound art; curating exhibitions and installations and establishing the sound art project View Masters (with focus on the environmental sounds of daily life), later beginning the production and curation of a four-year series of View Masters lectures, concerts and workshops in 2002.
Major recorded works
- 1984 After Dinner: After Dinner (originally released as Glass Tube in Japan; reissued 1991 with Live Editions) (ReR Megacorp, UK)
- 1989 After Dinner: Paradise of Replica (reissued 2001 with Paradise of Remixes) (RecRec Music, Switzerland)
- 1995 Haco (P-Vine, Japan; ReR Megacorp, UK)
- 1997 Hoahio: Happy Mail (Amoebic, Japan)
- 1999 Happiness Proof (P-Vine, Japan; ReR Megacorp, UK)
- 2000 Hoahio: Ohayo! Hoahio! (Tzadik, US)
- 2003 Haco and Sakamoto Hiromichi: Ash in the Rainbow (ReR Megacorp, UK)
- 2003 Hoahio: Peek-Ara-Boo (Tzadik, US)
- 2004 Yesterday's Heroes (Haco and Terre Thaemlitz): 1979 (La Louche, France)
- 2004 Stereo Bugscope 00 (Improvised Music from Japan, Japan) [awarded Honorary Mention in digital music category at Prix Ars Electronica 2005, Austria]
- 2005 Synapse (Haco/Ikue Mori/Aki Onda): RAW (CD, Tzadik, US)
- 2005 Stefano Panunzi feat. Haco: Web Of Memories (A Rose CD) (Emerald Recordings, Italy)
- 2005 Diane Labrosse, Martin Tetreault, and Haco: Lunch in Nishinomiya (Improvised Music from Japan, Japan)
- 2007 Riska (CD, Arcangelo/Disk Union, Japan)
- 2009 Fjieri feat. Haco: Soul Eaters (produced by Richard Barbieri) (Forward Music Italy)