Night Stories with Stars: Musician Hoai An cherished 25 years to release an album, choosing a "separate path" in the digital age

Musician Hoai An is a representative face of Vietnamese youth music. He is the author of many famous songs such as: Tinh Tho, Tinh Khuc Vang, Neu Pha Ngay Mai,... Besides composing, Hoai An is also the Music Director for many major television programs. He has won many prestigious awards such as Lan Song Xanh (2000-2002), Mai Vang Award (2001), Bai Song Toi Yeu (2003-2005),...

Sharing with MC Minh Ngoc, musician Hoai An said that in recent years he has devoted all his heart to music about Vietnamese folk music, epics, legends and fairy tales.

“It took me about two years, from 2023 to 2025, to complete the arrangement, recording and mixing master for the album Hon Viet. The album has 15 songs but includes 17 tracks because two songs were made in different versions. Initially, I only intended to write about historical epics, but then I realized that the content was a bit 'heavy', so I added some fairy tale songs like Banh Chung Banh Day, Thach Sanh to create balance,” the male musician shared.

What is special is that Hon Viet was released as a physical CD, in the era of digital music dominance. Explaining this choice, musician Hoai An confided: “I am a nostalgic person, I like the feeling of holding a CD in my hand, turning on the music and just focusing on listening. When we listen to digital music, we often listen while doing other things, but with CD, we really ‘live’ with the music.”

When asked about the trend of combining folk music with rap or EDM among young people, musician Hoai An was open and encouraged creativity. He believes that any experiment has a reason to exist. “When young artists combine folk materials with international elements, that is the way for Vietnamese music to reach out to friends around the world , making them curious and wanting to learn more about Vietnamese culture,” musician Hoai An said.

According to him, not everyone is qualified to shoulder the responsibility of "preserving and developing culture" through art: "In the world of artists, only about 20% are truly successful and account for 80% of the market. If only 10% of them have the consciousness to become 'cultural ambassadors', bringing national elements into their works, it is already a very good signal."

Musician Hoai An said that his composing journey has changed a lot compared to the 2000s. If before, when writing love songs, he only let his emotions guide him, now, with historical songs, he has to invest more effort, read documents, research characters, time and historical places to ensure accuracy. However, every time he touches music, Hoai An still maintains an innocent, passionate soul like a child, always loves to hold the guitar and immerse himself in the melody.

Coming to Tonight's Story with Stars, musician Hoai An revealed that he rarely sings songs he composed himself, because he wants to keep a certain "distance" from his "brainchildren". According to him, that helps him always keep his emotions fresh and objective when composing, while also creating space for other singers to express themselves and bring their own breath to each song.

"Nighttime with Stars" airs at 9:50 p.m. every Wednesday on THVL1 channel .

Thuy Nhan - Tai Duong

Source: https://baovinhlong.com.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/tin-tuc-giai-tri/202511/chuyen-toi-cung-sao-nhac-si-hoai-an-ap-u-25-nam-moi-phat-hanh-album-chon-loi-di-rieng-giua-thoi-dai-so-2191abc/