About

A composer and sound designer from Portugal, my given name is João Araújo.
While studying music for 9 years, music composition for 6 years, interactive music and sound design for 2 years, and musicology for 5 years, I have focused on creating music and sound for videogames while maintaining a deep interest in creating art in various forms.
I've worked in several games - small and short productions, with limited groups and resources, which taught me how to operate with diverse teams and make the best with what I was provided. This preparation allowed me to join Whales And Games to work on Townseek, and I'm excited to share this game with the world.
During my Master's I researched how to simulate interactivity, and during my PhD I wrote about videogame composers' expansion of knowledge into areas of sound design, implementation, programming, and soft skills. Continuing that research, I am part of the Research Cluster in Sound and Music in Digital and Audiovisual Media at NOVA FCSH, Lisbon.

---

Work beyond videogames

• (2025) Dirty Shadow - Sound designer and VO producer:

            Short-movie sound design and voice-over production, including adaptation of Will's Helm's album.

• (2025) Will's Helm - Album production:

            Recording, producing, editing, mixing & mastering of a prog-rock album.

• (2024) John Elliot (Bandcamp) - Music and album production:

            Personal projects, with more experimental music.

• (2022 - 2025) ETIC Lisbon - Tutor:

            Teaching Sound Design for Interactive Media students FMOD and Unity implementation.

• (2022 - ongoing) Blips.fm - Library music:

            Ready-made, vertically orchestrated music for quick implementation in games with adaptive sound.

• (2018) OPUS - Theater play - Music and acting:

            Theater play by the Lisbon's University of Theater and Cinema's Theater department.

• (2018) Breathe - Performance piece:

            Performance piece for a class part of the PhD in Arts. Based on Maddy Makes Games' Celeste.​

• (2017) Behavioral Economics - Music and game design:

            Installation as part of the Master's in Multimedia thesis.

• (2016) nG - Sound design and music:

            Sound installation for the Multimedia in Performing Arts course of the Master's in Multimedia.

• (2016) nG - Music:

            Performance piece for the Multimedia in Performing Arts course of the Master's in Multimedia.

• (2009 - ongoing) João T. Araújo - Music and performance:

            Over 35 pieces, ranging from electronic to symphonic orchestra music, nine of them played in concerts.

nG sound installation in the Semibreve festival at GNRation, Braga, Portugal.

---

Favorite videogames

Kentucky Route Zero
The Beginner's Guide
Disco Elysium
Frostpunk
Black and White

Favorite soundtracks

​Celeste
​Hyper Light Drifter
​Everything
Transistor
Civilization IV

Favorite composers

John Cage
Terry Riley
Cosmo Sheldrake
Darren Korb
Tigran Hamasyan

Cosplay of Tooth and Tail's Hopper at Comic Con Portugal 2017.

Contact