Turning unfiltered ideas into tangible art can be quite a challenge, but this artist has managed to tap into the exact frequency of tuning her thoughts in order to paint a picture of her music that truly connects with her audience. In this CLAVEL feature, we navigate August Wahh’s inner psyche as we give her a platform to let her soul speak.
Finding her Spark
“I used to be a very shy person. Pursuing music made me realize i needed to have thick skin, so i learned to not give fucks about shit that doesn’t concern me.”
Resilience is the anchor in August Wahh’s journey – shaping her not only as an artist but as a soul navigating the world’s twists and turns. Hailing from General Santos toughened her up, empowering her to bear and share her life’s truth. This evolution is evident in her career, a path she stumbled upon accidentally yet wholeheartedly embraced.
Moving to Manila, she had found comfort in the company that she had in college, which ignited that fire to dive into the music scene. From there, she started to hone her craft through performing in front of audiences to be confident in the industry that she had chosen, constantly filled with growth and surprises after each experience.
Songwriting as a Strong Suit
A lot of her music is described as heavily influenced by 60’s-70’s soul and gospel, which she then sprinkled onto the electronic sounds and bouncy beats that she became well known for, such as for early tracks like Sahara and Seasons in collaboration with producer-turned-close friend in crwn.
“I write about self-love and understanding my own psyche, which the theme of self-discovery kind of came naturally to me.”
Behind the singer is a songwriter at heart, taking poems and diary entries and turning them into tracks that she could share with her fans: something she deems universally cool. In her words, she doesn’t write about deep down stuff because everything that you see on the surface shaped her to become the person who she is today – writing melodic monologues retelling her journey up to this point.
This led to her being signed to Careless Records, which she had been riding the wave of momentum ever since that birthed her most recent album: Sol Speak.
Staying True to her Soul
Born out of a songwriting camp in La Union, 9 songs had been created and curated in the span of 10 days that had transformed into a full fledged album, especially with the help of LA-based creatives Dela Muzik and Krizia, and pushed further by collaborating with other producers like ROMderful from the UK, and local homegrowns RJ Pineda, crwn, thrones and JGREG.
Self-reflection serves as a common story that August Wahh contextualizes through her songs. From the loss of her beloved pet dog in See You Again to the emotional weight of enduring the many hardships in her hometown which she expresses in Gangsters Need to Cry, August portrays herself as a certified gangster after everything she’s been through and she proudly puts this front and center in the lyrics for her songs.
Another recurring theme in her album talks about the strength in being vulnerable to your emotions, letting the words sung by her feelings ring true to produce a sound that encapsulates who August Wahh is as a human being. Overcoming these emotions and pulling out on the other side scarred yet stronger is a testament to her body of work, with a full listen to the album creating a perspective of hope after inward introspection towards one’s soul from one’s soul.
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