Music Without Limits in August Wahh’s World
No labels, no formulas, just music that moves. August Wahh lets the sound evolve on its own terms, always pushing it somewhere new.
PHOTOGRAPHY Shaira Luna
STYLING Gian Gonzalez Latorre
CREATIVE DIRECTION Tin Dabbay
August Wahh’s music resists easy categorization, shaped by her deep dive into R&B, drum and bass, neo-soul, experimental jazz, and electronic music. “It’s a lot of listening to music I love… and just mixing them to see what feels like me,” she shares. “It has definitely evolved as I keep experimenting and growing.”
Her debut album, Sol Speak, is a reflection of that evolution — both musically and personally. Wahh describes it as a process of returning to oneself, understanding past experiences, and cultivating patience in the present. For her, self-discovery is about stripping away subconscious conditioning to reveal who she truly is. But she acknowledges that the journey is rarely straightforward. Life, she says, is a constant cycle of losing balance and finding it again. “The actual journey is always a different thing,” she explains. “I tell myself constantly that life is a cycle of being thrown off-kilter and regaining balance as we continuously come home to ourselves.”
Wahh’s experience as a woman in the industry is shaped less by barriers and more by her sense of self. Unlike many who feel the weight of gendered challenges, she never let it get in her way. “I’ve been in the music industry for quite some time, and I never thought that being a woman stopped me from being a singer and songwriter,” she shares. However, she recognizes the male-dominated nature of the field. Yet, she acknowledges that women often experience emotions more openly — a trait that fuels her songwriting. “I’ve never shied away from really feeling things,” she explains.
Beyond music, Wahh takes on multiple creative hats, each requiring a different approach. Whether she’s writing, performing, or working on other projects, the core remains the same. “It’s all about collaborating, problem-solving, and figuring out how to convey the message concisely,” she says. Each role may demand a unique method, but they all feed into her overarching creative vision.
“I’ve been in the music industry for quite some time, and I never thought that being a woman stopped me from being a singer and songwriter.”
Her songwriting process is just as flexible. “It changes all the time,” she shares. “Sometimes it’s a melody or a syllabic beat in my head that won’t leave me alone until I record it, then the lyrics follow. Sometimes it’s a really strong message or topic I want to write about, and then the melody and the beat follow.” There’s no set formula, just a natural flow that allows the elements to come together in their own time.
Wahh’s approach to music is deeply intuitive, and that extends to the way she conceptualizes her sound. When asked to visualize her music as a scene from a film, Wahh paints an image of dreamy, surreal moments — like Chihiro on the train with No Face in Spirited Away or the ethereal cityscapes in What Dreams May Come. Her music, much like these cinematic moments, is immersive and otherworldly, inviting listeners into a space where sound and emotion intertwine.
PRODUCERS Tin Dabbay, Loris Peña, and Maura Rodriguez
ASSISTANT STYLIST Pao Mendoza
HAIR Bonita Teańo and Jan Edrosolan
MAKEUP Don de Jesus and Janica Cleto
VIDEO Kevin Redder
