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Ligaya Escueta, Maki, Angela Ken, and August Wahh head to Australia to take over the SXSW stage!
MANILA, Philippines – It’s Pinoy pride all around at the upcoming 2025 edition of South by Southwest (SXSW) Sydney as four Filipino musicians will be performing at the music festival.
Filipinos are no stranger to SXSW, as we’ve seen several artists raise the country’s flag in past editions held in the US, UK, and Australia. Ben&Ben, ena mori, Kiana V, and BP Valenzuela, are just a few of the music acts who have achieved this.
This time, it’s Ligaya Escueta, Angela Ken, August Wahh, and Maki bringing their homegrown talents to the SXSW Sydney 2025 stage from October 15 to 17. Get to know them here.
Ligaya Escueta
The youngest on the roster of Filipino acts, Ligaya Escueta is an 18-year-old indie-rock artist signed under Ely Buendia’s Offshore Music.
Ligaya has been well-immersed in the local music scene for years, performing at live gigs and dropping her own music since she was 15. In 2022, she dropped her debut album Laughing in Milk, and would go on to drop her sophomore record, Dollweb, in 2025.
Apart from her original releases, she was also involved in the Cutterpillow tribute album, bringing her punk flair to a reimagination of the Eraserheads’ “Back2Me” alongside fellow solo act Diego’s Scenes.
Ligaya and her team are currently raising funds to make it to SXSW Sydney.
Angela Ken
Folk singer Angela Ken first made waves when she shared a snippet of her unfinished song, “Ako Naman Muna,” on TikTok at the height of the 2020 pandemic lockdown. She would later drop the full song in March 2021, marking her debut as a full-fledged recording artist.
Things would only continue to look up for Angela from there — allowing her to produce a full-length self-titled album in 2022, and even work on collaborations with artists like Benj Pangilinan, Ben&Ben, Maki, and Nhiko, among others.
August Wahh
August Wahh saw an early start in the music industry in 2006, not doing the experimental R&B she’s known for now, but making jingles for the Tuna Festival commercial in General Santos City.
She’s a frequent collaborator of crwn (King Puentespina of SOS), releasing together the five-track EP Labyrinth in 2019.
August dropped her first album, Sol Speak, in 2024, which includes songs like “Easier Said Than Done,” “Friends With Myself,” and “See You Again,” to name a few.
In mid-September, August organized a sendoff gig of her own to raise funds for her trip to SXSW Sydney.
Maki
Alternative-city pop singer Maki has always been known to stick to his themes well.
Just look at his 2023 EP, Tanong, which features songs with titles that ask questions like “Kailan?” “Bakit?” and “Saan?” — the latter of which became a pretty popular soundtrack for K-pop alternate universe fanfiction.
Maki has since gone on to release several successful singles in the following years, such as “Namumula,” “Dilaw,” “Bughaw,” and “kahel ng langit.” All these songs are patterned after colors, and make up his first-ever album, KOLORCOASTER.
His SXSW Sydney performance comes just after he performed at the 2024 AXEAN Festival in Bali, Indonesia, and precedes his first major solo concert on November 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. – Rappler.com
