David August

It was an embrace of emotionality and subconscious communication that prompted David August's artistic evolution. The Italian-German composer, DJ, label-owner and multi-instrumentalist has been releasing music since he was a teenager in Hamburg, but it took self-evaluation and a re-examination of his priorities for August to lean towards the future and follow his most experimental inclinations. In 2023, his output is harder than ever to define, stretching across genres and disciplines to chafe the heart of the human experience, but it wasn't always this way. August had a rigorous academic musical education, learning the piano at age five and experimenting with electronic composition when he was a little older. And when he was dazzled by club sounds as an adolescent, he worked impulsively, training himself to DJ and produce lithe dancefloor material without necessarily questioning why.

Then, when the world went on pause in early 2020, August had the chance to question the role of music and art during a global crisis, and develop his craft more holistically. A spell in central Italy gave August the opportunity to dive into study and experimentation, exploring ancient philosophy, mysticism and quantum physics while he attempted to map these ideas out sonically in his home studio. He began to see himself as an observer rather than the protagonist and attempted to tune in with the unexplainable through sound, instead of merely using established language to tell his stories.