Creative Spotlight: Music Producer August Rigo Gets Real In His Craft
Have you ever wondered about the process that goes into making some of the world’s top hits? Meet the brains behind some of the most beloved songs of the generation — singer-songwriter and music producer August Rigo. Over the years, he has written and produced songs for Justin Bieber, One Direction, NCT 127, BTS, and more. Rigo joined a video call live from his studio in Ontario to speak with EnVi about pioneering through the music industry early on and landing in success.
Long Road to Success
Rigo is known for his distinguished career and is highly regarded as a singer-songwriter and producer. Though he has a successful career, it was not an easy road. His love for music and singing came at a young age and was fostered through all the karaoke sessions with his family — a classic Filipino activity. “I didn’t get it at the time, but I think it was my ability to share my talent with people. I just felt that energy [and] attention, and it’s intoxicating. As I got better at singing, the more I wanted to do it,” Rigo shared with EnVi, laughing.
When the time came for college, Rigo attended jazz school where he soon realized it wasn’t for him. He first thought jazz school would be a good place for him to learn the basics and foundational groundwork but he didn’t enjoy the process. A teacher of his gave him an honest perspective. “She said, ‘You should drop out because you obviously don’t want to be a jazz singer.’ And I was like, ‘Well, no, I don’t want to be a jazz singer, I want to do pop and R&B,” Rigo lightly recounted. He then dropped out and went to school for sound engineering and music production.
While school was a good place for Rigo to learn technical skills, the real experience came from perseverance. Dreaming big, Rigo would travel to New York City from Toronto, where he’s from, and hand out CD’s of his songs outside of record labels every day he spent there in hopes he would land a deal. Despite many days of leaving empty-handed, his passion for making music and “creating something out of nothing” drove him to continue with the process. Eventually, he was discovered and taken in by someone who took a chance on him. He spent about a year in New Jersey creating music for a production company called Trackmasters. This time was not easy for him either as he ended up going home.
The ball started rolling for him once he returned to Toronto and kept fostering relationships with newfound connections. Things started to take off after writing a song with Jerry Wonda who championed Rigo and his work which opened the doors for him. He started working with production groups Stargate and The Stereotypes as well as solo producers like J.R. Rotem and Timbaland all before landing a deal.
From Artist to Producer
Before Rigo focused his work on producing music for others, he was aiming towards becoming an artist himself. Along with the tedious process of handing out CDs and waiting for a chance, Rigo spoke about another stressful aspect of his journey. “It was very discouraging at times. There were a lot of adversities even coming from here, the racism is… I hesitate to call it racism, but it’s racism—whatever it is. I didn’t understand that the way I looked in terms of the color of my skin was going to be an issue in the music industry everywhere. When I was here [in Toronto], I was very accepted based on my talent. I would be at clubs singing, recitals [and to] all the people I met, it didn’t matter that I was Filipino,” Rigo revealed. These adversities would, in turn, affect Rigo’s journey to becoming an artist.
Rigo would often hear from labels that they liked his songs but weren’t sure what to do with him as an artist. “‘You could sell your songs, you give your songs to other artists, and that could be a way for you to break as an artist,’” people would tell him. Rigo emphasized how getting to that point had also taken a while for him. He realized this opportunity made his dream more tangible for him, and would help him move forward, so he shifted his focus towards writing for other artists. He started to fall in love with the process of creating a song and seeing how others add their own touches to it. Though he sometimes wishes he were the one putting out the songs, he feels fulfilled knowing that a piece of him is still being released out into the world.
He has continued on this path of producing for others as it has been successful for him and helping him “pay his dues” as a creative and artist. Throughout his career, he has continued to create his own music on the side and hopes to release an album soon. As a father of two, Rigo emphasized making time for his kids and being able to support his family which factored into his decision of prioritizing producing music for others. “I don’t get to be the face or the voice of ‘that song,’ but at the end of the day, it’s serving me. It’s allowing me to continue doing what I’m doing,” Rigo said.
Breaking Into the K-Pop Scene
2013 was the year that put Rigo on the trajectory of K-pop. A friend of his asked him to come and join him at a songwriting camp hosted by SM Entertainment in South Korea. When he got there, he dove into a whole new world of the K-pop industry which, at the time, was “bubbling and about to explode.” Since then, Rigo has studied the methods of songwriting and producing K-pop songs and even joked about not being good at it to this day. After attending the writing camp, he was able to figure out what types of records Korean companies looked for and started to work on them on his own.
Once Rigo was able to get his foot in the door and started to build rapport with K-pop companies and artists, he was able to navigate what types of styles and beats different groups looked for. “Certain groups need more rap stuff and [other groups] are more in the performance space, so you have to keep that in mind when you’re making the record,” Rigo elaborated. “Then certain groups are kind of like everything — BTS kind of does everything. So they’ll tell me exactly what they’re looking for.”
K-pop has been the “lifeblood of my business,” Rigo mentioned to EnVi. He has gone on to work with groups like NCT 127 and BTS and has garnered a plethora of credits throughout the K-pop industry. He continues to frequent Korea around two to three times a year to collaborate and write songs with friends and other creatives.
Gangnam Project
Rigo recently worked as a composer for CBC’s show called Gangnam Project which premiered in Canada in February 2024. The show follows Hannah Shin (Julia Kim Cadwell), a biracial Korean Canadian girl who finds herself immersed in the K-pop world when she moves to Seoul, South Korea. Rigo’s close friend and showrunner of Gangnam Project Romeo Candido had wanted to work together on a project for a while until their schedules and location had finally aligned. Rigo was then brought on to work on composing the music which was second nature for him.
“I’m knee deep in K-pop all the time now, so it was a natural thing. I didn’t have to really change ‘my brain’ to […] facilitate what they needed because I was already doing it every day,” Rigo said. He was given the script and was able to draw inspiration based off of situations and the personalities of each of the characters. One aspect of the process that pleasantly surprised Rigo was how easygoing the interactions with the cast had gone. “Some of them were first timers in the studio,” Rigo mentioned. “And they were all very humble and really easy to work with. It made my job easier because they were really receptive to the things I had to say in my comments.”
Nothing but praise was mentioned as Rigo talked about working with the cast. Gangnam Project is only available for viewing in Canada on CBS Kids and CBS Gem.
What’s Next?
Rigo is booked and busy. Over the past year, he has worked on producing music for artists such as Destiny Rogers, Brian Puspos, RIIZE, and more. He looks forward to continuing working on his own music and potentially releasing an album. “There’s a lot in the pipeline that I can’t really talk about yet because I don’t want to mess up my game,” Rigo laughed when talking about the work he is currently doing in K-pop.
Keep up with Rigo on his Instagram and stay updated on all his upcoming work.
Interested in hip-hop artists? Read our interview with German-Taiwanese artist Majin here!
