syd hartha On Writing Music For More Than Herself
After years of turning her emotions into songs, the singer-songwriter reflects on finding inspiration and peace in nature and creating music that offer others the same sense of comfort.
Courtesy of @sydharthaofficial.
Courtesy of @sydharthaofficial.
When syd hartha first broke through the local music scene with “tila tala” in 2018, she wrote songs that read like diary entries: intimate, vulnerable, and deeply personal. Eight years since, honesty remains the heart of her music. What has changed is who she’s writing for.
With her latest single, “dito muna tayo,” featuring TONEEJAY, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter turns toward the place that has quietly shaped both her life and artistry: the sea. But beneath its breezy folk-pop arrangements lies something more profound than her love letter to the beach. It’s a song about finding her way back to wherever she feels safest — and hoping her music can also inspire that feeling for someone else.
“I want people to feel something,” syd tells Billboard Philippines in an exclusive interview. “Gusto ko magka-impact. Gusto kong may ma-take away sila na lesson or something that can help them also. (I want to make an impact. I want them to take away a lesson or something that can help them also.)”
As she looks toward a new chapter of music, syd hartha shares how songwriting is no longer just about processing her own emotions. It’s about creating space for other people to process theirs.
A Place To Return To
Increasingly apparent in her latest release, the gentle folk-pop collaboration draws inspiration from the peace she finds by the ocean. The track was born from her long-standing relationship with the sea, one that stretches back to childhood summers in Cebu spent with her great-grandparents.
“My great grandparents, who I spent a lot of time growing up with, would always bring me to beaches near where we lived in Cebu,” she recalls. “Palagi lang akong nag-lalaro doon. Hindi siya nawala sa akin growing up. Every time na nasa beach ako, I really feel playful. Very childlike. I have them to thank for that.”
(“I would just always play there. It never went away as I was growing up. Every time I’m at the beach, I really feel playful. Very childlike. I have them to thank for that.”)
Her gratitude finds its way into “dito muna tayo,” with the singer-songwriter also weaving Cebuano lines in the lyrics as a tribute to both her family and the place where her love for the ocean first began.
“Kasi ‘yung love ko for the sea, it really started there,” the 24-year-old artist says. “Ino-owe ko talaga yung song na ‘yun and ‘yung love ko for [the beach] sa great-grandparents ko. Feeling ko kinailangan ko mag-lagay ng [Cebuano] lyrics for that [reason].”
(“Because my love for the sea, it really started there. I really owe that song and that love for [the beach] to my great-grandparents. I felt I needed to include [Cebuano] lyrics for that [reason].”)
Courtesy of @sydharthaofficial.
Beyond her childhood, syd reveals that the song took shape after spending months living by the ocean — a period that healed her physically, mentally, and emotionally. Making it more than a nostalgic reflection on growing up, the song was written from the perspective of someone who has learned, over time, what it means to return to a place that offers comfort and renewal. In creating it, she hoped to preserve that feeling of having something she could always come back to, every time she sang or listened to the song.
“Mas na-appreciate ko ‘yung healing powers ng nature, specifically ng beach. Every time I go there, biglang ang light ng feeling,” she reminisces. “Nire-relive ko kasi yung moments na ‘yun when I wrote “dito muna tayo”. Even when I listen to the song, ako mismo, I feel that.”
(“I’ve come to appreciate the healing powers of nature even more, specifically the beach. Every time I go there, I suddenly feel so light. I found myself reliving those moments when I wrote “dito muna tayo.” Even when I listen to the song, I myself feel that.”)
Her relationship with nature manifests itself largely in one of the song’s defining lines: “ako’y babalik at uuwi sa’yo.” Though it may sound like a love song on the surface, for syd, “home” has always meant nature. According to the folk-pop musician, it reminds her how small she is in the grand scheme of things, allowing her worries and overthinking to fall back into perspective.
Leaving A Mark
Yet syd hopes listeners won’t hear “dito muna tayo” as a song that’s only about the beach. Instead, she wrote it for people to reconnect with whatever place, person, or feeling brings them the same sense of peace. If the ocean is where she comes home to herself, then perhaps the song can become someone else’s way of also finding their own way home.
“Whatever that’s like for you, ang safe space mo or a place na you call second home. Gusto kong ma-feel niyo na pwede kayong bumalik and umuwi sa place na ‘yun, sa safe space na ‘yun, anytime, and ma-realize niyo na it’s okay to take a breather at mag-pahinga sa place na ‘yun.“
(“Whatever that’s like for you, your safe space or a place you call a second home. I want you to feel that you can always return and come home to that place, to that safe space, anytime. I want you to realize that it’s okay to take a breather and rest there.”)
With syd’s goal of every song leaving listeners with something to hold onto, it’s only because she’s constantly collecting those same lessons herself. Every hobby becomes another opportunity to gain a new worldview that eventually makes its way into her songwriting. Whether she’s balancing on a surfboard or figuring out her next move on a bouldering wall, she carries those experiences back into the studio with her.
“I’d say sa lahat ng activities ko, hindi lang siya basta play for me. Hindi lang siya ibang outlet for me outside of music,” she explains. “Sa bawat activity na ginagawa ko, bawat hobby ko, palagi akong merong natutunan or meron siyang tatak sa akin, sa mindset ko.“
(“I’d say that for all my activities, it’s not about play for me. It’s not just another outlet outside of music. With every activity I engage in, every hobby, I always learn something, or it leaves a mark on me and my mindset.”)
It’s those seemingly small lessons that she hopes to pass on through her music. For instance, surfing taught her to “look where you want to go,” while bouldering reminds her to “keep trying because you’re gonna get there eventually.” Rather than keeping those realizations to herself, syd sees songwriting as a way to share them with others. In many ways, it’s what has changed most about her songwriting from “tila tala” until now.
More Than Herself
As the years passed — and as more listeners found their way to syd’s deeply personal catalog — every release became more intentional. Songs that once served as excerpts from her diary gradually evolved into opportunities to reach beyond herself. She came to recognize the power of her voice to offer something more with her own stories.
“Nagkaroon ako ng sense of responsibility. [Ang] goal ko na ngayon as I write my music is I want people to feel something,” the indie songstress reveals. “No matter how small. Gusto ko makatulong, in a way. Hindi lang siya for me. Hindi lang siya to release my feelings, my emotions, but I want [my songs] to be for other people also.”
(“I’ve developed a sense of responsibility. My goal now as I write my music is for people to feel something. No matter how small. I want to help, in a way. It’s not just for me. It’s not just about releasing my feelings, my emotions, but I want my songs to be for other people also.”)
Her intention has revealed itself notably across her recent releases. While “damdamin!” encourages listeners to embrace their emotions without shame, “ako naman muna” reminds them that choosing themselves isn’t selfish.
Courtesy of @sydharthaofficial.
Meanwhile, “dito muna tayo,” offers a gentle invitation: to slow down, return to whatever feels like home, and allow themselves the space to heal. It’s also the release she sees as the clearest glimpse into what’s next in her journey.
“I’d say si “dito muna tayo” ang pinakamalapit sa mga future songs na ilalabas ko. ‘Yun yung transition to my future songs, to my future projects (I’d say “dito muna tayo” is the closest to the songs I’ll release in the future. It serves as the transition to my future songs and projects),” she teases.
Though she’s careful not to reveal too much, she already knows what she wants those songs to leave behind. Her next releases will continue to explore intimacy and healing with the same honesty that’s defined her since her debut, now hoping to spark conversations and offer comfort to her audiences.
“Ayoko muna mag-promise sa kung anong ilalabas ko when it comes to releases. But I’d like to focus more about mental health — how it affects other people, anong feeling magkaroon ng issues like that, and how to deal with it,” syd shares. “Kasi as an artist, gusto ko rin mag-raise ng awareness sa iba’t-ibang topics na feeling ko kailangang pag-usapan.“
(“I don’t want to make any promises yet when it comes to releases. But I’d like to focus more about mental health — how it affects other people, what it fees like to have such issues, and how to deal with it. Because as an artist, I also want to raise awareness about various topics that I feel need to be discussed.”
As we follow syd hartha’s continually evolving artistry, catch her alongside Clara Benin for a back-to-back intimate show at Jess & Pat’s on July 18, 2026 at 6 PM (PHT), where audiences can further immerse themselves in her music.
Stay tuned for her upcoming releases and in the meantime, revisit her latest single, “dito muna tayo,” and be transported to the place that most feels like home:
Frequently Asked Questions
syd hartha is a 24-year-old Filipino singer-songwriter who debuted in 2018 with “Tila Tala.” Her connection to the sea traces back to childhood summers in Cebu with her great-grandparents, an influence she pays tribute to through Cebuano lyrics in her latest single, “Dito Muna Tayo.”
“Dito Muna Tayo,” featuring TONEEJAY, is a folk-pop single about returning to whatever place or feeling brings comfort and peace. Though framed around the sea, syd hartha wrote it as an invitation for listeners to reconnect with their own personal safe space.
syd hartha’s single “Dito Muna Tayo” features TONEEJAY on the breezy folk-pop collaboration. The track blends gentle pop-folk arrangements with Cebuano lyrics honoring syd hartha’s great-grandparents and the ocean-side upbringing in Cebu that shaped her lifelong love for the sea.
Since debuting with “Tila Tala” in 2018, syd hartha has shifted from writing diary-like personal songs to intentionally crafting music meant to help listeners process their own emotions, a change she attributes to a growing sense of responsibility as an artist.
syd hartha says her future releases will continue exploring intimacy and healing with the same honesty as her debut, with a stronger focus on raising awareness around mental health. She considers “Dito Muna Tayo” the clearest transition point toward this next phase of her artistry.
