SHALLOWHALO // HYPNOTIZE
Through your performances and videos you have a strong sense of artistic identity - how important is crafting a character or persona to you and how separate/integral is it to you as a real person?
I like to think of myself as an actress when it comes to performing. I’m naturally pretty shy so to get past that, Shallowhalo has become sort of my alter ego that I channel when I perform. A lot of artists I look up to craft personas and inject that into their performances, like Kate Bush or Strawberry Switchblade. Their songs have a life of their own but they’ve created a magical world that pushes the message. Shallowhalo is a fantasy world of willow trees, tattered lace, cobwebs, and blush.
The Shallowhalo aesthetic and musical content seems to play around a lot with the idea of femininity and relationship roles - is that intentional?
It’s not intentional at all, but I think it comes from who my role models are. Most of the music I listen to are by womxn/non-binary artists, so that’s probably why I lean towards more feminine aesthetics. The name Shallowhalo comes from the Cocteau Twins song Shallow Then Halo, which to me is about channeling your inner powers, as quiet as they may be, to reach for something greater than what you think is possible.
I always think of electronic music as very emotional in the way it’s tied to dancing and signifying a specific feeling but I also think there’s something very deliberately detached about the songs you make, could you expand on this? What drew you to producing?
A lot of the lyrics I’ve been writing have been about mental health and dealing with anxiety and usually, when I’m dealing with that stuff, I tend to listen to upbeat songs that get stuck in your head and make you feel like everything is going to be okay. When I find that song, I’ll grasp onto it and listen to it over and over. Producing is something that I had always wanted to do, but it wasn’t until I moved to New York 5 years ago when I bought a Korg Minilogue and started messing around with Ableton. I also have a lot of friends who are musicians and they inspired me to give it a go.
You also are going to school for computer programming. How does that inform your creative output / tie into your experience as an artist?
I started learning how to code at the beginning of lockdown last year and I see a lot of similarities to making music. You have an idea of what you want to create and there’s a little bit of magic in the process and then the moment the pieces start coming together you get this excited “a-ha” moment. When it comes to programming, I still have a lot to learn but I’ve definitely been thinking about ways to weave that into Shallowhalo to create something more immersive.
SHALLOWHALO
MIX
What is pop music to you in 2021? Do you consider yourself a pop artist?
I think pop as a genre lacks any sort of rigid definition so I don’t know if I would consider myself a pop artist. I’m interested in the idea of something being perfect and awful so if anything, I would consider myself a perfectly awful pop artist!
Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track!
Hypnotize is about falling in love and letting yourself be vulnerable around someone. Eye contact can be scary and sometimes it could feel like someone is looking right into your soul so the song is about being okay with what someone else might see. My partner Ezra and I have been making music together and trying different approaches to making songs. For this one, we started with the drum beat and had this crazy setup of 3 drum machines hooked up together and triggering each other. I had also been listening to a lot of hi-NRG and 2000’s electro music so I knew that incorporating an arpeggiator was a must.
Any under the radar musical peers we need to know?
My pals May Rio, Turtlenecked, Blaketheman1000, & Blush Cameron are continuously inspiring me!
What’s special about the mix you’ve made?
I made this mix envisioning a summer of slushies that turn your tongue blue, making up for lost hugs, and feeling better.
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