FEATURE: Spotlight: Shallowhalo — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Shallowhalo

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A duo I am very excited about…

everybody needs to check out the amazing Shallowhalo. Comprised of Allyson Camitta and Ezra Tenenbaum, they hail from Brooklyn, New York. There is a lot of exciting music coming from New York right now. There always has been buzz and brilliance - but it seems now is a particularly fertile and interesting time there. I first heard them when their recent single, Renaissance Affair, came out. They have released an album, No Fun, which came out in May 2022. I wonder whether they are following that this or next year. I am going to come to a couple of interviews where Allyson Camitta was discussing her musical inspirations and the work of Shallowhalo. They are chats from last year. I think they are relevant now, as you get a good sense of where the duo came from and the sounds that inspired it. I want to start off with some recent kudos from NME. They named Shallowhalo as one of the acts defining New York music at the moment:

“ShallowhalWho: The synth-pop duo modernising ’80s sounds
Why you should care: Made up of Allyson Camitta and Ezra Tenenbaum, Shallowhalo are reimagining that signature, synth-heavy ’80s sound with their unique musical voice. Each of their tracks is dripping with dreamy vocals provided by Camitta, along with dynamic percussion arrangements that add a bit of edge.
Key Track: ‘Renaissance Affair’ (AG)”.

I am really excited to see where Shallowhalo go next! They are being tipped for big things, and I think that there is a growing fanbase for them in the U.K. I guess they do take a modicum of inspiration from British Pop of the '90s. Maybe that is one reason why Shallowhalo are resonating with people here. PAPER heralded Renaissance Affair for a recent feature. It is definitely one of the best singles of 2023. I think that Shallowhalo are going to go very far:

“Shallowhalo is in their renaissance era. On their single “Renaissance Affair,” released today, the Brit-pop duo sport sunglasses and powdered wigs as they sing along to playful '80s pop synth — okay, there are many eras at play there.

Shallowhalo’s revival is as bright-eyed and full-cheeked as a Sistine Chapel cherub. Their latest single, premiering today on PAPER, falls at the heels of the single “Crystal Ball,” the duo's second release with Melbourne label Dinosaur City Records.

In “Renaissance Affair," French aristocracy meets camcorder meets karaoke as Shallowhalo's Allyson Camitta and May Rio, who provided backing vocals for the single, go gallivanting across New York City streets, exploring the lore and LARPing of New York nightlife. The visual was filmed by nightlife documentarian Jackie Young.

“I incorporated footage from the times over the last few months I’ve seen Allyson and May play around New York,” said Young. “Each time, I’ve re-recorded over existing footage on the same worn-down Mini DV Tape, creating an analog glitching collage which felt fitting for how the New York music scene can feel like a fast-paced blur.”

By re-inventing history, the music video allows its protagonists to reinvent themselves. Occupying an ambiguous space between life and play, “Renaissance Affair” encourages listeners to live their life like make-believe. Reminiscent of childhood costumes and characters, Camitta and Rio live out their fantasies and find themselves in the process.

"'Renaissance Affair' was written over this past summer," Camitta recalls. "I was going out regularly to a friend’s weekly DJ gig at Home Sweet Home in the Lower East Side and then took a picturesque trip upstate to the Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, New York where we dressed up in medieval outfits and took a bunch of mushrooms. The song is a mashup of the pageantry and escapism of dressing up and going out in the city — the fantasy of it all.”

The track itself blends Italo Disco, tape echoes, flute and an '80s-ready baseline with additional vocals from Rio — wrapping a host of voices, styles and sounds up into one repeat-worthy beat”.

I am going to look back on a couple of interviews from last year. The Luna Collective spoke with Shallowhalo’s lead, Allyson Camitta. It is fascinating seeing how Camitta started out and the sort of sounds that inspired her. No Fun is a magnificent debut statement! I think that Shallowhalo will take even bigger steps on a sophomore album. It is amazing seeing them rise and get so much deserved attention:

“THERE’S AN OLD SAYING ABOUT MUSICIANS — that states, “If you’re a musician and also a programmer, you’re frickin’ sick.” And what a coincidence that artist Shallowhalo is all three. What is it about a synth that speaks to all of us? I still remember the first time I heard Shallowhalo’s music, her sweet voice, and the feeling of being intoxicated with the fullest sounds music can offer. It was like the melody was telling me exactly how to feel, exactly where to be.

Bringing with it a sense of belonging, a sense of remembering, Shallowhalo does so without being too obvious or too derivative. It’s something almost all musicians aim for but very few achieve in their lifetimes. Shallowhalo’s new debut album, No Fun, does just that while adding a bit of her very own girlboss programmer flare that keeps everything new and exciting; it’s like hearing music itself again for the very first time.

I was able to sit down with Shallowhalo and ask her some of my own burning questions — friend to friend — about her artistry, vision, process, and the tender love and care that went into the making of No Fun, out now.

LUNA: When did you start making music?

SHALLOWHALO: I started making music in 2016 after I bought a Korg Minilogue. I tried writing a couple of songs but didn’t know how to finish them and got caught up with school and working in fashion. A few years later, I met Harrison [Smith], and he asked if I wanted to play synth in his band, Turtlenecked. This terrified me because I had never been in a band before, but he was cool with that so I said yes and we were able to play a couple shows before the pandemic happened. By then, I was having so much fun playing music with other people so I decided to keep going. Ezra [Tenenbaum] and I started making music together, which is funny because we’d known each other for a long time but never collaborated until then. We were just having fun, challenging ourselves to make a song every couple of weeks to release an EP. Before we knew it, we had 10 songs and decided to put out an album.

LUNA: Who was your biggest musical inspiration while making this album?

SHALLOWHALO: I was aiming to make something that sounded like if you put electroclash, goth pop, twee, and synth pop in a blender. We were also constantly listening to Chris and Cosey, they have so many great songs.

LUNA: What does the songwriting process look like for you?

SHALLOWHALO: We tried a few different ways, and it was different for each song, but I like to constantly be working on new lyrical ideas to help guide the process. I started journaling a few years ago after reading The Artist’s Way, this self-help book for artists. One of the book’s exercises is called “Morning Pages,” where you wake up and immediately start writing whatever is in your head. The only rule is to keep writing until you fill up three pages. It sounds corny, but there's something about when you first wake up when your mind is still in that half-sleep state that helps me write in a more dream-like way.

LUNA: Favorite song you’ve ever written?

SHALLOWHALO: “Yesterday's Toy” is probably my favorite because I wrote a whole story behind it and it came together so seamlessly. We originally had a skeleton of a song that I sang gibberish over while I figured out the lyrics. I locked myself in a room and came up with a storyline where I had a porcelain doll that was a little haunted, who was precious to me when I was younger. Over the years, I lost track of her until one day I stumbled upon her in a thrift store, along with everyone else's forgotten toys. Seeing her brought back all the good memories we had together and a strong sense of nostalgia so I vowed to never leave her again”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Brittany Orlando

There is another interview that I want to source before wrapping things up. A GRRRL’s Two Cents spoke with Allyson Camitta as part of a series featuring inspiring womxn and queer femme musicians based in New York City about their experiences, music tastes and favourite hang-outs:

“I understand that you started making music when you bought a korg mini synthesizer. What drew you to the synth in particular and what compelled you to take it home?

I bought that synth around five years ago when I first moved to New York and studied. I’ve always been a big music fan who would go to shows every night of the week. I always wanted to make music, but I didn’t know where to start. I grew up taking piano and violin lessons, and I learned how to read music, but never learned how to write it. So it just seemed like the next logical progression to start making my own music. And since I knew how to play piano already, the synth seemed like it would translate well.

When you and Ezra started working together, when did you both realize you had something special?

Ezra and I started making music together during the lockdown in Spring 2020. We were both getting heavily into analog synths at the time. He built up a synth collection and I bought a DX7, which is a more 80s-sounding keyboard. We just started jamming together and messing around with all these different synths, and at the time we weren’t thinking “Okay, we’re going to start a project.” It was a very natural progression that lead to a couple of songs that felt like they belonged together. So we eventually decided to expand on that, and started thinking in terms of creating an album or an EP. Then we wrote a bunch more songs, some that got scrapped, and a few others that made it onto the first album, No Fun.

How would you describe the world of Shallowhalo?

The world of Shallowhalo sucks you in, haunts you, hypnotizes you, and it’s built around community and inclusion. I want to bring all of these amazing people that I’ve met throughout my life together and curate one big dinner party. I also think about that when I collaborate with people too — filmmakers, photographers, dancers — combining all of these mediums together and creating something beautiful.

I said in an interview a few months ago that our vibe is basically a rave at a haunted Victorian mansion, and we recently turned that into a reality. Ezra and I rented an Airbnb upstate with a few artist friends of ours — Frost Children, May Rio, Big Dumb Baby, etc. — and we DJ-ed and had a little forest rave, which was cool.

I also understand that you’re a really big fan of the mid-2000s indie sleaze culture. What is it about this particular resurgence that appeals to so many people, particularly now?

I think it has to do with people being cooped up at home for so long. A big part of that moment was going out, partying, getting sweaty, and this need for connection after a major American recession, which is happening again. Coming out of pandemic restrictions, people want to go into full-on party mode. So seeing people like Cobrasnake at parties where my friends are DJ-ing is awesome and surreal. I’m 100% behind this indie sleaze revival because I’m really inspired by a lot of the music that came out during that time. I actually just found my old iPod. And looking through that iPod library, I was really impressed with how fantastic my taste was back then. I was also on a lot of online forums too, always wanting to discover something new, and that hasn’t changed.

Who are some of your favorite artists in the city that more people should know about?

GRBGE_GRL, May Rio, Frost Children, The Dare, Test Subjects, Liam Benzvi, Slic, sadie. I could go on and on. There are so many awesome musicians in the local scene making incredible, [boundary-breaking] stuff”.

Not only a duo conquering the New York City music scene, Shallowhalo are a worldwide sensation! It is still early days, though I do think that there will be a load of international tour dates and festival headline slots soon enough. There are many in the U.K. that would love to see them play. With a phenomenal debut and newer singles Renaissance Affair and Crystal Ball under their belt, the future is looking very bright for….