You can 'count on' Shallou's guide to Washington DC & beyond

Over the last lil year and a bit, we've been following the journey of DC artist SHALLOU. His sound can be characterised by his penchant for ambience and his expert application of delicate production sounds and techniques. It's been a whirlwind of a time for him, as he's basically blown up since taking his beats out of his bedroom.

2017 saw him put out his debut EP All Becomes Okay, and that was where it all began.

Fast forward to 2018 and he's continuing his run of elegant ambience with 'count on', a beautifully deep dance number.

Whether you're listening to this one through your headphones or (as I can imagine it would be) over the speakers at a stadium show, the impact of this would be the same. There's these glimmering moments of minimalist production that compliment the vocal line, but simultaneously, there's these dainty, danceable moments that wash right over you like a wave.

There's a lot to Shallou, so to get to know him a little more, he's given us a rundown of some of his favourite spots in his hometown of Maryland as well as some spots in Washington DC and Virginia too!

Black Market/Garrett Park/Train tracks crossing

This spot is home to me. There’s this little restaurant right up the street from my childhood house next to the train tracks, surrounded by forest and peaceful quiet. Its also an entrance to this neighborhood called Garrett park with a bunch of beautiful houses that me and my mom used to drive by and gawk at. This was my walk home from school where I reflected on everything in life. As an adult, I like to go up there with a note pad or voice memo and walk around, waiting for inspiration to strike.

U street music hall/9:30 club

This was the holy grail for electronic music in dc and legendary performances from big bands respectively for me. 9:30 club has been voted one of the best venues in the country consistently, and it holds a special place in my heart because of how much it means to my dad. I used to be so afraid of the bouncer Josh but also thought he was the coolest dude in the world. I recently played to a sold out U street crowd for my first ever headline show in the area (aside from my garage bands in high school lol) on the Souls tour.

Zorba’s Cafe

Every time I did something good or had a big birthday we came here when I was a kid. It just became one of my feel-good food places, usually followed by a trip to a bunch of the museums in DC, which are free and so incredible. Also highly recommend hanging out in DuPont Circle

Baked and Wired

I used to hang out with my friends a lot in Georgetown because it was a good mid-way point between the Maryland and Virginia kids. I have a huge sweet tooth and DC has amazing cupcakes for some reason. This spot was always my favorite, with Gtown cupcake as a close second.

Rock Creek Park

One of the more beautiful scenic areas of DC. This was where some of my first experiences with nature were. Also a great record by beats producer Oddisee is named after it, who showed me an instrumental album could still have a concept and capture the feel of a place.

You can buy or stream Shallou's 'count on' here.

Image: SUPPLIED

Intro by CAITLIN MEDCALF

READ MORE HOMETOWN GUIDES HERE

SEE ALSO

GET DREAMY WITH SHALLOU’S NEW TRACK, ‘BEGIN’

SHALLOU GETS AMBIENT WITH ‘YOU AND ME’

NUTRITION TRANSFORMS SHALLOU’S ‘REYKJAVIK’ INTO A BASS HEAVY DREAM