Overview of 869. - Shlohmo (How Long Gone)
In this episode Chris Black and Jason Stewart host Henry (Shlohmo), the Los Angeles–based electronic musician/DJ, to talk about his new record Repulsor, music production, touring and lifestyle changes after a serious health scare. The conversation mixes music deep dives (snare sounds, influences, creative goals) with casual tangents — dogs, festival culture, internet ephemera, and the costs/oddities of touring life. The episode also includes several sponsor reads (Dart Collective, Squarespace, Skims, Drip Drop, BetterHelp).
Guest & episode highlights
- Guest: Henry (Shlohmo), electronic musician and producer with a new album Repulsor.
- Main focus: the making and sonic intent of Repulsor, Shlohmo’s production approach, and his desire to keep evolving rather than repeating past work.
- Personal narrative: Shlohmo describes a spontaneous lung collapse (spontaneous pneumothorax), a traumatic hospital experience and subsequent recovery that changed his relationship with smoking and influenced his perspective on music/life.
- Lighter topics: dog ownership and logistics while touring, nostalgia for early-2010s music-era artifacts, and festival/scene changes.
Music, album and production (what matters)
- Repulsor: Hosts like the record; it’s described as guitar-centered in places while retaining Shlohmo’s electronic sensibility. Features include Corbin and contributions from Salem (art/visuals and a collaborator called Jack from Salem).
- Creative intent: Shlohmo emphasizes experimentation and adding new sounds rather than rehashing canonical singer-guitar songwriting. He wants to contribute unique textures — “something different” — rather than compete with straightforward acoustic songwriting.
- Production details — snares and drums:
- He layers many snare sources (up to ~11) to craft a unique sound: drum machines, big effects, recorded snare foley, and layered acoustic samples.
- Influences cited: 1980s gated-snare kings (Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins), Pet Shop Boys, Tears for Fears, as well as newer emo/new-metal quick high-snares.
- Goal: make a snare that hits chest-first, distinct without just increasing loudness.
Personal story & impact on his work
- Health scare: Shlohmo recounts a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung), an intense hospital stay including chest tubes and later surgery (and talc pleurodesis to fuse lung to chest wall). He describes a harrowing post-op period with inadequate pain relief and a two-week hospital stay.
- Aftermath: He can’t smoke or burn things (e.g., cigarettes) — shifted to edibles despite their drawbacks — and the experience prompted existential reflection about priorities and making music.
- Creative response: He continued work that was already in progress, brought collaborators into the studio (mentioned Jack from Salem) and framed the experience as an impetus to focus on what matters musically.
Wider observations: scene, nostalgia, and media preservation
- Festivals & audiences: Shlohmo reflects on playing large American EDM/festival bills (Hard Fest, etc.) and feeling out of place — he prefers nuanced, experimental sets and has felt European audiences were more receptive historically. But he notes younger scenes now comfortably mix DJ sets, laptop-based bands and shoegaze/electronic hybrids.
- Internet ephemera: the hosts and Henry lament that many early-2010s digital artifacts (images, mixtapes, Bandcamp/hosted files) have vanished as hosting platforms died or content was never consolidated — creating a “lost time” feeling for that era.
- Scene crossover: genre lines are thinner today; the new generation samples and combines earlier aesthetics, making festival lineups more eclectic.
Notable quotes
- “Weather is more like a humanosphere.” — jokingly reframing the weather as universal cultural currency.
- On creativity vs. repeating hits: “People are like, why isn't it the last thing you made? Make it again.” — on the pressure artists face to reproduce past work.
- On the lung surgery: “They sandblast the inside of your lung cavity with talcum powder... it fuses your lung to the inside of your chest cavity so that it can't [collapse].” — concise description of the operation he underwent.
Sponsors and brief ad mentions (called out in-episode)
The episode carried several sponsored reads interwoven into the chat:
- Dart Collective (event/wedding DJ service)
- Squarespace (websites)
- Skims (men’s underwear)
- Drip Drop (hydration packets)
- BetterHelp (therapy)
Key takeaways / actions
- If you’re curious about Henry/Shlohmo’s current sound, listen to Repulsor and note its blend of guitar-focused songs with electronic production and layered percussion.
- For producers: listen for layered snares and consider hybrid workflows (drum machines + foley + heavy layering/panning) to craft a unique percussive signature.
- Industry note: festival audiences and genre boundaries are more fluid now — creative programming that mixes live bands, DJs and laptop acts can work.
- Cultural note: some early-2010s music and digital artifacts are increasingly hard to find; if you value archival material, consider consolidating and backing it up.
References mentioned in the episode worth checking:
- Repulsor (Shlohmo) — features include Corbin and ties to visual collaborators like Salem.
- Influences referenced: Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins (gated snare era), Tears for Fears.
Hosts: Chris Black & Jason Stewart. Guest: Henry (Shlohmo). Duration: full-length conversational episode mixing music deep-dives with personal stories and cultural commentary.