LOW.BŌ INTERVIEW: Baltimore-born artist and producer Low.bō is a testament to the power of turning pain into art. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist who found solace in music during a period of profound isolation, he has steadily built a reputation as a visionary. His critically acclaimed projects ‘CIRCA’ and ‘IMPALA’ have garnered praise from the likes of The Needle Drop, COLORS x STUDIOS, and Billboard, and his presence has been felt at SXSW and on playlists like Spotify’s Vanguard. Now, Low.bō is inviting listeners into his most intimate sonic world yet with the release of his debut album, ‘husk’. This 12-track offering is a masterclass in emotional storytelling, blending a rich palette of alternative, R&B, indie, and grunge influences to trace the cyclical nature of love and loss. Get familiar…
What five words define your sound?
I’d say Raw, Experimental, Vulnerable, Honest and ever-changing.
Tell me something unique about your creative process
I mainly do a lot of it analog; I definitely think it’s attributed to my hands-on approach for everything, but I call my style hifi because while it is a lot outboard gear, it still implements modern technology into the process.
Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?
Anything off my debut album ‘husk’, but if I had to pinpoint it, it’d probably be ‘niya’.
What inspired you to make that song?
I wrote it about my partner honestly, I’ve never written a ballad about someone before and she makes me feel like having love and acceptance is possible for me.
What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?
I feel like I have always been really vulnerable. I think it’s just a matter of which emotion I was really tapped into at the time. When I was working on ‘Circa’, it was definitely sadness. ‘Impala’ felt like acceptance, while ‘husk’ feels like growth and allowing myself to be real with myself.
What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?
The last show I did with Avara might be my favourite show I’ve done so far; folks were singing my lyrics back to me and just made the space feel less like a performance and just being in the moment… like smiling on stage and everything
What is your favourite song to perform?
‘REDLINE’ and ‘SOLACE’: I never perform the songs like the original arrangement, so when I get to perform those tracks it always feels like “oh shit how can we switch it up.”
Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?
‘Currents’, Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged, ‘How do you feel about getting Married’, ‘Into’, ‘Case Study 01’, PND, ‘Blonde’, ‘Kaleidoscope Dream’ and ‘Superunknown’.
What’s the meaning behind your name?
Wolves are my favorite animal. They do a lot of things as a group but also are very capable of being alone; I feel like I resonate with that ideology of being able to be around people but I spend/need a lot of time by myself. Lobo in Spanish is wolf, and with a few tweaks Low.bō was made.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
Probably either be a photographer or something, I don’t really know – I just know it’d still be art related.
What’s success to you?
Being able to wake up and not worry about your family is good. To retire my parents is success. To never look at my bank account again is success to me. To be able to live my life.
What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?
Moving to Jersey honestly. I lost myself in the chaos of trying to (pridefully) prove that I could really be on my own. It was a hell of a rough patch in my life and honestly I don’t know if I’d be here if that pivot never happened, so I thank God I was able to make it out.
Where can people keep in touch with you?
Low.bō on all streaming platforms, Instagram, X , Tiktok, allat haha.
Photos by Eric Jovel
