A-SHO aka Adam Shomer was born and raised in a musical household in Montreal, Canada but the young artist didn’t plan on a career in music. During his time at university in Boston on a basketball scholarship, he found his musical chops after auditioning for a place as a beatboxer in his university’s acapella group. Adam traded time on the basketball court for time in the studio and A-SHO was born.
A-SHO has previously released tracks on major dance labels such as Armada and Revealed Recordings, which catapulted him into the public eye in 2015, with On My Way, a breezy summer collaboration with UK-based producer XYPO.
I caught up with him to speak about his future plans and his UK releases.
Hello, how are you?
Hey! Doing great thanks for the interview!
Where does this questionnaire find you?
In Toronto, Canada. Also known as the six.
You grew up in a music environment, could you tell us about the music you grew up with?
Lots of soul, lots of R&B, lots of pop.
In somewhat chronological order: Earth Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Boys 2 Men, Seal, Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Usher, Miguel, The Weeknd.
Did you naturally gravitate towards Dance music?
I grew up in Montreal, Canada which has a very euro influenced dance culture. So once I was of age and got exposed to the club scene I definitely fell in love with the house sound. Now I try to incorporate that in my music as much as possible.
Could you tell me the story behind your current single Feel Something?
Feel Something was inspired by a longing for genuine human connection. It feels like we hide behind screens both emotionally and physically these days and I guess Feel Something was my way of expressing a void I felt in a time vulnerability .
Could you talk us through your creative process?
The creative process is always different, sometimes lightning strikes and an idea hits me out of the blue (like with Feel Something). Other times I’ll be working with a producer and a certain melody or chord progression will inspire me. I don’t play any instruments so a lot of the time I’ll try to come up with hook ideas that I can take into a session and build from there.
You’ve released tracks on major dance labels. Have you had a chance to collaborate with anyone? Who would you love to collaborate with and why?
My first release ever was in 2014 on Armin van Buuren’s dance label Armada and it was a deep house track with a talented UK based producer by the name of Tom Ferry. That’s kind of what kick started my career and lead to other dance collaborations with various artists from around the world. Some stand outs are my collab with Montreal based producer Domeno called “Fighter” which was supported by some major DJs like Hardwell as well my singles with Lucky Rose, “Sunset” and Xypo, “On My Way” which both did well very well on Spotify independently.
I’d love to collaborate with the producers who are pushing the dance envelope forward like Flume, Kaytranada, Skrillex, Diplo, Daft Punk, Illenium etc…
Is there anyone in the business you’d love to work with, if so why?
I’d love be in a session with The Weeknd or Miguel one day. Just to see what their creative process is like!
Will you be taking your music on tour? If so when and where?
The goal is to get some new music out in early 2018 and line up some shows for mid/late 2018!
What are your plans for NYE this year?
It’ll be my first New Years in Toronto, so I’m looking forward to jumping into the city nightlife! But New Years is also a time for me to re-evaluate where I’m at and what I’ve accomplished and see where I want to go in the coming year so I’m looking forward to taking some time to do that too!
A-SHO’s single Feel Something is out now via Sony Music.
EF’s Underdogs section looks after potential artists, who are niche or on the verge of breaking through.
