#127 Shaylen
Imagine being on TikTok and throwing out a riff, then two people from that post picking it up and it turning into your next single as an artist! Well thats what happened with Shaylen with her latest original track Do Si Do, some super cool southern country vibes with the LA pop dance beats.
Shaylen leaves a mark on pop by casually dropping the sort of lines you get tattooed somewhere scandalous or reserve for a drunk DM. Unafraid, unapologetic, and unfiltered, she’ll put a boring ex on blast in one breath and open up about her deepest insecurities in the next. Yet, she sets gleefully pins those confessions to a defiant soundtrack of R&B, pop, and alternative across her debut EP Highs & Lows and the buzzing 2019 single “Sprite.” Posting up over 10 million streams within a year and receiving praise from Billboard, Just Jared, Hollywood Life, Popdust, and Idolator who pegged her as “on the brink of a major breakthrough,” the Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter turns heads in 2020 with a series of singles and her forthcoming full-length debut album for Republic Records.
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Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to a songwriter Trysts with Shaylen how are you?
Shaylen: I am freaking amazing. How are you?
Rae Leigh: I'm so excited because I love dosey DOE and I'm excited to hear how on earth that came into being, but I'm going to start with getting you to introduce yourself, tell us who are you and where do you come from?
Shaylen: Okay. So my name is Shaylynn. I originally come from Chattanooga, Tennessee migrated over to Texas, in my early like childhood and then came to LA. Wow. I mean, eight years ago now. So I've officially, you can take the girl out of the south bay. You can't take the south out of the girl. So.
Rae Leigh: Right. Yep.
Shaylen: I won't forever just be a Southern girl, but I'm in LA now, which I'm shocked that I even have been here for eight years, to be honest with you. That's pretty insane , but yeah, I love it. I do music obviously. And. Super happy to just have survived through COVID. I think all of us,
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Shaylen: we're all just coming back into the world and figuring out what's happening and yes, we'll happy to be on this podcast. Thank you for having me.
Rae Leigh: Oh, no, thank you so much for jumping on. I love meeting new people and this is kind of like my way of traveling. If I was traveling, I love to meet the locals and find out what other songwriters are doing in
Shaylen: Hell yeah.
Rae Leigh: And so this is just like a cool way for me to get out of my own little bubble and meet people from all over the world.
You said you've been in LA for eight years. What was it? Music that took you to LA.
Shaylen: Yes. To be honest with you, I have literally since day one, I mean, Texas. I was doing music and then that ended up, I was in a pop group from 11 to 21. We moved to Michigan at one point to film a TV show. And then we got signed to young money, cash money, what I was about 18. And that's why I moved out here initially.
Yeah, so it was it was all because of music. I did move out here on my own at 18, which was. Terrifying and so exciting all at one time, like I was like LA and being 18 and like really on your own. Like I didn't, my family is all in Texas still. So.
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Shaylen: Yeah, that was frigging insane, but I've been so blessed. At the beginning it was rough.
I was signed to a massive label and working literally five jobs, like never slept. I had no money to my name, lived in a box, like it was crazy. And then the last couple of years, like it really just took a turn and I've been so blessed, just really just do music as my job. So I honestly like there's a few percentage of people that can say that that's what keeps them afloat.
So I am really, really thankful for that. The initial thing was music and then recently have gotten back into acting, which has been fun. I forgot how much I really, really love acting. So yeah.
Rae Leigh: I love acting. What sort of stuff have you been doing
Shaylen: You know what it's so funny because when I was younger, like I've always loved comedy and I'm really like comedic timing. I just really understand. But it seems to be like with my experiences in life, like the agency, for some reason can see this like darker, broken side of me and they're like, you're going to go out all these really fucked up characters.
And it's
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Shaylen: You gave me a chance to like really take into these like parts of me that I probably need to address, but act two characters, which has been really fun.
Rae Leigh: Interesting. Yeah. actually that I find that really cool. I feel like we need to go back because it sounds like you've had quite an interesting upbringing as well with all the travel that you've done. So why don't we go to the beginning and let's start. Where did this spark for music come from?
Where does your flowers
Shaylen: That's such a loaded question. I don't know this firsthand, but there are videos of when I was in the womb. My mom, I swear to God, like my mom would start playing well back then it was on VHS. Cause you know, it was. I-phones which is insane. But there are videos that my parents took of my mom would start playing amazing grace and I kid you not all of a sudden, she's just she's kicking again.
Like it was the, I was very lazy in the womb. I was not super active. and, but that was like, when my mom would start to play that there was like live videos of like her, like I started to kick it. You can see it. It's weird sorry. But I like, I'm one of those people that when I do see. The baby kicking in anyone's stomach.
I'm like, holy shit. There's human anxiety. That's crazy.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, my sister's just had a baby. It is a very surreal
Shaylen: Isn't it crazy when my brother had my niece and nephew and I was in the delivery room, I almost think that it was truly, truly I really want kids, but wow, that was a whole, that's her level of just human nature is pretty crazy.
Rae Leigh: right. Timing. I'm sure.
Shaylen: Wow. Yeah. A couple of years from now couple years. So there was like, I would just only be active when that particular song came on.
So when I obviously I also was very lazy once I did hit the world, I did not have any interest in walking. I really only. Like the only thing I did was just start to like mumble these like melodies. And my mom was like, so she doesn't talk, she doesn't walk but she sings, like what's wrong with her?
So up until I really had to walk, then I decided to walk, but it was only by the bribery of cookies that they could give me. The walk, makes so much sense, but yeah, I started singing. Before I could even talk. And then it started that I would sit on my fireplace when I like started to become an actual little human.
I would take my baby dolls. I would rip up these as a paper for my family, tell them that this was their ticket to see the show tonight. And that was. And I would just sing my baby dolls on the fireplace and my parents were both like, okay cause no one in my family as any musical background it's not like I came from a background of singers and people were like, oh, it makes sense.
Everyone was like, what what's what's going on? So it started like that as I got a little older, I think when I was about eight, I asked for a piano cause I saw a commercial and I was like, I want that piano. My dad's yeah, Okay. Let's get her like a very beginner's piano. Cause let's just see how this goes.
I, within the first two days, I was honestly like, I got it for Christmas. I was head over heels. I'm so excited. And I heard this commercial and literally within an hour, I. Played back the melody of the commercial that I heard, like the jingle on the commercial, I played it back and my dad was like, oh, okay.
This isn't just a hobby. Like you're like a weirdo. So that was,
Rae Leigh: guys.
Shaylen: yeah. I was like, I wouldn't even go with skill. It was just like this weird, like it's always just been so in me. So I just.
Rae Leigh: Two gifting.
Shaylen: It's crazy. It's it's my purpose. And I just, I was like, I'm not going to run from what is instilled in me?
You know? So I, then I start, I grew up in church. I really learned the fundamentals of singing empire. I would get solo leads in the church. And then it became more and more like I would go to this. I would go to school and then when I had my free time, I would go to. Class. It was, well, it was a school called SETI and entertainment group in Dallas.
That I literally spent all my free time going to these classes. I got accepted into the masters program, really dove into like piano. I started to do classical like I was classically trained. I then dove into Plano children's theater. I was in every freaking play you could ever think of From Annie to king.
And I I really thought I would end up on Broadway, which is the goal one day after I have successful music career, but that was truly like musical theaters. Just, I thrive in live settings.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, that's cool.
Shaylen: It's crazy. I love it. I love the energy and I love the, just like the challenges of okay, someone forgets their line.
Like you improv. Like it's just, you don't know what's going to happen in live theater, which I find so beautiful. It's amazing. So that was. That was the fundamentals of learning. I, my mom made me just eat, sleep and breathe piano. Now I think her, at the time, I literally wanted to cry because I had to go do these like theory competitions, and like really learn the fundamentals of music, which I'm so glad I did.
And then.
Rae Leigh: you wanted to learn when you're a kid, isn't it.
Shaylen: Oh, it's the worst when you're a kid, but that's the only time you really soak up all of that nowadays. Like YouTube, you can learn it, but there's something to be said for going to a lesson, having to go to these theory tests these competitions UYL that was the thing. Like I did these choir show, choir competitions.
Like I really, anything I could get my hands on to better myself in music. I did it like dance lessons, everything. So then I in let's see, I don't even know what year that would have been, but when I was 11, I auditioned for this Abby. They were a Christian pop group at first. So we would tour all the churches in Texas.
And then it started to become a little bit bigger than that. Like we realized that. There was a little bit more to us than just churches. Probably four years later, when I guess I was 15 at the time Doreen's Spicer who created the proud family, reached out about us and was like, I really think there's something crazy.
Cool about you guys there. Hasn't been like a solid pop group for years. Would love to write a television sitcom around you guys. Yeah. So that was crazy. We all of a sudden, like it took about a year to put into. Like actual fruition and we shot the pilot at the fellowship of the Woodlands. There was five of us in the group, three guys, two girls, and we did this pilot about a year later.
It got picked up for 26 episodes and stars. And then the shooting location was in Michigan. So all of a sudden, like I was just entering my high school year in Allen and they hit me with Hey by the summertime, you gotta move to Howell, Michigan pack up your things. We're going to be there for a year shooting on location at this site.
So I was like, oh my God, this couldn't have come at a better time because high school was really brutal for me with bullying. So I was just like, freaking awesome. Yeah. Bullying is just I can't even imagine high school now with social media like that.
Rae Leigh: Oh me either. Oh,
Shaylen: couldn't even imagine.
Rae Leigh: and no,
Shaylen: God. I
just.
Rae Leigh: was bad enough without it, you know?
Shaylen: Insane. So, yeah, so that was like, couldn't have come at a better time. I go to Michigan, we filmed the 26 episodes, all of a sudden I guess I was 17 at this time. We're touring like south America. We just. Where else would we have this partnership with Kmart and Sears? So we would, we did a whole tour doing the blue light, special aisle in every Kmart, across the U S I was really comedy like literally would be singing next to the dairy and produce aisles in Kmart and how this is my life.
Rae Leigh: random.
Shaylen: Oh my God. Truly random. So we had a deal with them that we did this tour called camp vilified. We just were coming off the buzz as the TV show stars, kids and family, one of the third season, and all of a sudden cash money gets W like they find out about us through YouTube and all of our YouTube videos.
It was the first pop group they'd set mind you like Nicki Minaj had just dropped star ships with red one. That was like that time. So all of a sudden they're super interested in branching out cash money is like really pop rather than young money, their hip hop side. So. Do the deal with them.
All of a sudden we fly to Paris. We do an album was red one, which was so surreal. I literally let me tell you when I'm the biggest lady Gaga fan of all time, like the Gaga fan. So she had just done just dance with red wine and I will forever remember hearing her do that guy. And I was like, I got to be the girl in there is on the record.
I was like red wine savvy yet. Yeah. And I was like, I've made it, I've freaking made it, but unbeknownst to me, probably about six months later, like we're at an all time high and we get shelved. Like it was the craziest shit ever. Yeah. It was it was, I didn't even know what that term was back then. Like now looking back at it, I'm like, oh my God, like that's what shelter is, but yeah, my group and I like at this point, I'm 18.
I was like, fuck it. We got to get out to LA. We gotta be in the scene without a show face. Figure it out. My group members were like, okay. Yeah. So I move out first. All my group members come out a couple of weeks later for about six months. Like we give it our all. And then they literally just they looked at me, they're like, Hey, listen, like this has been such a great run but.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Shaylen: I like, it's probably not going to work. We're stuck in this contract and they went back to Texas. And for the last, at that point, nine years of my life had been this group. And then yeah, so they went back and they're also happy. They're thriving. We talk from time to time. So no bad vibes there, but it was just like, at the time I was devastated.
I was just like, I put my whole life into this group and I didn't realize I was stuck in this contract sitting there. It took about another year to even get out. I was supposed to be sitting in that contract for seven years, which I am so grateful to my now management who got me out. But yeah, it was crazy and nothing, no bad gods was cash money.
It was literally just they didn't know how to branch out pop music yet. Like it's a whole different beast. So in hindsight, looking back, like it was the best thing that could've happened to me because I now know so much more about the business side of things.
Rae Leigh: Annoying. Isn't it?
Shaylen: It's crazy. It's frigging crazy.
So I got out of that for the first time. Three years in LA, I literally worked four jobs. Like I worked as a waitress at two bars. I would wedding thing. I would run people's social media and pretend to know what the fuck I was doing. And I, there was like, I literally would pick up side hustles, like all, all the time.
And that's how I survived off of literally I've lived in 232 square feet in north Hollywood. It was a box for $1,200 a month and no, no kitchen, no nothing. I would, there was one point I was like sleeping out of my car. Like it was crazy. It was crazy.
Rae Leigh: Right. So you, you're a hard worker aren't
Shaylen: oh my God, you have to be, you have to
Rae Leigh: have to be.
Shaylen: And then a couple, like three years later, like I really.
Where I come from in pop. Like at that era, you didn't really have to know how to like, be a solid song writer. I knew how to dabble in songwriting, but there were demos given to you through like red ones camp or we were working with polo to Don, like all these people, and these records are just given to you.
You might have a little say in the writing, but I didn't really know how to sit down and write a record myself. So I really, all of a sudden The chain smokers in this whole new era happened. I was like, oh my God. Like it finally clicks for me. I like went through this experience of being at this music festival and dabbled in some recreational drugs and all of a sudden, like it clicked.
I was like, oh my God, this is how you write music. I get it. And
Rae Leigh: drugs will do that to you.
Shaylen: used to wear, and I don't promote drugs, but ever since that day, like that was three days. I don't know if I can say that on here, but
Rae Leigh: That's all right. We might take that out, but that's okay. So, so you went to this music festival and you discovered. A part of your soul, that was a songwriter and things started to click in place. You've got new management,
Shaylen: Thought you management. This EDM world was like popping at the time. So I was like, I want to do top lines for EDM. This is crazy. Messaged every fucking producer on SoundCloud that I could find. And I was like, Hey, listen, send me tracks. I didn't know what to do. Like I was like, I I've never done any of this.
I'm just going to take it. Frickin stab, some of them responded. And then I finally got this track from elites and Manila Killa to this day. I think it is my most dream song at this point in my career, which is crazy. But yeah, I wrote a song called I'm. Okay. I was going through the worst fucked up relationship I'd ever had.
And I literally just had this line take a look at my bank account. It's emptier than our conversation. And I was like, I'm going to write a song about that. And I did, and it happened to be the song we collabed did the EDM world for a minute, but that led me into my publishing deal with Paul's, which I wrote incredible records, which then landed me my deal with my current label Republic.
Shout out Republic. They're freaking awesome. A great management, great team that I have surrounded me now, but yeah, in a nutshell, that's where I'm at now.
Rae Leigh: Okay. All right. So now.
we get to that and we've got dosey, DOE, I want to hear about this. Where, where did this
Shaylen: Oh my God. This was the craziest thing, because let me tell you, Tik TOK is a wild place, man. It's pretty freaking crazy. So I obviously we're all like, nobody knows what's going on in the world during quarantine. I was right. First of all, there was probably a couple months where I didn't write it all.
I was so depressed. I didn't realize, oh my God. It was like, I was trying to understand. I was like, wow, I see all these people doing at home workouts, being super productive.
Rae Leigh: okay.
Shaylen: Dear. I was
like,
Rae Leigh: was
Shaylen: I want to do. So all the people I was following and I'm like, maybe like you're doing at-home workout for 10 minutes.
So you post and then maybe you're sad after that. I mean, we all know social media is a highlight reel, so I try not to
Rae Leigh: it. is. Yeah.
Shaylen: But I really, I was like, wow. I feel like I'm doing nothing. So there was like a couple months where I just took a break from music and songwriting and I was just like, wow I don't know, life outside of music.
So I started to go to Malibu and just sit outside and sort of go to Santa Barbara with my current boyfriend. And just do little trips. Cause I was like, oh my God, the last eight years, I have not taken one vacation. I've been so dedicated. To my work. I was like, I went for walks outside.
Like I really took a step back and I was just like, I need to remember what life is outside of music for a second. So then in let's see December something like I had put this clip up now, I guess now wait a second. That was this year. Sorry. I like had had,
Rae Leigh: last year,
Shaylen: I was thinking 2020, what I wrote down in my notes, like dosey DOE.
And I was just like, cause I was trying to get out of this, like depressing. Like I started writing all these depressing songs, so I was like, oh, okay. Like I need to get out of this funk. I written down like smoke and chill and drink and thinking about you, I'd put that in my notes. And then all of a sudden I posted it to tick talk this year.
I was like, yeah, you'll go on my
And I put this like little idea and Kyle freakin, all of a sudden, did a duet to it.
Rae Leigh: Wow.
Shaylen: freaking killed the beat. It was insane. And then he did like this duet option for somebody to like hop on a verse and Bryce vine hopped on through Tik TOK. And it was fucking crazy. Like I have never. I swear to God, like it was crazy.
It was so we all like collectively worked on it outside of take doc sent by Bryce. Once I like wrote the song, I wrote it with my girl ally. Like we finished it together, but the initial song hook I've written by myself and that's when Kyle do edit it and make this be he then collab, like I collaborated with LA to finish it.
And Bryce, Allie and Gino, happened to finish his verse, which was so sick. Yeah. And then we all decided we were like, this is so fun. It's the summertime. I think the world's going to reopen by summer. So this is like just a fun vibe. I'm also Southern made sense. Like it was so fun and just brainless.
Like I wasn't trying to put myself in any. I was like, and I was, I was like, let's just make something so different. And I think, I think it's really fun. Like I just, I had a good time doing it and I felt so happy after doing it. That was, that was how I knew. I was like, oh, this is a great song. I feel happy.
You know, so
Rae Leigh: when we listened to it for the first time when we saw the cool music video that came with it as well.
Shaylen: thank you.
Rae Leigh: My, my partner and I because I've got some, like my partner does a lot of the scheduling. He goes through all of the applications that.
come through for the podcast and we're watching it. And we're like, we're so confused Right. now. But we were both just but we both were happy. Like we both had the biggest smiles on our faces. This is awesome. We don't really know why we don't, we don't know what, just we didn't know what to think at the same time, but we're like, but this is really cool. And I think that's what I loved about it It was just so. It's very unique and it's a mix of, I think everything I love about music. And I think you can tell that you just having fun
Shaylen: I'm just having it was
Rae Leigh: what I love.
Shaylen: it was not like a lot of the records that I put out. Like I like everything. It's my heart and soul, but this one, I was just like, you know what? I've been so depressed. Like I want to just write something. That's just like fun and easy. And I hope that the rest of the world, like we're all feeling the stress and I hope that they can turn this on.
And for a couple minutes, just feel like vibey and not so Oh, my God, everything was so serious. And you know, like I really do for the most part, when I do write for myself, I write one for myself in particular, like everything that I write is what I'm going through usually. So it's just it's crazy.
Cause I wanted to write something where I could escape. And when I do write music, I write something. Like every time I do write, I'm like this doesn't exist in the world and I want it to like, that's, that's why I write it's not for anyone else, but me and I hope that Everybody that does like energetically, it comes into their path.
I hope that they feel the same way, you know, like it's gonna reach you. It's gonna reach because it was supposed to. So I just hope that people, when they do hear that it was, you know, I'm just like, I, I make art. Like I make something that doesn't exist yet and I want to hear it exist in the universe.
That's how I think about it. So anybody that is on that same energetic. It's going to find them no matter how it likes to talk through in or whatever it is, like it'll find the right home to whoever wants to hear it. So
Rae Leigh: of that Dewey.
Shaylen: no, we don't, like I don't have any control over what works and what doesn't no artists does.
That's the crazy thing about the times that we're living in is like these days you have no idea what the hell is going to work. It's insane. So yeah, I just wrote it as it is. I don't know, it's a record. I would want to hear it if I was out. If I set a bar, just having a great time, that's a record I'd want to hear.
So I hope
Rae Leigh: It's good to have a song like that.
Shaylen: you know? Yeah.
Rae Leigh: that, Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that's an amazing story and I love hearing about just how you creating music for you, but that you're creating something that goes, goes into the world and it just does whatever it does. And no.
one writes a hit song.
Thinking I mean, everyone says all we're writing a hit song, but, but no one actually knows. Everyone thinks that song is a hit, but you don't actually know. And sometimes it's the best times where, you know, like you said, you just randomly created the song and then it becomes this big thing.
Sometimes we just, you never know until it happens. And it's, it's such a common story, isn't it with hit song people like, oh, we never expected it to be this huge. And yeah. Some of the iconic pieces of work out there today. Just, it starts, it's such humble beginning. So it's really cool to
Shaylen: Yeah, it's
Rae Leigh: how you guys sort of just, it all just vibe straight away.
So how, how many co-writes were there on this, this track? It sounds like there was quite a few people working on this one.
Shaylen: You know, as far as writers go like me and ally worked on my stuff and then Gino, Bryce and LA worked on his side of it. So it all in all, like there was five of us and then Kyle made the beat But yeah, it's I always work with Allie and Gino. I freaking love them and it just happened to be that Bryce works with them as well.
So I had like already written it. And then when Bryce's team got it, they will, they had asked Ellie and Gina without even knowing that Ellie and Gina were on the first half of it, they were like, well, you have this like crazy record. Like we want to finish it. And they're like, no fucking way. We did twins hit her fights with her.
So it was so dope.
Rae Leigh: That's that's amazing.
Shaylen: That's the beauty of songwriting. Like I just I don't know. And LA and Gino are some of my favorite collaborators. Like I adore them. So it only made sense that it was like a family affair, you know,
Rae Leigh: Ha have you done much co-writing before this is this like a common thing for you?
Shaylen: you know, I really love co-writing with people. I do a lot of it. Like I was the, the entire hook of dosey DOE was me. The verses I had finished with Alex. But I, I really do like conceptually start a lot of my shit, my own. But I really love co-writing just because it gets me like, I'm so hard on myself when it comes to lyrics like, or melodies, like when I do, which was why COVID and quarantine was so frustrating for me because.
It gave me, I really got, I will say I'm super thankful in the fact that I got to really learn how to record myself way better. Which I loved I really loved getting to learn ProTools and comping. Like now I'm like a comping queen, which is so fun, but it's hard as far as the song writing process, like I started out only writing by myself and being like, oh, like I don't need collaborators.
And then a couple of years later, like I love, like I was so upset. I'm going to tell you I did not thrive on zoom sessions during corn scene. I will be
Rae Leigh: No either I need to be in person.
Shaylen: my God, I didn't realize the energy. I was just like, oh my God, I live for the energy in person. So I was super frustrated with that.
And just and everybody I think was already feeling stressed. So I was like, I'm just going to take a step back. But I truly love collaborating on writing. Like I really it gets me out of my head. And then if I do have a concept and somebody's here, let's tweak it to make it better.
I'm like, fuck. Yeah. This is so cool that all of our brains can come together and make such an incredible moment happen, you know?
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
And that's exactly what co-writing is just, it's just so amazing to be able to do that. And it's always gonna be different if you're doing it with someone different because you bring your own unique, unique style into that. Co-write and it's magical. It can be magic. It can also be dessert,
Shaylen: Oh my God. I've had so many disaster sessions as well. Don't get me wrong. Like not every collaborating session is
Rae Leigh: Yeah, but you get better at it. The more you do it, the you get better at it. What, what would you say is the best advice you could give when it comes to songwriting? Now that you've been doing it for so long?
Shaylen: You know, one, trust your gut instinct on the first melody that you do, like one always have your freaking voice memos recording. That just started the session. I don't even care if it's five hours long, just have that thing rolling. Because your gut instinct of the first melodies that you do throw out, are I go off those like.
I really it's so funny because, or even just I'll say jibberish within those, and I'm that person that I'll throw out a melody and cannot at all. Remember what I just did. Everyone's just sing that back. I'm like, aye guys, let me tell you. I don't know what I just did. Don't people I'm not one of those people that can fully remember what I threw out into the universe.
Like it happens and think God, most of my. Collaborating sessions, like somebody is smart enough to have voice memos on. Cause I am not like I just start throwing out ideas. But I will say trust your gut on those first. Instincts, even when it comes down to concept or cadence or melody, whatever it is just trust that because that's usually, I'll try to lay a few scratches on the mic.
Like I'll do four passes, but it's every time it's the first pass of the initial instinct. That is always the melody that I go with. So I would say that for writers, I would also say just first and foremost, believe in yourself, believe don't go into a sessions too. If you are going in with other people, don't be cocky.
That's I never, no matter if it's for my, my project or for somebody else's I go in with the result of I just want a freaking great song today.
Rae Leigh: That's a good attitude to have you sounds like a very good,
Shaylen: it's if you go in with a I'm, right, no one else can put in, like that's a recipe for disaster. Honestly, it really is. Cause I've been in those sessions where I'm like the person that is coming in and the other person is I'm right.
No one else can throw in anything. And I'm just like, this sucks. What's
Rae Leigh: doesn't feel good. Does it?
Shaylen: Yeah. Like why are we collaborating? Just write a song on your own, you know? Which is fine. Like those are those people that work better just on the. All power to you, but I'm just like, I've found the love, you know, I was like, what, what made you think that you were like the end all be all, it's all writing, which is fine if you think that's cool.
Rae Leigh: Everyone needs to be humbled at some
Shaylen: you know, and there'll be humbled. It's fine. Like somebody, let me tell you, there was this, there was a session that like, if you ever want to humble somebody. Just for future reference, just be like, oh yeah, that melody is good for a bridge. Like it's very humbly. It was so bridged one to, I
Rae Leigh: so passive.
Shaylen: I call it being bridged because I'm like, this guy breached me 32 times.
He was like, yeah, I guess I'm melody is good for a bridge. What the fuck melody to you? You're like, God, this is my fist. And he's yeah, like I hear that for the bridge. I was like, you realize he's bridged me 15 times today. They're like, please come up with a different melody so that I understand what you're hearing.
Rae Leigh: Is there like a code language for co-writers in LA, whether it's this is how You put people down without actually saying, no, you just, you just
Shaylen: You know, I,
Rae Leigh: and then not use it for the bridge.
Shaylen: Well, first of all, if somebody bridges you on like fine, I sucked that sucked clearly. But like the next thing is like, when people are just like, yeah, like it's just they're not excited about it. I'm like, okay, cool. Took the hit, fine, whatever.
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Shaylen: so funny.
But yeah.
Rae Leigh: saying bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge bridge. Oh, actually, you know what? This song doesn't need a bridge.
Shaylen: I literally like, if I could, like that session that day, I swear to God he was like, that melody is great. Like the, that could totally sit in the bridge. And he said it like 20 times and I was like, I'm going to jump off of a freaking bridge if you say a bridge. yeah, if anyone says it's good for the bridge, you know, the melody sucks.
Rae Leigh: that's a really good tip to know though, because if someone said that to me, I would probably just believe them. I mean, obviously after 15 times I'd be like, okay, they just, they just hate everything coming out of my mouth, but.
Shaylen: sometimes there are melodies that are so necessary for a bridge, but like when you've said it enough, I'm like, okay, so what you're telling me is all these suck. Just say they suck. It's so
Rae Leigh: Be honest.
Shaylen: Oh my God.
Rae Leigh: respectful
Shaylen: Right. I was like, just tell me, I suck.
Rae Leigh: All right. All right. So that's good advice. I love that advice. What about if you were to talk to, let's say a kid, or even like someone your own age coming out of bullying and you going into all this stuff and you just love music and someone wants to be a songwriter.
Where would you tell them to start? What, what, what sort of advice would you give them?
Shaylen: repeat this one more time. Cause it cut out a little bit.
Rae Leigh: okay. So just for someone who's just starting as a songwriter, maybe a teenager, and they're just wanting to, they love music and they want to write their own songs. Where would you tell them to start?
Shaylen: Ooh. Okay. So when I first started writing, I wish that the access to YouTube was what it was. But I will say one. Whoever you really love artists wise or say you love max Martin, Julia Michaels, whoever steady those people, like a freaking maniac. First of all second of all, I will say, I never knew how much of a freaking flex it was to know how to record yourself.
So go on. Look up, whether you want logic or pro tools, it's like really just a preference on the user. But figure out the software that you want to download, download that and learn it. It's really pretty simple. If you're cutting vocals and steady, these people learn how to do that. And then just go, like I kid you not like the amount of tracks that exist on YouTube to just download the file onto your computer.
Just start dabbling with melodies and then message people online like that. The internet is pretty freaking cool in that sense of like I said, I collaborated my first song writing, like big song ready, cut ever was because I messaged people on SoundCloud. So have people send you tracks or ideas and just like freaking go for it.
Right. Every thought I'm going to tell you right now, the shower and right before you go to bed and in the morning, are the craziest times for, even in the car, I'm going to tell you right now, these like weird ideas that you get conceptually or melodically record them, or write them down because I'm telling you that is a message that you're trying to download, that you don't even realize is like a message.
Like the amount of times I've had something comes to me in the shower, that's Like a concept. I literally get out of the shower to write it down on my phone because I'm just like, oh my God. I got to remember this, like the amount of times that I didn't do that, knowing that it was a million dollar idea.
I know there are like 10 times that I've done that, that I'm like, oh, I'm too tired. I'll remember tomorrow. And I don't like, oh
my God,
Rae Leigh: I didn't write it down.
Shaylen: you have to capitalize on it because I'm
Rae Leigh: I know.
Shaylen: I stopped like clearly I was trying to somebody was trying to send me a message and I should've listened.
But those bro, those intuition moments, trust those because whether you use them then, or five years later, like there, there will be a reason why you got that message. I firmly believe that. So yeah, just like download and record everything you possibly can. And just be willing to collab with people, reach out to people.
That's the beauty of the internet. And DM-ing whether you get a response or not, like at least you put it out in a universe that you are ready and willing to collab and maybe somebody else hits you, you know? But I feel like energetically, once you do do that, the universe is okay, I acknowledge that.
I hear you. Let me send you somebody that you probably weren't like thinking you collab with, but watch it be great. You know, it's crazy.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Wow. And just like work hard, like Shaylin and just, you know, do a Shaylin and hustle your butt off, and then people will turn around and say, oh, you're so lucky, but
Shaylen: No, but you know,
Rae Leigh: you work hard, you know,
Shaylen: like a lot of people think that it's just like full luck and I'm like, bro, if you only knew the amount of times I slept out of my car, that I could only eat ramen noodles because I had no money, but I was, so I was not going to leave LA like my family. Like I love them so much.
And they were just like, you can come back and I'm just like, oh my God, that's awesome. I'm not coming back. Like I have to do this, I have to do this. Whether that means that I'm going to cry every night. And I like question why I'm even doing this, but I know I'm just supposed to do it like the moment right before you think you're going to give up is the moment I swear to God.
If you just push through that, that shouldn't like, it's so rewarding because it's right. You're like right around the corner from something amazing happening. It's crazy.
Rae Leigh: I love that. That's awesome. And it's so true. It's I think that we get trained don't we like the world, trains us for what we need to be ready for. What's coming next. And resilience is something that you cannot train for without having to go through something hard.
Shaylen: it's pretty crazy. It's pretty great. And you also you don't know, like I've also learned is letting go of like the idea of like, how you think it's supposed to turn out. If you just let that go. It ends up being better than you could even imagine. It's pretty crazy. If you just trust the, like I'm telling you, I had a thousand dollars to my name, a thousand after working, I would work seven days a week.
I probably slept all of three hours everyday. I didn't walk into one recording studio the first two years of being in LA. Because I worked so much and I remember like I was working in a bar. A girl, literally I'm a kid. You not, she was so drunk. She threw up all over me while delivering her food. The manager was so awful.
She wouldn't let me go home to change. And I said, I literally, I made a pact to myself. I went to the bathroom. I cried for about five minutes cause I was covered in throat, but I was just like, this is not the life I came out here to live.
Rae Leigh: yeah.
Shaylen: I didn't know how at all was going to make money. And I just walked back in and I was like, I know that I have to do this.
I have to quit. And I quit right on the spot.
Rae Leigh: stand up for yourself.
Shaylen: swear to God within 10 days, like my publishing deal happened. It was just like, I took this leap and you I'm not saying I'm not saying
Rae Leigh: your day job. Yeah.
Shaylen: in life, be dumb about it. But I am, when you know, you'll know, you'll know, there'll be this gut feeling and trust that if I could go back and do something differently with relationships with work, it would be, I wish somebody would have told me sooner to trust that gut feeling.
Rae Leigh: Oh, I'm sorry there with the, it takes time to learn to better trust that
Shaylen: It's crazy. Yeah.
Rae Leigh: and you got to fit in and It's that's all bullshit You don't have to fit in. You just gotta to be, you
Shaylen: a hundred percent. And if that gut feeling is like, not everyone else is doing it, like the first time somebody like in high school or where, I don't know kids these days, how young it's happening, but like somebody who's like here's drugs you know what
your
Rae Leigh: have sex or yeah.
Shaylen: it is, that's like a peer pressure thing.
And in your core, if you feel that that's wrong, don't do it. Just don't do it. You know? It's pretty crazy, but we're taught that like we have to fit in and we like disregard that
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Be cool, man.
Shaylen: Yeah. And I'm like, what does I'm like, I don't want to end up in the hospital just because I was cool. I don't want to do that.
It's lame.
Rae Leigh: It's such a hard lesson to learn.
Shaylen: crazy. Even just like going out, like the older I get, like when people like come out with us and I'm like, I have this like moment of FOMO and then I'm like, wait, I'm really tired. I need to respect that. I need to stay home tonight and my body. Thanks me for that later, you know,
Rae Leigh: Yeah. I was out last night, actually. And a guy, a friend of mine who's actually been on the podcast, goes some new music coming out. He was, he was a bit drunk, was running around any, he was buying shots for everyone in the bar, everyone. And he came up to me cause we friends. And like I had two people who were talking to me.
So we offered everyone a shot. And I just didn't want to be rude. This guy was buzzing. He was really happy. So I was like, do you know? I'll say, yes, I'll give it to my friend to you know, I just, I wouldn't drink it. And, and so and cause you know, you don't want to offend someone, especially when they're in that state.
So I said yes, but then he brought the shot over and it was Jemison. It was it's wonderful shot. But like I was holding it and he was talking at me and like we were talking for ages and I just, I just held it. Like I was, I was waiting for him. I was waiting for him to go away, so I didn't have to drink it.
And then he kinda was looking and he's oh, you're just holding it, get, go onto it.
And I was like, Oh,
Shaylen: devastated. You're like, I don't want to take this.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
I did have it. I actually ended up having, and I was like, I totally got peer pressure to do it, but only because I didn't want, I didn't want to be rude. I just didn't want to be rude. And it wasn't bad. Like I just wasn't drinking. It was just like laying there. It was like, I just didn't want to be rude.
And so I had a shot and it was like,
Shaylen: You're like, I didn't want to have this, but now I'm like, it's so funny. What peer pressure does, I literally, I'm telling you with drinking, like I'm the same way. I'll go into a setting where I'm like, I'm not drinking today. And then I will have somebody that's you're taking a shot and fight.
Like, why can't I just say no.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. I find it So hard. Cause like I was a personal trainer for such a long time and I never drank, like I drank at birthday parties or weddings and that was about it.
Shaylen: right.
Rae Leigh: And now like doing music. Everyone buys drinks all the time. And if you sing, they buy you even more drinks. And so it's
Shaylen: God.
Rae Leigh: and you feel rude because they're buying a drink because they want to say that they appreciate your singing and that, you know, they like you,
Shaylen: thousand
Rae Leigh: but it, it feels so rude to be like, no, I don't want your appreciation.
It's I do want your appreciation. I just don't want the alcohol that comes with it.
Shaylen: Hundred
Rae Leigh: so hard.
Shaylen: I understand this on many levels.
Rae Leigh: If you have a workout, the hack to like how to bridge that drink,
Shaylen: will let
Rae Leigh: like a nice way.
Shaylen: I will let you freaking know.
Rae Leigh: Nina, wait, I probably should have a talk to the bartender beforehand and be like, look, if someone wants to buy me a drink, can you make sure it's not alcoholic?
And just tell them there's alcohol in it?
Shaylen: the only thing I've ever I, the only time I've ever figured that out, when it comes to shots, I haven't, but I literally I'll go out now and I'll sip on soda, water with a lime and just say, it's like Bob Kasota and no one ever knows. So that, that way cause people are like, why are you drinking?
Why are you drinking? I'm like, I am like, I just don't. I don't like shots, you know,
Rae Leigh: I don't need alcohol at all. I really don't.
Shaylen: literally the
devil.
Rae Leigh: some people need it though. Just
Shaylen: They do, and it's
fine.
Rae Leigh: and
Shaylen: Totally fine. No
judgment,
Rae Leigh: make everyone else drink.
Shaylen: I, yeah, I'm like, I don't need to drink just because you're drinking. Like I'm having a great time.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, but they think that you do anyway whole nother topic, a whole nother topic. Anyway. All Right. We should start a drinking podcast. We just talk about these issues
Shaylen: tricking and how not to drink.
Rae Leigh: or how to drink and then not drink. Okay. This is my last major question for you. If you could, co-write a song with anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and why?
Shaylen: Oh my God. That's such a hard question. Oh God. Okay.
Rae Leigh: Just one.
Shaylen: Gotcha. Julia Michaels. A hundred percent. I'm such a fan. Y I think that our writing style especially this last EAP that she put out, like his album I just, I I'm just like that Xs song. All my exes are dead. Wow. Like I truly, I mean, issues obviously, and then every song that she's ever written for any other artist is she's just, I don't understand what her brain sees or hears.
It's just beautiful to me. So I just have this respect for her that I would just love, even if I just was sitting in on the session and said not one word, I would just be so honored, to be honest with you. I would love to collaborate. Oh my God. Max Martin, obviously. I mean every pop song that I ever grew up listening to that made me want to do pop music was max Martin.
Yeah, I just, there, he obviously has a science to it that I, and his writers that he brings in it's, it's just crazy. Like some of the most. I call them timestamps for my life because I truly like when I was 16, when I was getting my car, my first make-out like every, I had a song, I swear to God, every monumental moment in my life.
I had a song for, yeah.
Rae Leigh: your, what was your first make-out so,
Shaylen: Oh my God. He was, oh my God. Hold on. It's called. Hold on. Hold on. That's so funny. You just asked me that. Oh, it was wicked games by the weekend.
Rae Leigh: oh, wow.
Shaylen: yeah. Yeah. My high school sweetheart. Crazy, crazy shout out. But that was a great moment. Really great moment. And that was over the weekend.
That was like, bro, that was like, and I don't know for me right now, like I haven't the last song I've had really timestamped anything for me was the middle by Zedd and Marin Morris and gray. But yeah, pop music. It's had a massive shift, I think
Rae Leigh: yeah.
Shaylen: It's pretty crazy. And I don't know if it's the older you get, like you don't really I don't know.
It's very, very interesting, but like Katy Perry, teenage dream. I remember like a 4th of July. It was the best night of my freaking life. I think I got drunk underage. Obviously don't know if I can say that, but like I literally remember for the July teenage dream playing. And I just, like, when I hear that song, I instantly am taken back.
Matthew coma with Alesso years is what it's called, but my first real EDM festival, hard music summer in Dallas, like that was like, I can, I can remember exactly what I was doing. Exactly. What month it was and exactly who I was with. And I'm just like, the music is crazy like that. So yeah, it's pretty freaking insane.
Like pop music, pop music, any kind of music. It's just like a timestamp. So those, I have a massive, I just have an appreciation for music like that. As far as it being significant moments in my life. But to tie that back. I don't know how I tied that back into max Martin and Julie Michaels, but max Martin has created some of the, literally the biggest timestamps in my life.
Along with Dr. Luke with Katy Perry pretty crazy. So those two living an alley symposia would love to work with.
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Shaylen: I think she's a rock star. Oh God man. There's so many honestly, now that I'm thinking about it Lewis bell, Frank Dukes. I literally, if you ever hear this, please hit me up. Jon Bellion.
Oh my God. So many
Rae Leigh: for a while. I'm sure. And if you keep going, people will get offended. If
Shaylen: I know. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to say too many more because I love everybody. I think everyone that yeah, it's freaking crazy. I'm not alive. Michael Jackson,
Rae Leigh: Oh, yes.
Shaylen: Oh God. I mean alive. Dave Matthews, please hit me up. I love you so much.
Yeah, there's too many to name, but those are like,
Rae Leigh: out now for Shaylin's future collaborators.
Shaylen: everybody loves me so much.
Rae Leigh: Clearly we know if you've listened, if you've listened this far to the podcast, she's a really hard worker and she will make it rock like that. So you need to know. Okay, so w what have you got coming up now? You've released dosey. DOE what is your plan for the rest of this year or coming up next year?
What, what can we expect from Shaylynn?
Shaylen: none of them are allowed to talk about it quite yet, but I have, I have a few shows I might be on not my personal headlining tour, but might have a tour coming up that I will be talking about hopefully pretty soon. Cause I think it's in the next two months that I would be going on it. So I literally just found out some details today.
So. Really
Rae Leigh: Well, we won't jinx it.
Shaylen: Yeah. But when you do hear this hopefully I'll have solidified exactly what it is super excited for live shows. Oh my God. I do have technically my first show live August 13th and Nashville, which I am so stoked on. Bringing me to my next point. I'm doing a lot of stuff in Nashville right now, which I'm, it's crazy to go back to my roots.
So country music is kind of like dosey DOE kind of unlocked this everything I do right.
Has like this undertone of country, but I think it did open up this can of worms to like, I don't know. It's, it's very
Rae Leigh: yeah.
I can say that like country, especially the way countries going now, it's very pop sort of.
Shaylen: yeah.
Rae Leigh: mesh up and you also kind of really fits that vibe. So think it'd be interesting to see what happens and who knows, who knows what will happen?
Shaylen: and I know some people online are like this isn't country and I'm like, oh my God. I was not like saying that it was so solid Gundry. Like I was just saying it has like undertones of country. So everyone listening, like to chill out
Rae Leigh: Oh, look, if I had a dollar for every time someone said something wasn't country I'd be a millionaire. Like
Shaylen: literally, or like people are like this isn't pop this isn't this I'm like, oh my God.
Rae Leigh: I just
Shaylen: Please make something and tell me exactly the genre. Let me know. It's cause like right now John was, are all over the place. So
Rae Leigh: Oh, right. If there was a Raylee box and the Spotify list record to be like genre, really that's what I would take. I don't like sometimes I just want to take singer songwriter because I just don't care. Like I
Shaylen: yeah. And then all
Rae Leigh: shut up.
Shaylen: expert let me tell you. Yes, I freaking risks. The hell out of country music. Like I grew up listening to Alan Jackson, like the greats but like literally, please, like here now what I'm saying? Like the song he does have country undertones. So everyone is saying that it's not country.
Oh Lord Jesus, give me, give me.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, no, it's it's just cool that that's really all that matters. It's just a good song. So I'm looking forward to seeing everyone who wants to find out about this tour that she's not telling us a lot about, or any of this stuff that's going on. Put your socials and your website in the description of the podcast.
So people can follow you and just stay in touch and keep up to date with what you're doing. And hopefully we'll get you over in Australia at some point, you know, and just put on a big party. But yeah, no, I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your journey and the stories and lessons that I've learned and everyone who's listening will be able to learn from it. as well. So it's hustle and yeah.
Shaylen: Thank you so much for freaking having me This was so cool and my first podcast ever. so thank you.
Rae Leigh: I popped your podcast,
Shaylen: I literally. W I, you did. I literally you've taken my virginity applied podcasting I
Rae Leigh: Ah, one and only.
Shaylen: they told me about it, I was so
Rae Leigh: Really no way.
Shaylen: I really appreciate
Rae Leigh: crazy because there's so many podcasts out there and I'm just having so much fun, like meeting people like you. And if we're ever able to get to collaborate for whatever reason or write together one day, that'd be amazing.
Shaylen: Thousand percent you just let me know.
Rae Leigh: absolutely. But as for now, everyone go and check out her socials, check out dosey DOE it's a great song.
And yeah, we'll give you a good plug. Thank you so much for jumping on. I really appreciate it.
Shaylen: Thank you so much.
Rae Leigh: Wow.
