Elle Archer of Shaylee Talks New Single ‘Snow Day’

Bundled up inside with a warm cup of whatever, it’s easy to shut reality out. Unfortunately, one cannot hide forever.

Portland-based power pop/dream punk trio Shaylee’s latest single “Snow Day” shines light on these hiding places and the mess we find once we dare to look. Performed live with new bandmates Robin Cook (bass) and Nate Anderson (drums), the track is a perfect showcase for Elle Archer’s shredding lead guitar, sweetly delivered vocals, and vulnerable songwriting. Perfect for fans of clever power pop like Courtney Barnett, Sloan, and Big Star, Shaylee’s songs ring out like anthems for a queer generation.

OFM caught up with Archer to talk more about the new track, her artistry, and how she will continue to have her voice heard in the music industry as a queer, trans woman.

Can you begin by telling us more about the concept and inspiration behind your new single “Snow Day?”

“Snow Day” came around when I was kind of starting a new relationship with the current Shaylee bassist, Robin Cook, who appears on the song, and I was kind of remembering a past relationship in which, early on in it, there was this crazy snow day. Literally, we were packed in, couldn’t drive, our only option to get around was public transit. My ex decided, no, I want to hang out with you anyway. They made the trek using public transit, and it took them hours and hours and hours to get here.

They eventually did and spent time with me, but meanwhile, I was just sitting on my ass in this unfinished basement I lived in feeling like I wasn’t ready for people to put forward effort for me. I was really self-conscious, and when that would happen, I felt like I wasn’t deserving of it, and I feel like that’s what this song reflects. Like, can’t you see I’m damaged goods with fully intact bad habits? I want you more than I can stand it, but it’s all about that feeling of incompleteness and insecurity headed in the face of inbound love and affection.

How has the song been received by listeners?

It’s been great! It’s definitely become a live favorite, which is nice, and I think this is the most full and complete song that we’ve put out as a unit. Everything else up to this point has been just me on the recordings and doing everything solo. It felt nice to invite the other bandmates into the fold, and I think fans are responding well. You get a few stragglers on Instagram, especially when the label puts ad money behind it, but their opinions don’t matter to me.

What do you ultimately hope audiences take away from “Snow Day?”

I guess I hope that they take away a hook in their head (laughs). I hope that it gets stuck in their head, and I hope it makes them feel a little bit less alone if they feel chronically underdeveloped. I was born in April 1996, so I’m on the cusp between Zoomer and Millennial, and because both generations are experiencing income inequality and all this nonsense, there are a ton of us living with our parents, fully dependent still and not feeling like we’re really complete as people. It’s kind of cynical how that emotion can feed into itself, and I guess I wanted to put that feeling to tape and really try to express the experience of what it’s like to not know if you’re worthy of love at that stage. I just want them to feel less alone in that feeling.

Would you say that’s how “Snow Day” is different from your previous works?

Emotionally speaking, I think “Snow Day” just kind of hammers it in. It focuses on it a little bit better, but my previous works, especially my last record, Short-Sighted Security, a great deal of it was about similar feelings and experiences of insecurity. I think with this one, it’s delivered in a more fun sort of way. Having tempo changes and the full band dynamic, it’s nice to make a song about not wanting to be alone and not being alone while making it.

How did Shaylee come together and form as a musical group?

It happened shortly after I moved to Portland four years ago. I have been releasing music under my dead name since I was 15 and have six albums under my belt, so I have been doing this whole make an album by myself, play all the instruments, and produce everything by myself for a super long time. However, I was kind of at a crossroads because I didn’t want to put music out under my dead name anymore, and I didn’t want to post this link so people could see it. I felt very uncomfortable, so I was looking for a new alias to put my music out under. I had a song sitting around that had the word ‘shaylee’ in it, and it kind of jumped out at me.

I was like, I guess I’ll go with that! Then, I think it was New Year’s Day of 2019, that’s when I started auditioning members from Craigslist and stuff. We’ve had a few turnovers in the process, and COVID took away the lineup that I had up to that point, but as a band now, Nate, our drummer, he joined in December 2021, so he’s been with us a little over a year. He moved down from Seattle and hadn’t played drums in a long time. He was super rusty, but he was like, “I’m not playing in any other bands,” and the drummer I was working with was in five bands. I put my faith in Nate, and he’s now the most powerful drummer we’ve ever had.

In terms of Robin joining the band, we started dating in February of last year, and come April, my bassist quit the band. So, I was looking for a bass player, and Robin is a classically trained musician. She went to the Interlochen School of Music in Michigan for oboe performance, so she’s got a particular educational background, but she plays bass as well and was interested in joining the band. There were some snags at first, especially because I can be such a damn perfectionist. After our first rehearsal, she was like, you cannot treat us this way anymore. She kicked my ass into gear and made me approach music with more of an attitude, less about demanding perfection, and more about cultivating good vibes.

Have you always had a passion for music, singing, and songwriting?

It goes back pretty much as far as my memories go back. I have been writing songs since I was around 5 or 6. I didn’t know how to play guitar back then, but I would get these plastic guitars, sit them on my lap, and strum the open strings and yell nonsense over it. Then, when I was 8, I started taking guitar lessons, and I was playing on stage by the time I was 13 or 14.

Once I discovered that the Rock Band video game mic that I had could be used as a USB, and you could plug it into Window XP and make music, the instant I discovered that I could do that, I took off and ran with it. I haven’t stopped running ever since.

As a queer, trans woman, how are you going to continue to have your voice heard in this industry?

Good question. I feel like in terms of trans visibility, it’s both at its best and worst that it’s ever been. We’re simultaneously more visible than ever before and have a lot of mainstream acceptance in that sense, but in terms of legal protections and transphobia being wielded as a political tool, it is off the damn charts right now! And to be frank, it’s very scary, especially putting myself out there and advertising my music out there with a label that puts money behind it. Transphobes come out of the woodwork and let you know that they’re there, but at the same time, I know that my voice is important.

I’ve had a lot of years to develop, and I feel like this band has really dialed in its sound at this point. It would be a shame if I let a few insecure projectors get in the way of that. So, I’m just in the business of trying to maintain my perspective that music is fun and something I want to do. My transness is absolutely a facet of my music, and I don’t try to shy away from it at all. I try to embrace it and show solidarity with my trans and queer fanbase as much as I can, but that’s something that definitely comes at a cost. It’s a double-edged sword, but one I aim to continue building regardless.

What are some future goals you hope Shaylee accomplishes?

I would love for us to book bigger tours and play in more cities. We haven’t gone down and played LA yet, so that’s definitely a goal of mine that I hope to achieve. We will be playing South by Southwest (SXSW) this year, which is very exciting, but playing in Texas, I’m absolutely going to say some shit on stage. You better believe it. Not a chance in hell I’m letting that go unforgiven.

I also just want us to be more visible. I want more people to hear what I’m doing, take it in, and just have as much of an impact on people as I can through my music and art. In terms of concrete goals, in the next few years, I’d love to drop another record, maybe a few EPS, design more shirts, and just play for more people.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?

I also play bass in a band called Club Deluxe, and that’s more centered around Portland. We should have a record coming out sometime either this year or next. We just finished tracking it. It’s more of a blues, garage rock sort of thing, but I’m the bass player, and there’s another trans femme, my friend Delaney, playing lead guitar. So, it’s another band full of trans people elbowing into a cis male dominated space (laughs).

Stay up-to-date and connect with Shaylee by following the band on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp. “Snow Day” is available on all digital streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Jason Quigley