An angelic voice is emerging from Los Angeles with a devilish swagger. R&B artist Elly Shane just dropped her debut single “Prototype“, a track that sounds like a modernized version of a 90s babymaking slow jam. Below, we discuss her new single, working in collaborative spaces, and the lineage of influences through multiple generations.
First of all, I wanted to say that I love your debut single, “Prototype”. What is the story behind that track?
Lyrically that song is definitely just me processing being a workaholic, but also kind of wanting love which I think is pretty common in people my age right now. Everyone’s on their grind right now especially during COVID I was pretty focused on my music. For me, music is my number one so it was hard to figure out if I wanted a relationship or not with this one guy. In the song, I tried to write it from me wrestling with rejecting love but at the end of the day also wanting it at the same time: I tried to show the inner turmoil going on in my head at the time.
I met my collaborator through zoom school, I was in Denver and they were in Los Angeles and we just hit it off. He sent me that track and I loved it so I wrote Prototype on that. It came really fast to me, I wrote it all on the Super Bowl day.
The “zoom school” you met your producer Ryan Baer at was USC, right?
Yeah, it was through USC. We had a class together and he reached out to me through Instagram because I had a few singing videos up. He asked me if I wanted any beats and I initially said no because the class was pretty big and I was like “who is this person?”. But after checking out his work I was blown away and I asked him for a second chance. He sent me some stuff and we hit it off right away and we still work together. We’re working on an EP right now but “Prototype” is from the first batch of songs we did.
You mentioned that you are originally from Denver. Do you live out there or are you in LA?
I’m in Los Angeles for school. My family and home are in Denver. I’ll probably end up in Los Angeles but Denver will always be home.
Those are two very different places. How has the change of environment influenced your creativity and songwriting?
So much! It’s completely different. When I was in Denver my music process was pretty isolated because the scene in Denver is not huge for R&B. It was pretty much just me writing on piano and guitar; I didn’t have any collaborators out there so I was lonely but really focused. So coming to Los Angeles where it seems like everyone makes music I’ve found it to be so inspiring. It brought my music to life in a way that wasn’t possible in Denver. Now, my main collaborator, Ryan Baer is right down the hall from me at school. Also, I can make a call and have a jazz pianist show up to our dorm and add stuff to a song whereas in Denver it was just me alone.
Here my songs have more depth in a way that they never could in Denver because I can collaborate with other kids. There’s something so cool about music and collaboration and I’ve never had that before. It’s been really influential on this EP and for me as an artist because I’m able to bounce ideas off people. It’s more fun; creating something in a group and having this child that you have all created. Do you know what I mean?
There’s something so cool about music and collaboration and I’ve never had that before. It’s been really influential on this EP and for me as an artist because I’m able to bounce ideas off people. It’s more fun…
Elly Shane
Yes. As a musician in SoCal, I totally get what you’re saying.
I had never co-written before I came to LA. I’m not saying there are no musicians in Denver, I just wasn’t connected to them. There wasn’t much of an r&b scene there.
Yeah, it definitely seems to be more prevalent here in Los Angeles. When listening to “Prototype” the first thing that caught my attention was your voice. When did you start singing? It seems like you’ve had a lot of practice.
Thank you so much. I have always been the singer in my family. Nobody really sings in my family so my mom was very surprised to find out I was not tone-deaf. From the beginning, I knew singing was it and they could never shut me up. I remember begging my mom for voice lessons when I was little and she made me wait until middle school because she did research that said you should wait until after puberty. So I started in middle school and remember putting in a lot of time but obviously, you never stop growing. I’m still trying to grow as a vocalist always.
My main influence is Brandy, she is an R&B 90’s artist and I studied her like crazy in high school so she’s also in there somewhere.
I was just about to ask you about influences. When listening to your music I got a Julia Michaels/Ariana Grande vibe. What artists influence you when you’re making music?
I’ve spent so much time listening to Brandy, Faith Evans, Rihanna, Beyonce, Whitney Houston. I’ve studied a lot of people like that but I am not necessarily thinking of them as I am making music but because I love their music so much you can hear their influence. I love Ariana Grande so much and I know she studied Whitney Houston who Brandy also studied, so everyone’s kinda connected.
That’s cool how there’s a family tree of who studied who. Hopefully, you’ll be next in line and they’ll say, “Elly Shane studied Brandy, who studied Whitney Houston.”
Right. That would be amazing. It’s so cool because everyone introduces something new. I don’t know, maybe Ariana Grande loves Jack Johnson or something random and she can put in his influence.
Yeah, that definitely works for collaborations too. You don’t just have your influences when you work together, everyone has their own influences and “trees” and you’re able to combine them all.
You got five trees at that point… a forest!
So you’re fresh off your first single and you were hinting at an EP. What are your plans for your music coming up?
Yeah! Big plans are in the works, always. I’m working on an EP right now in this collaborative space at USC so I’m working with Ryan Baer who is producing the whole project. We’re planning on putting it out the first weekend of March. We’re also planning a live show in 2022 for the release of the EP and we’re thinking of putting out the next single in January. I’m very excited.
Yeah, that’s coming up.
I mean, it’s done, we’re just figuring out the details… but yeah, we’re very excited for that.
It seems like USC has literally everyone there. There are artists, people in the industry, artists that focus more on producing, and so forth.
It’s amazing honestly. It’s this whole ecosystem of people and right now nobody really has egos and wants to see each other win. It’s a really good place.
It looks like a fruitful place to work in because everyone has the same goals in mind.
You’re always welcome to USC! There are always shows going on. You should definitely come to the EP show.
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