#10.18.19

2019-20 Goals Game 5/82 (vs Columbus Blue Jackets)

10/18/2019 by Gab Ginsberg

For about a year now, alt-pop trio Shaed (vocalist Chelsea Lee and multi-instrumentalist brothers Max and Spencer Ernst) has been reaching new heights on almost a weekly basis, thanks to their breakout hit "Trampoline," which was initially featured in a MacBook Air campaign in October 2018.

Since then, the Washington, D.C.-based group’s success as a live act has been undeniable: they embarked on their first-ever headlining tour, then another. In between, they played almost every major festival under the sun. And come 2020, they'll help cement their status as a name to know in the alternative space when they take the stage at iHeartRadio ALTer EGO.

For “Trampoline,” there were appearances on the Alternative Songs and Pop Songs charts (the song topped the former in June) and the Hot 100, where it sits at No. 22 this week. In late September, Zayn hopped on board and contributed vocals to an instantly-viral new version.

So how does the trio plan to continue building momentum with "Trampoline" -- and beyond? Billboard sat down with the trio ahead of their sold-out show at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom earlier this month to talk about where they’re at.

How did this new version of "Trampoline" with Zayn come about?

Spencer: We were in Japan [at the time] and we wanted to do a feature with another artist for "Trampoline," because it was going up at radio. We were throwing out names and one of us threw out Zayn. We love his music.

How did you connect with him initially?

Spencer: Our management team and our label knew some people there. Somebody on our team just reached out to their team, and that was it. About a week and a half [after Japan], we’re in an Airbnb in L.A. and in the morning in our inbox, it says “vocals from Zayn.” Zayn cut the vocal super fast. He was already a fan of the song and wanted a feature on it. 

Max: It showed up in the inbox! And then we only had one day before we were back on tour. We came up with the vocal arrangement, and we were just really excited about his vocal. We wanted it to feel more like a duet and less like a second verse feature. What's the response been like?

Spencer: The Zayn fans freaked out. They came up with the #Zrampoline hashtag. The reception has been great. Our fans really dug it, too. And we've got a lot of fans from -- obviously, Zayn has a lot of fans [laughs].

"When You Don't Feel Like You Belong Anywhere"