Shaed (stylized SHAED, pronounced "shade") is an American

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

trio based in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The group consists of lead vocalist Chelsea Lee and multi-instrumentalists Max and Spencer Ernst. They released their breakthrough single "

Trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame often using many coiled spring (device), springs. People bounce on trampolines for recreational and competitive purposes. The fabric that use ...

" in June 2018.

History

Twin siblings Max and Spencer Ernst grew up in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

, and showed an interest in music from a very young age. In middle school, they and some friends formed a rock band called Upslide. Upslide performed locally in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

for several years, which eventually led the twins to attract the attention of a New York-based management company, Magus Entertainment, who secured them a publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music. While attending

Gonzaga College High School Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the ...

, they formed a pop duo called Trust Fall and began touring other parts of the country. Max and Spencer met Chelsea Lee in 2007 while they were performing at the 9:30 Club, a club in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Around 2009, Chelsea signed as a solo artist with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The same year, Max announced his homosexuality to his brother. In 2010, Chelsea and Spencer both began a romantic relationship. Following high school, the Ernst twins deferred attending college in hopes of getting a record deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. The deal ultimately fell through, and they both went to the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

in the spring. While attending college, the twins formed a folk rock duo called The Walking Sticks. The Walking Sticks released their debut EP ''World So Bright'' on June 27, 2012, when the twins were in their senior year of college. The songs on the album were all recorded live, and featured an acoustic roots rock sound. Having ended her solo contract with

in 2011, Lee joined The Walking Sticks sometime after ''World So Bright'' was released. In late 2013, The Walking Sticks released their second EP, ''Send the Night''. With this release, the group completely changed their music style, transitioning from folk rock to dream-pop. In March 2016, The Walking Sticks changed their name to Shaed, in recognition of their new stylistic leanings. They signed with

Photo Finish Records Photo Finish Records is an American independent record label founded by Matt Galle in 2006. Based in New York City, the label specializes in alternative rock, pop, and electronic artists. It was first distributed through Atlantic Records, t ...

by June 2016, and toured with

Marian Hill Marian Hill is an American electronic music duo from Philadelphia consisting of record producer Jeremy Lloyd and singer Samantha Gongol. The duo released their debut EP, ''Play'', in 2014, and released their second EP, ''Sway'', in 2015. The duo ...

and

Vérité Kelsey Regina Byrne (born May 6, 1990), known professionally as Vérité (stylized as VÉRITÉ), is an American singer and songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York City. Her first single "Strange Enough" was self-released in July 2014, reaching n ...

in the fall of 2016. In September 2016, Shaed released ''Just Wanna See'', their debut EP under their new name. Their single "Name On It" was the featured track for a

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...

commercial which debuted on May 15, 2018. In April 2017, Shaed went on tour again as an opener for

Bishop Briggs Sarah Grace McLaughlin (born 18 July 1992), known professionally as Bishop Briggs, is an English singer and songwriter. Her single "River (Bishop Briggs song), River" peaked at number 3 on the US Alternative Chart, and has been streamed more t ...

. In September 2017, the band moved into a house together, and began recording in a home studio for their second EP, ''Melt''. On May 18, 2018, Shaed debuted their first single from the EP, "

". The group released ''Melt'' on September 21, 2018, via Photo Finish Records. On October 30, 2018, Apple debuted their MacBook Air commercial featuring "Trampoline". Chelsea Lee and Spencer Ernst were married in Arlington, Virginia during the first weekend of October 2018. Their new single "No Other Way" was released on October 16, 2020, via Photo Finish Records. Chelsea and Spencer welcomed daughter June River on January 29, 2022, according to the band's

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

page.

Band members

* Chelsea Lee – lead vocals (–present) * Spencer Ernst – keyboards, drums, guitars, vocals (2011–present) * Max Ernst – keyboards, drums, guitars, vocals (2011–present)

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Independent extended plays

* ''World So Bright'' (2012) * ''Send the Night'' (2013) * ''Pop Dreams'' (2014)

Singles

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control American indie pop groups Electronic music groups from Washington, D.C. Electronic music groups from Maryland 2011 establishments in Maryland 2011 establishments in Washington, D.C. Musical trios from Washington, D.C. Photo Finish Records artists Sibling musical groups