Archie Selects
Photography by Savannah Sykes
Seattle-based pop artist Archie has a smooth and infectious sound that makes you want to hit repeat. Archie’s dreamy pop vocals are anchored by her powerful message of reclaiming her power and further amplified by stunning visuals. Drawing inspiration from 80s and 90s Science Fiction movies, old Hollywood glamour and drag artists, Archie says her influences can’t be put into any one category; she’s inspired by anything and everything.
Since she began rising through the Seattle-scene in 2018, Archie has graced the stages of Capitol Hill Block Party and The Neptune Theatre, even making the Seattle Times critics choice list for top albums of 2019. Known for her dazzling music videos and self-love anthems like “Bad Bitch,” Archie is making a name for herself as a burgeoning pop-star in Seattle and beyond. From developing music videos and choreography with her creative team, to conceptualizing and creating intricate outfits for her performances, Archie is a multifaceted artist with a dynamic creative vision and several creative projects on the horizon.
Listen to Archie’s handpicked favorites:
Let's start with something light-hearted: what’s a piece of media you’re obsessed with right now? It could be anything; a song, Tik Tok, a meme, or a Tweet.
I'm obsessed with “Save Your Tears'' by The Weeknd. I just love that song. I just did a video shoot and any second that we weren't rolling my song for footage, I was like, “Turn on ‘Save Your Tears.’” And then this channel on YouTube called Nemo’s Dreamscape. They have videos like “Oldies playing in another room while it's raining.” I listen to that every single day. In the morning at night, if I'm feeling stressed, if I'm feeling chill, when I take a bath, it's just perfect.
I read on your website that you studied economics in college and put off pursuing your creative endeavours to work on your academics. Can you tell more about what led you to pursue music after spending time in a world so different? How long has music been your dream?
I've just always written songs but I’d never considered that anyone could be an artist. This was pre-social media, so the idea of there being a viable pathway to artistry for just a regular person, I just didn't ever even occur to me to think about that as a possibility. So I just invested myself in academics, and then when I was in college, I took an economics class and I was really good at it. I was the top of my class, and so I kept going.
I dropped out of college in my last year because I knew if I got that degree, I would give myself an out from music, and I really knew I had to pursue music to be happy. It was hard to make that switch and to see myself as an artist, because I never had, even though I'd always been making art.
When I started out, I could not sing. I couldn't carry a note to say my life. I mean, it was bad. So I started doing YouTube vocal lessons, and then I started seeing actual vocal coaches, but I was so broke it was hard to see them consistently at first. But I found a vocal coach who I really, really liked, and she was super flexible with me and would let me do payments around my paydays. Her name was Rebecca Rivers and she was just amazing and like a mentor to me and she really helped me develop my voice and just gave me really sound advice to become a working musician.
She saw that I had big dreams, but I had no confidence at the time. And she said you have to take what you want and put yourself out there. I was bullied a lot as a kid and I was very weird. I didn't have a friend until I was like eight. Through those lessons with her and meeting my current partner, I just got the support I needed to let my little spark grow bigger.
Photography by Savannah Sykes
You’ve continued to put out music through 2020, a time where a lot of artists found a lot of inspiration, but also some difficulties making art in solitude. Tell me about what it was like being creative in the last year, has the pandemic changed your process?
Absolutely. This might come off as not great to some people, but the pandemic was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I've been working full-time since I was 14, and I've never had time and money, I've always had one or the other in the best of cases. But because I was laid off from my jobs and started getting unemployment, I was able to have no job, but also have money. And that was like the biggest gift of all time. So having all of that time, I was so energized and excited.
I started applying for grants, which I had always been too nervous to do. I didn't really think I deserved them, but I was like, fuck it. I am an artist and I have a lot to offer and I need funding for it. I got a few grants and it helped me develop a strong confidence over quarantine. I had so much time to just daydream and be weird. It has allowed me to think bigger than I did before. I recently worked on three of the most ambitious videos I've ever done and it was amazing.
You create these beautiful music videos and photoshoots to accompany and promote your music. I really love the video for “Bad Bitch” featuring DoNormaal, can you tell me more about what it was like to create that video and how you developed the concept?
When I filmed that one I didn't have any money and I didn't have a lot of time, but I did have an iPhone 7 and some willing friends. I think I spent maybe a total of $200 on that music video. I just feel really blessed that I have a lot of creative friends who volunteer themselves to me and volunteer their creative work to help me with my projects. My friend Nessa Tam came down from Vancouver to shoot some behind the scenes, and then I have a few other friends who were all in it as dancers. They just showed up, let me tell them what to wear and how to act. And then my friend DoNormaal who features on the song just moved to California and I was like, can you record on your phone in this filter?
I wanted it to look interesting because I felt like the quality of my phone was so bad, I had to put a filter on it to make it look intentionally distorted. Editing was really hard because we recorded it all on Instagram stories and then just downloaded them, but you can only do that in 15 second increments. I had hundreds of clips and trying to organize that was a nightmare, but I also edited that and I was really proud of it.
Can you tell me about some of the themes you explore in your music or some of the things that inspire you?
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to be a better person in terms of self-love. I've had horribly low self-esteem almost my entire life and it held me back so much. I want to leave behind as much of a blueprint as I can for people who struggle with similar things. I'm really inspired by the idea that I could share that connection with somebody. I'm very introverted, so my music allows me to connect with a lot of people without having to be around a lot of people at once. But personal development has been a huge inspiration for my songs. A lot of that has come through relationships for me. Some pretty bad relationships have led to a lot of self-development.
I'm also very inspired by film, which inspires all of my visuals and a lot of like themes in my songs. I love sci-fi. It’s the best genre. Fifth Element, Total Recall, Gatica, Starship Troopers, Running Man, and Demolition Man are some of my favorites. The beautiful thing about Sci-Fi particularly from the 80s and 90s is there's a really strong connection to fashion. Sci-Fi is a various aesthetically driven genre, and I am a very aesthetically driven person. I love world building. I love creating what isn't there yet, it’s just so special.
I also love old Hollywood movies, like Sunset Boulevard and Gilda. Yeah sci-fi and old Hollywood, those are my two favorites. They both have a certain drama and dystopia to them.
Seeing the way you interact with your fans and the people who support you on various platforms, it seems like you really care about your audience and community. Can you tell me more about how your community informs your art and the work you do?
I care a lot about anyone who supports me, and I do the best I can to support them as well. It just means the world to me that anyone would support me. It feels so special to me to have someone connect me with my music. I don't feel like there is a big barrier between me and people who like my music. I feel like we could see each other on the street and just be so glad to see each other. It just feels like a friend, so totally.
I'm also just incredibly inspired by the drag community here in Seattle. I get so much inspiration from them so I feel obligated to show up in the capacity I can to be supportive of drag artists both locally and non-locally. One of my biggest inspirations in Seattle is a duo called Luchi. Oh my god, they are so good. They dress like twins in all of their performances and they do a lot of Pop and choreography. Their whole concept is just so amazing, I find it so inspiring. I would love to work with them someday. Another artist Cucci Binaca pairs a lot of humor with drag in such an elevated way. I'm always really moved when I watch Cucci perform.
Photography by Savannah Sykes
One thing that I love about following you and your work is you’re always wearing these amazing outfits, especially when you’re performing. One of my recent favorites is the amazing Marie Antonette-inspired dress you posted. Can you tell me more about that look and why fashion and style is an important part of your creativity?
That look is for a video for a song that hasn't come out yet. At first, I was envisioning a very romantic woman in space. Things don't always work out how you see in your head, and I was really struggling with the costume, so I started thinking about other directions I could take. I started thinking about Ruby Rhod from Fifth Element and just the whole regal drama he had.
When I was struggling with the lower half, my friend Max Cassidy, who is a phenomenal stylist, came over one day and was like, what if we just draped it? You know the suntan lotion brand where the dog is pulling out the towel and it goes below the butt? She was like, what if we did that in the back? And I was like, perfect.
Sewing was the very first art form I ever learned. My mom is a phenomenal seamstress. She made a lot of my clothes when I was younger and she taught me to sew when I was five years old. I started out making my Barbie's clothes and then slowly made matching outfits for me and my Barbies.
I've always loved fashion, but I grew up extremely poor and felt very limited in my ways to express myself. I just never really felt super in control of my image or how people perceived me, so costuming has really allowed me to take control of my identity and show up how I want to show up. They don't sell clothes that look the way I want them to look, or at least not in my price range, so I make them. It's just fundamental for me to be perceived how I want to be and to express myself. It's become one of my strongest forms of self-expression and super connected to my music.
Live music is finally picking up again after months of being shut down. Can you tell me about a dream stage or venue you look forward to playing at someday?
I would love to play the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. I want to sell out the Paramount, that would be a dream for me. I love 20s architecture, and I just love that space. I think it's so beautiful. I got to film a music video there recently and it just felt so good to be on that stage.
I've seen shows there before, and it just always seemed so massive. But being on that stage, I started to get really comfortable and it just felt so good. I played the Neptune Theater a couple of years ago and I opened for Zara Larson and getting to play to like a crowd of that size, it's the best feeling I've ever had. I feel like getting to replicate that or something similar at my own show, in a historic theater that is just so beautiful and like hearkens back to a time when entertainment was just this really special, sacred thing, I would love that.
Speaking of, I saw that you were just at the Paramount Theater in Seattle shooting a new music video. Your intergalactic outfits made me really excited to hear some of the new music you’ve been working on. Can you give us a sneak peak of what we should be looking out for in the coming months?
I have three videos coming out and two of them are for songs that are not released yet. I also just started pre-production on another video. So look out for visuals. I‘m trying to do more visuals this year. I think that's one of my strong suits and I really enjoy it. I have a creative team around me now that is so phenomenal. I just feel really excited about visuals and releasing all this music I've been sitting on. Expect an EP, or two…
Lastly, can you tell me about why you picked some of the tracks for this playlist?
I have a lot of anxiety, so I usually end up listening to music that’s relaxing or soothing. These are basically all my go-to songs. I love 90s trip hop and James Blake and 070 Shake, like kind of alternative downtempo music that is almost like an emotion of longing that I just really find comforting.
I also included “Orange Colored Sky'' by Nat King Cole, which just has such sentimental value to me. It just reminds me of being 19 and living in my apartment with my friend, listening to Nat King Cole, eating salad by the window. It was a vibe and reminds me of a really special time in my life. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Fats Waller I've been listening to lately, and then a few old jazz tracks I love.