Slayyyter Sucks: “I’m Actually In Quite A Financial Pickle Right Now”

Our new regular column explores the ways in which our favourite people suck — from how they waste money to the bad health decisions they’re making — in the hope that we’ll learn from their mistakes.

Slayyyter’s one of the coolest musicians in the world right now. Since 2018, she’s been releasing larger-than-life glitchy electropop that’s going to blow your speakers up, in the process collaborating with the likes of Pussy Riot and Peking Duk. Every move she makes sends Twitter stans into raptures, and for good reason: being a Slayyyter fan is FUN.

However, there are aspects of Slayyyter’s personality that the world doesn’t always see. She’s secretly a lover of musicals, and when she’s not tearing up stages across the globe or hitting the studio to record her next hit, she’s scrolling TikTok for hours and hours. Slayyyter doesn’t suck — not by any means — but as she tells us, there are a couple of habits she’d like to kick. 

Junkee: A mistake that turned into an opportunity?

I would say one of the best examples is my last job I had before music. I was a hair salon receptionist. I was really bad at that job, spent a lot of time on my phone, got in a lot of trouble, was constantly on SoundCloud checking plays for music I was uploading. I just was not giving that job its attention.

Finally, my music started to hit off and I think my boss was like ‘do you even care about this job?’ And I was like, ‘not really’. [laughs]. And I quit. And then I guess that’s when all my music kind of started blowing up.

Cringe quote you used to live by?

I feel like the cringiest one is probably YOLO (You Only Live Once). I definitely in high school used to live by that religiously. Still do, actually

Worst advice you got and blindly followed?

Probably when everyone told me my eyebrows looked really good when I was plucking them crazy, everyone was like, ‘we love your thin eyebrows’. And then all of a sudden I looked back at pictures and I was like, ‘I looked like an insane person’. 

The worst failure you’re up for sharing, and what you learned from it? 

Maybe relationship failures. I feel like even when relationships don’t work out, there’s always a lot of life lessons to be learned and a lot of sick music to write and make about it. I had a pretty major relationship where we were living together and it taught me so much – the demise of that taught me a lot of things about myself.

Anything you used to be wrong about?

I used to be really wrong about what I was wearing a couple years ago. I feel like I dress cooler now, but I used to really think I was killing the fashion game. I was wearing the craziest platform shoes and really bad Dolls Kill outfits

Embarrassing Internet habit?

I have such a chronically online language I speak with. I very much speak in stan Twitter terms and I feel like I’ll let it drop in front of normal people or my mom, and she’s like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ And it’s all stan Twitter lingo, like ‘she’s mother’. 

Ideal morning routine versus actual morning routine? 

Ideal morning routine is probably like an early 7:00 AM workout, doing my skincare and having a healthy breakfast. My actual morning routine, not to brag, I do stick to that for the most part, but usually there’s a lot of coffee and I’m just a little more pissed off.

Something very off-brand for you?

Oh, this one is gonna really suck to admit something that’s very off brand for me. I love musical theatre and that’s so embarrassing, but I do, I don’t care. I love it. I’ve always loved it. I loved being in choir in high school and I love theater. It might not be the coolest culture to some people, but I think it’s what makes me so theatrical as an artist.

Side note, are you excited for Wicked?

Wicked? Yes! [laughs] I had the solos in high school when we did a Wicked showcase and I had the ‘Defying Gravity’ solo, like, hello? I’m very excited. I squealed like a freak when they announced the cast, I was so excited.

Bad health decision? 

Smoking cigarettes. I’m still struggling to cut those outta my life. But they’re really expensive down here [in Australia], so it’s not hard to lay off it..

Another side note, is vaping still big in the States?

Yes. Oh my God. I vape all the time. That’s another thing too. Nicotine in general, I have a big issue with because I’m a nervous, anxious person and it relaxes me.

What do you waste money on?

I waste money on literally everything. I’m actually in quite a financial pickle right now from how much money I waste on clothes and shoes. I love vintage designer, I love furniture. I love ’80s furniture. As soon as I get a little money I waste it all. I’m really good at shopping. [laughs]

Worst procrastination habit?
I love watching TikTok. I’m not even that obsessed with making them. I just love to scroll. TikTok, there’s never a boring moment on my timeline. It’s either something funny like a recipe that I wanna try or a clothing haul that I wanna watch. I could procrastinate on TikTok and Twitter all day.

Okay final side note, what’s the most random niche you’ve found yourself in?

Rhinestone TikTok. I love rhinestoning and I love watching people rhinestone things, like a Windex bottle. [laughs] It just mesmerizes me. I like to watch them while I rhinestone my little things that I like to rhinestone.

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Slayyyter is currently on tour in Australia as part of the 2023 Groovin The Moo Festival line-up. Click here to check out the full details of the tour, you can find more tickets for the Bendigo, Sunshine Coast and Bunbury legs of the festival here.

Editor’s note: This piece has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Words by Ben Madden, interview by Lia Kim.