Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/67927
Do you get many requests to write something and bring it to the artist? More often than not, I have the privilege of going into the studio with the artist. And that is a privilege. For a new writer, it would be very hard to get into the studio with somebody like Britney Spears or Kelly Clarkson. I spent many years demoing songs for artists and mak- ing the demos so good that they would get the art- ist's attention. Now it's faster for me to just go into the studio with the artist. It's one-stop shopping. You get in there with the artist, feel them out, write the song, and they can sing it right away. The label gets to hear it with the artist singing and not be left to imagine how it will sound with the artist's voice rather than mine. But I still demo things. That's where I get my kicks as a singer—I'm a singer first. I demo all my songs whether they are for a male or female artist. No matter what the key is, I'll find a way to get it out. Can you describe your approach to making demos? I'm somewhat of a chameleon in the studio. I usually turn the lights off and try to become the person I want to sing the song. I'm good at vocal inflections and ad libs. People ask me how I make a song for Miley Cyrus, Mary J. Blige, or Britney Spears. I tell them the songs and the topics are all the same. The topics are still "I love you," "I miss you," "I want you," "Let's party," or some kind of social commentary. But Whitney Houston said I love you in a different way than Britney Spears says it. One person might whisper it, another might scream it. One may say it with pain, and another would say it in a drunken stupor. That's what makes the demo process so interesting for me. I go into the studio and ask myself, "How would Toni Braxton say, 'I miss you'?" Is it true that you finish every song you start? Yes, as a rule. Sometimes you know when you are writ- ing it that it's not the best song. But I never walk away from a song after I've gotten a first verse and chorus. Once the theme and idea are out there, I have to see it through. I have lots of songs on my computer that are pretty good. But you want a song that's going to get out there and that someone else will feel. Does that mean you'll go back and take a good chorus from a song that you feel didn't have strong verses? Oh yeah, but I had to finish it to know that the verses weren't great. That's how "International Love" for Chris Brown and Pitbull came together. I wrote a whole song and felt the chorus was great, but the verses—not so much. I took the verses out and got a rapper on it. Chris Brown sang the choruses, and Pitbull rapped over it. I'm good at editing my work once I can sit back and see what I've created. How did the chance to work with country singer Martina McBride in 2011 come up? Lee Dannay, who works for my publisher Warner/ Chappell, knew Martina was writing. I'd never met Martina or her producer Nathan Chapman, but I flew down to Nashville and we wrote a song together. That one didn't stick, but we got along really well, and she requested me again. I went back and, together with Tommy Lee James, the three of us wrote "One Night." Martina wanted a song that was youthful and ener- getic to open up her concerts, and that's what we came up with. We had a blast. She is an amazing singer and writer. For a song like that, did you start by coming up with the groove? Absolutely. When you're in the room with someone, you can feel where they're at. With Martina, I knew she had been very successful and had sold a lot of records. She didn't have anything to prove. She just wanted to have a good time in a way that was age-appropriate. We sat there bouncing ideas back and forth, and we were honest with each other. She might say, "We could make that line better." And I would do the same thing. I'm not starstruck by anybody. You don't get the best songs when you're starstruck. You have to be hon- est with them to get their respect. I learned that quick- ly when I was producing vocals for Whitney Houston. I was a fan, and when she walked in, I was think- ing, "Wow, here's Whitney Houston." As we worked, I thought to myself, this may be my one shot, and I want her to sound good. I wasn't afraid to tell her, "You should go over the second verse again. I know you can do it better." I find that people respect you for that. Are you always at a session when an artist records your song? Yeah, I do vocal production for every song I write. I am very picky about the vocal performance. When the artist sings it, I want great pitch and the best perfor- mance, but more than that, the song has to be believ- able. That's what people get attached to. At Berklee, the emphasis is on fine-tuning your craft. But there is a fine line between the art and the science. You can get so into the specifics that you lose the feeling. I realized that we don't love a song because it's perfect, but because it make us feel a certain way. There's a point where you have to trust your skill and then let your emotions run wild. So I'm not just looking for a technically perfect vocal performance. I'd rather someone sing flat and give me chills rather than have them give me something perfectly in tune but kind of blah. That's my personal preference when I produce vocals. Spring 2012 15