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 know inside when you've written a song that it will be a hit? You know when you've written a good song, but there is a lot more involved with something becoming a hit—including timing and what else is on the radio. There may be other factors such as if there is a sensa- tional news story about the artist at that time, if the song was in a popular movie, or whether the video for the song is good or bad. It's like lightning in a bottle. I know when I feel a song should become a hit, but that doesn't mean that it will become one. " Probably as kids, we heard a song and it hit us, giving us goose bumps on the back of the neck. As musicians, basically we are trying everyday to get that feeling back again." Aside from a hit, what do you think artists and producers want when they collaborate with you? I think I am known for storytelling and good melodies. A lot of pop music lacks those. You can make a verse up from one note, but I subscribe to a more melodic style. I work with a lot of the singers that have range. Do you study an artist's voice to learn where he or she sounds best? It's mostly intuitive, but I do my homework listening to records to see what keys they sound good in and how high or low they can go. Sometimes I've felt that an artist hasn't gotten it right on their records yet. When I worked with Fantasia, I didn't think anyone had found the sweet spot in her voice. She can sing anything, but I decided to start the song low in her alto range. It's really pretty and a lot of people haven't heard it. I knew it would give her more space to do the gospel thing. People appreciated hearing that and I think it's a big part of why she won best vocal performance for that song at the [2010] Grammy Awards. After her third album, people saw that her instrument is beautiful and there was a texture to her voice they hadn't heard before. I try to push the limits a little bit to see if I can get something out of artists that they didn't know they could do. Your Song "Better Than I Know Myself" for Adam Lambert has a soaring high note at the end of the chorus. Is that an example of how you highlight someone's vocal abilities? I put that note there because I knew Adam could sing it. If you don't capitalize on the artist's gift, you are almost doing yourself a disservice. You don't want to overdo it, but you want people to understand why this singer's voice is so special. With Adam, he can hit any- thing he wants. When we did that chorus, I wanted to give him a "money note," something that would blow people away. He nailed it every time. With a song, you have three minutes and 30 seconds to get people's attention and make them forget about what's going on in the world. You want those minutes to count. Can you talk about your work writing for TV and movies? I love storytelling and imagery, so when someone gives me a script or a theme and wants a song for it, I thrive. I wrote a song for Sex and the City 2 called "Love Is Your Color," a duet by Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis that played with the ending credits. I wrote two songs for Christina Aguilera to sing in the movie Burlesque. It's funny: The movie didn't do that well, but the soundtrack did very well. It went gold and stayed in the top 200 charts for almost a year. People liked the music. I want to do more work for film. One of my goals is to do a whole soundtrack and get into film scoring at some point. What artists have had the most influence on your writing? I would say Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Sting and the Police, Babyface, and Sade. You find yourself going back to things you loved. The reason we are all in music—whether it's playing the trumpet or scoring a film—is that we're chasing the chill factor. Probably as kids, we heard a song and it hit us, giving us goose bumps on the back of the neck. As musicians, basically we are trying every day to get that feeling back again. Some days we get it, some days we don't. It's the reason we buy CDs and DVDs, go to con- certs, and write music. It's a little bit of heaven that we're chasing. This is why I'm in the studio every day try- ing to write a song that might have the chill factor. Sometimes you realize as you're writing that there is something special happening. I had that feeling about "Hold My Hand" and "Bittersweet." But other times, you don't realize you've written something like that until you hear the performance. I wrote "Grenade" pretty quickly. Then I left town and kind of forgot about it. It wasn't until I heard it on the radio that I got a chill from it. We're chasin' the chills. That's the bot- tom line. People who really love music and are in it for the right reasons understand that. The chill factor is more important than money or other things to these people. You can feel it when you're in a room with someone who feels that way. These are the only people I want to work with. That's the reason why people live and die by their music and commit to this lifestyle and career, which are difficult. I can't see myself doing anything else. I do nothing for the money, I'm always thinking, "Today might be the day that I get a song like that." 16 Berklee today