SHREYA BOSE me on the management and publishing side . The work I did with BTS and Blackpink have been great as far as international profiles go and I ’ m very honored to have been a part of some great records since .
From a producer ’ s perspective , why do you think K-pop has exploded across the globe ?
I think that even though it may feel l like K-pop ‘ came out of nowhere ’ – dig a little deeper and you ’ ll find that this moment has been building for at least a decade for K-Pop ( Girls Gen , Big Bang , EXO and obviously PSY and others all had huge moments globally before the likes of BTS and Blackpink etc ).
I think apart from the fact that the music is super catchy and well put together and the videos are of extremely high quality , K-Pop culture has mastered the art of community and fanbase building globally and it ’ s just the perfect storm now .
When you are working with artists as diverse as Chris Brown , Luhan and Rossa , how do you end up making music that doesn ’ t sound factory-produced and matches each of the artists ?
A lot of those artists are such superstars and so well defined as artists in their own right , that it ’ s hard to make something that isn ’ t authentically them – if you tried to they just wouldn ’ t perform it because they know themselves so well .
From a producer / writer point of view , we just try to write great songs that are as true as they can be to these artists ( and hopefully have that ‘ hit ’ factor !), knowing that as soon as they touch the records , they are able to make them sound authentically like them and not ‘ factory produced ’.
Can you tell us a bit about your Indian roots ? Are you still connected to them ?
Definitely ! I still try and visit India as frequently as possible ( much of my family is based around Maharashtra ) and I ’ ve worked with a number of Indian artists as well which always keeps me connected in some way to what ’ s going on in India .
As a producer and writer that works primarily in the U . S . pop world , I wouldn ’ t say there ’ s a lot of direct Indian musical influence I put into records but I like to think it ’ s always there just because of who I am and the music I grew up around as a kid .
Have you ever considered making music in India ?
I have and I am currently working on a couple of projects with Indian artists ☺
You had a pretty rough life before you made it big - living in a tiny joint , eating ramen noodles and tuna . Has that hardship affected your art ?
Haha . I guess in telling the story it seems like a tough time but the honest truth is that they were some of the most fun times of my life and I wouldn ’ t trade them for anything . I had come to L . A . from a life in Sydney where I was trying to fit in the box of corporate life that just wasn ’ t for me . So when I moved to L . A . and had those ‘ struggle years ’; maybe I wasn ’ t financially secure but I was still making music ( though not getting paid for it ), being creative , meeting interesting people , having some unique , sometimes scary experiences and just hustling and trying to make it work .
In a lot of ways it was such a fun time and an incredible learning experience . I ’ m sure it ’ s affected my work in some way , but has also made me appreciate the good luck I ’ ve had and what I ’ ve got now .
Has there been a point when you felt like you had “ made it ”?
Not really , I think the ‘ next thing ’ always drives us where you feel you ’ ve never made it till you reach that goal . At the same time , I ’ m grateful for the fact that this is my full-time job now and that I ’ m surrounded by the best in the world at what I do . I ’ ve had some great releases and moments and I couldn ’ t have imagined this life even 6 years ago – so from that point of view I guess I ’ ve kind of ‘ made it ’?
Who have you enjoyed working with the most till date ?
I ’ ve loved each artist experience for different reasons – it ’ s impossible to pick a favorite . The reason I love working with Noah Cyrus is completely different from how I loved the experience with Demi etc . Recently , I am very excited about a new artist I ’ m developing here in L . A ., which you ’ ll hear a lot about soon hopefully !
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