Johan Pre-Shellback

[Romb]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if any of you actually know much about Johan Schuster's musical activities before he started to write pop. I'm one of those guys who came to the world of pop following his career. So yes, I didn't know who Max Martin is until he started to work with Shellback. Well, I definitely heard his music (who didn't), but I was not aware who wrote it and more over I didn't know the one man stands behind all of that 

I think I've got tons of information on Shellback through the years, almost that it feels I'm spying on him....haha. Not that I'm a freak, but it just fascinates me how he developed from a die hard metal head to a cheesy pop hit maker. And all these songs from MXM that have a rock edge to it are always coming from him. All the catchy guitars, unusual drum patterns etc.

But here we go, his band Blinded Colony that he left in 2007 to work with Max.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQUZMKTx57E

By this day I still think their album "Bedtime Prayers" is one of the best Modern Melodic Death Metal ever and everyone was pointing out the singer as for this style he was amazing.
If you actually listen to every song on the album and analyse vocal melodies you can tell Johan didn't came to Martin being blank, he already could write catchy melodies, Martin just shaped him for pop and that did the magic. 

Here's a little snippet from studio where you can actually see Johan fooling around with their song called "Halo" pretending it to be a pop song.

https://youtu.be/w8ABOZy6pPc?t=2m12s

It was actually a soundcheck of Blinded Colony when Johan came up with the idea for "So What" and recorded it on his phone. Sadly enough, the band dissolved after Johan left. On the bright side, now we have all this songs that he creates and makes probably much more people feeling happy, hehe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsn-jblap5E

And if your ears are still not bleeding (well done!), here's his previous to Blinded Colony band called Skörda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHoOmFXK3eU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXWvg6Hd4oA

I also have one of his tracks that's probably the heaviest I've ever heard and I love it, but I will save your mental health with that one, hahaha.

Well, in case you don't like his stuff I probably know what he would say:

[ShockdioN]

lol @ the pic

t4p !

[j.fco.morales]

I'm not really a fan of metal, but when a song is good, is good.
The arrangement makes the song, it's like clothes.

I read in the interview about Johan past work but I didn't search about it.
Thank you for the info!

[sweetmelody]

Shellback is a genius. Thank Romb! Any more info?

[Romb]

Shellback is a genius. Thank Romb! Any more info?

He definitely is a sick genius, haha.
You are welcome 

Well...depends what you want to know. If you got any particular questions - ask

[sweetmelody]

No specific questions, but anything related to his process, gear, songwriting, etc.

[Romb]

No specific questions, but anything related to his process, gear, songwriting, etc.

I don't think you can really describe the process of songwriting. My opinion is that it's not a science, so it's different every time and ideas can pop up from anywhere.
All I know is that he's recording ideas on his phone when he is not in the studio, but it seems to be a common practice for songwriters. Also, judging from the majority of his tunes, he actually comes up with songs on guitar, hence most of his tracks have catchy guitar riffs.

On the gear side...it seems that he tends to use Fender Jaguar/Fender Telecaster guitars the most.
He uses Waves CLA and AmpFarm plugin for guitars and live bass. Whatya Want From Me guitar sound is actually a standard preset from AmpFarm 

[AlexanderLaBrea]

Shellback and Max (Savan too etc.) have developed what they call melodic math, which would be increadibly interesting to hear more about. Of course it's not 100% science. Not even 50% probably, bit they definitely do have more thought out tips, tricks and "rules" than other songwriters. And they are that much more succesful too. So I can also miss more specific questions about this as they've only hinted about this in the past!

[Romb]

Shellback and Max (Savan too etc.) have developed what they call melodic math, which would be increadibly interesting to hear more about. Of course it's not 100% science. Not even 50% probably, bit they definitely do have more thought out tips, tricks and "rules" than other songwriters. And they are that much more succesful too. So I can also miss more specific questions about this as they've only hinted about this in the past!

I think those tricks and rules are actually production, not the writing. But I can't speak for them, maybe they do have some kind of math or formula, but I don't think they would do it long enough, it would be boring.

This can be their secret:

[AlexanderLaBrea]

The opposite actually. They are for writing, hence melodic math.

Obviously some parts have changed since the cheiron days to keep up with trends. And some Of the elements Savan and Arnthor for instance have talked about at ASCAP and other forums. But there is obviously much more knowledge they havn't shared publicly. In a sense, that is understandable, and some can be dechiffred by analyzing songs, but it would still be interesting to hear them talk about it! The fundamental approach to songwriting is still the same within the Max Martin "camp". The sonic nature will of course change over time, i.e the productions.

[j.fco.morales]

I could talk about this 24/7, I have my theories as well.

[AlexanderLaBrea]

I could talk about this 24/7, I have my theories as well.

It's a pretty amazing topic indeed. Please share!

[sweetmelody]

Would love to hear some of the math theories as well. Pretty much confirmed by Max in the big radio interview that they do this. Now we gotta figure this out! 

[turnaround]

He wrote and produced two tracks for the band "Refused"

http://www.allmusic.com/album/freedom-mw0002846024