Bob Lefsetz about Max Martin

[aikon_sinner]

Hello to all,

I am reading this board from time to time, cause I think Max Martin is a really talented person who has written many songs I like to listen to.


This is from a newsletter I regularly get and I thought maybe you all would like to read it too.

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" This is a business of favors.

And only an emotional obligation would have gotten me out of the house this afternoon.  It's pouring rain, and in L.A. it's either wimpy drizzle or the end of the world bucket drops, and Jason Flom wants me at the Mint at 5?

Don't schedule anything during rush hour.  Which at this point is seemingly from 6-10.  6 AM 'til 10 PM!  Traffic is so bad in Los Angeles I do my best to never leave my house.  It's just not worth it, I'm wasting too much time.  I shop at the supermarket after midnight, or online.  I don't want to while away my life gridlocked, no matter how much I love satellite radio.

It's coming down so heavily that I've got my wipers on the highest speed.  You know, the one that makes you think you're on meth.  I'm shy of Robertson Boulevard, and I've been in my car for an hour already.  I want to kill somebody.  The woman in the Mercedes trying to nudge in front of me, maybe myself.  There's not a single band worth this hell.  Except maybe the Beatles.  I spent a good chunk of the afternoon casing out some of their videos on YouTube, there's this incredible footage of the band in Germany.  You can see Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours in action.  They're not self-conscious, they're not uptight, they've played onstage ZILLIONS of times.  They don't need no stinking backup tapes.  They're enough.  Watch a clip and understand why we needed to go to the gig, why music revolutionized the world.

As opposed to the drivel today.  Except for a few tracks.  Oftentimes completely meaningless, but oh-so-right.  Like the Backstreet Boys' "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)".  Not that I was thinking of that number while I was stuck in traffic.  I was working my way up the Sirius dial from 1 on into infinity!  Actually, I ended up stuck at the country station.  Sounded like music to me!

And by time I reach the Mint, after the appointed hour, but before Jason has confidentially told me the act is going to hit the stage, it's barely drizzling.  But I take my umbrella with me anyway, knowing that weather comes from the west, and I'd just emerged from a meteorological event that was the H20 equivalent of a conflagration.

And when I get to the front door of the venue, Jason says we can't go in.  The gig was called for 5.  It's 5:20.  She's supposed to go on in 5 minutes.  But Jason says it's a legal issue.  I'm a lawyer, do I know what's going on?  Maybe a nightclub law, who the fuck knows.  But now, after racing here, afraid I'm going to miss the 25 minute set, I've now got to wait, outside?

I stand under the canopy and check my BlackBerry.  E-mail Felice.  I think about emerging onto the sidewalk to talk to Jason, but the guy next to him is smoking!  Didn't he get the memo?  Does he want to die?  This little pipsqueak with the gay sneakers is killing himself and I'm not going to stand next to him and have to put my entire wardrobe in the wash when I get home, I've still got places to go and people to see tonight!

But Jason motions with his arm and calls my name.  And introduces me to this living chimney.

"Bob, do you know Max Martin?"

Supposedly Max Martin is an overweight fifty year old who never leaves his house.  Hated by the industry for his talent, unknown by so many of the masses.  This can't be him.  This can't be the pop svengali.  He must be an impostor.  I must have heard wrong.

And while my mind is bending, they're asking me what's up in my life and I can barely get it out.  This is Max Martin?!

Soon thereafter they let us in, and like a groupie I hang by the Swedish mastermind and begin to quiz him.  How long is here for?  What's he doing here?

He must be nominated for some Grammy award.  But he tells me he's here to cut a track with the Backstreet Boys.

Isn't one of them gone?

Yeah, but he wasn't a key vocal element.

Yeah, the only key elements were Lou Pearlman and this shrimpy little 38 year old.

That's what he told me his age was.  I started getting his background.  He played in bands.  Then he went to work for Cheiron.  I had no fucking idea what he was talking about.  I just looked it up on Wikipedia.  It was a studio, there was this guy, who did Ace Of Base.  Max gave up singing and started writing and producing.

And this is where I come in.  I tell him the conventional wisdom is wrong!  People say everything is cyclical. There were kid hits in the sixties, the boy bands were no different, it's just the passing of the generations.  I told him this was incorrect.  New Kids On The Block sucked.  Their material was less than memorable.  But "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)"?  It may be meaningless, but it's a fantastic record!  Same deal with "I Want It That Way".

I tell Max Bruce has got it all wrong.  He needed to create one incredible track and whore it out.  Fuck an album.  That's the old model.  That's about money, not music.  If the Boss had just had one killer track, Top Forty radio would be forced to play it.  He could whore it out for commercials, sports shows.  The track could become a cultural institution.  Instead, he plays in front of ninety odd million people and moves a grand total of 250,000 records.  And if he's lucky, 175,000 next week.

So what kind of music does Max listen to in his spare time?

Actually, he doesn't listen to that much at all.  He's a regular consumer.  He comes home and plays with his seven year old in silence.  He listens to the radio in his car.  It's an era of singles.

But I tell him it's about careers.

And then, worried about monopolizing him, I let Max go.  He says we've got to continue the conversation, but is that just a figure of speech or..?

I catch up with Lee Trink, talk to him about his new deal with Kwatinetz, and end up watching the show right in front of Doug Morris.  And although Oliver Leiber and the band are killing it, and the first track by Jason's protege is quite good, I can't stop thinking about Max.  And then it hits me.  I just met a rock star.

I would have nothing to say to Britney.  Not more than a word to Kelly Clarkson.  They were just two dimensional vessels, marketed to the masses.  But what made it all work were the tracks underneath, so often written and produced by Max Martin.

I bought that initial Britney Spears albums.  "...Baby One More Time" is one of the best tracks of the nineties.  There's as much sex as any hip-hop hit, but a sassiness and intimacy and a catchiness evidenced in the classic pop tracks.

And the reason anybody even cares about Kelly Clarkson is "Since U Been Gone".

I realized I wasn't as jaded as I thought.  Max was unassuming, but I was still infatuated.  How did he do this?  How did he come up with this material?

Oftentimes in collaboration.  Hours were spent in perfecting the material.  But what was ultimately released, this was what was infiltrating the minds of the younger generation.

This was not a hack.  This was a guy working at the zenith of his abilities.  He took an oftentimes vilified musical form and created art!

On my way out of the Mint, Max caught my eye.  Told me he thought the girl had a great voice.  I told him what she needed most was him!  A great production by the Scandinavian wizard.  Who the mainstream wrote off, but the true cognoscenti knew was a genius."

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I have different opinions on some of the things he said but everyone can have his own  comments...


Nice greetz,
Aikon Sinner

[Linda]

thanks for sharing.
that was really interesting to read. =]

makes me think what i would do if i met him.
i prolly wouldn't stop blabbing.

[Rebecca]

wow, thanks Aikon and welcome

that was so interesting to read that. Max seems like a normal guy, though we know he's not. Great news that Max said that he's recording with Backstreet Boys!!

Aikon, I'm wondering what newsletter did you get that from?
was it The Lefsetz Letter?
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
but I can't see it there.

[Raul_esp]

Thanks  aikon!! , very interesting , max is so great!! , A new track for BSB? OMG! , is this article current??

[georg_e]

        Wow, thanks Alkon --fascinating article, and the image of Max smoking away is pretty wild.  If  you click on that blog  link that Rebecca gave, you can tell it's a very recent article. And by the way, don't miss the YouTube videos he has on there of the Beatles live in Germany --unbelievably great!!   Unlike most of their American shows, you can really hear them playing, and they were at their peak in these videos.

[georg_e]

 
  PS, I forgot to say Rebecca, that there's a small table of contents on that blog  htpp://leftsetz.com/wordpress/  on the right hand side, where the second entry is "Max Martin", which has the article and the Beatles videos attached to the article.

[Rebecca]

Thanks George, I see the blog on Max Martin now, it must have been put up after I posted! good to see that it's a recent blog, wow, Max is in LA now then! so nice he went to LA to record with BSB and didn't just phone it in, though I suppose he's also looking for new talent.

Don't get mad at me George, I know how Beatles fans feel about The Beatles but I don't think I can watch those youtube videos, my sister played Beatles so much growing up that I had enough for a lifetime, except for the song "Something" which is stunning.

[Feelgoodlies]

TBH I didn't understand anything from this article...

But I'm glad to hear that he's working with BSB as many of you are saying.

Thanks Aiken for the post.

[Alex Martin]

Thank's Aikon and welcome to the forum

[Rebecca]

I just signed up for The Lefsetz Letter and got an email with people's comments, and here's what people said about Max:

Re: Max Martin

I worked with Max and Dennis Pop (before his untimely passing) over at their place in Sweden. I felt the same way you did when I met Max - he's very unassuming, but an extraordinary talent and a lot of fun. Did he mention that he smokes those cigarettes in the studio around his automated boards, preamps, and magic wands!  Maybe the smoke has been the secret ingredient to his success. Glad you got to meet him.

Brad Fischetti
LFO/111

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Re: Max Martin

max martin owns pop
katie perry and pink no.1 singles are not nominated for grammy but both are max martin!
he is a genius!

Eric Harle

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Re: Max Martin

My Max Martin moment was Robyn's "Show Me Love." 

Isn't it interesting how different songs from different artists all have an emotional impact on you and at some point you come to realize the element that ties them all together is a producer.

Clyde Bass
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Re: Max Martin

Bob,

I was the touring guitarist and producer/writer for Backstreet Boys from 97-99. I had the pleasure of watching Max in action while recording the Millennium record at Battery Studios in NY. Although very talented, he had surrounded himself with an amazing team of engineer/writers. I think Max's unique sound came from his hard rock background and being under the tutelage of the late great producer/ writer Dennis Pop. Max is a Rockstar, but would always take the time to chat. I know this will piss off the hardliners, but unlike the other boybands of the era, BSB had a quality and uniqueness to their harmonies not unlike CSNY or other great vocal groups. I was fortunate to witness the climb to stardom. It was cool ride.

Billy Chapin

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Re: Max Martin

Bob,

Max also co-wrote "IT'S MY LIFE" with Bon Jovi.
He was a secret writer and from sounds of it, turned it into One of Bon Jovi's Best tunes ever. Max is the real deal...one of the best melody writers out there.

STEVE BROWN
TRIXTER / STEREO FALLOUT

nice comments

[aikon_sinner]

Hi to all of you,

thanks for the warm welcome!

As I can see Rebecca already found the right link to the Lefsetz Letter.

And if I stumble upon something new Max Martin related I will post it here again.

Wishing all Cheiron fans a nice weekend.


Greetz,
Aikon

[Raul_esp]

woww , everybody admire to the genius!

[*Sabine*]

Aikon thanks so much for this very interesting article and thanks Reb for the comments too! It's really nice to hear Max has other people who admire him!

Hope you like it here Aikon, happy to have you here 

[Rebecca]

Bob Lefsetz wrote this on his latest blog, "Tracks":

"Show Me What I'm Looking For"
Carolina Liar

I was cruising up the Sirius stations and I found this.  Great changes with an anthemic quality.  Every time the song changes, the background changes.  You want to change the channel, but you can't.

I'm sure there's a backstory here.  Maybe a bidding war, maybe an overhype.  Maybe I'm supposed to hate this band.  But I just stumbled upon the track and it was listenable.  And that's the first criterion.  And when I just dialed up the album on Rhapsody, the opening track had that same immediate quality, of gripping you.

Oops, just did some research.  All adds up now.  It's MAX MARTIN!

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2009/02/13/tracks/

Bob seems such a fan of Max!

[*Sabine*]

Ahah!!
Nice to see we're not the only ones who have this "It's Max Martin" thing!! 
Sure he is a big fan, we should drag him here on to the forum!!