WEBVTT - Andrew Watt: Producer on the Rise 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:14.480 Pushkin. Just a quick note here, you can listen to 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.480 all of the music mentioned in this episode on our playlist, 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.560 which you can find a link to in the show 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:23.360 notes for licensing reasons, each time a song is referenced 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:28.560 in this episode, you'll hear this sound effect all right. 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.720 Enjoy the episode. It's hard to believe Andrew Watt is 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.920 only thirty years old. Just consider the artists he's worked 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:40.040 with over the last five years. Ozzy Osbourne, Miley Cyrus, 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.960 Sam Smith, Justin Bieber. He's quietly become one of the 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.360 biggest producers in the industry, leading to a nomination of 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:52.600 the upcoming Grammys for Producer of the Year. But before 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.680 Watt started his production journey five years ago, he was 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.960 a songwriter and guitar player. This song, Ghost in My 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:02.320 Head is from a twenty fifteen EP he released, and 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.800 it perfectly captures why he's been able to straddle the 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.440 usually firm line between hard rock and pop music. It's 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:11.120 something he's helped Post Malone do over the last few years, 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:13.600 and also did from Miley Cyrus on her new album 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.880 Plastic Hearts. In this episode, Andrew Watt talks to Rick 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.480 Rubin about getting to start in music and turning with 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.920 the roots, his journey did becoming a top tier music producer, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:27.120 and about a frightening experience with COVID he had in 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:33.639 the early days of the pandemic. This is broken record 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:41.800 liner notes for the digital age. I'm justin Richmond. Here's 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:46.600 Rick Rubin's conversation with Andrew Watt. Let's start with COVID. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:51.760 When did you realize you had it? I was working 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:56.040 with an artist, and literally, canceling is not something that 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.480 I do ever, because people's time, as you know, right, 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:03.240 that's the most important thing. Showing up somewhere and being there, 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:05.480 especially for someone that wants to create with you, It's 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:07.040 such a blessing to be able to do in the beginning. 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.760 So I'm not a canceller. And I just kind of 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:14.280 woke up and I was feeling so just fluey and 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:16.360 not good where I was just like, if I go 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.920 to the studio, I'm gonna maybe get people sick. So 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:21.120 let me just figure out what's happening. This is March fifth, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.079 and whenever I would get sick before, which thankfully was 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.200 not that much, you start feeling like kind of dream 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.919 like where you're like, okay, something's in me. That's kind 0:02:29.919 --> 0:02:34.000 of making me not like spaced out totally. I can't 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.320 connect thoughts the right way and everything. So I had 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:39.919 a doctor come and see me. Did a flu test, 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.320 You're negative? And I'm like, in March were people talking 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:47.120 about coronavirus? Yet just like it's happening in the world, 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:51.360 there's no cases in lady. You didn't know anyone who 0:02:51.440 --> 0:02:54.480 had it? Nope. But I said to this doctor that 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.160 was there, I was like, do I have corona? Everyone's 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.280 having it. I have the symptoms. I'm like, my throat's 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:03.240 hurting me, I have dry cough and all this stuff. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.120 It's like, there's no way you have corona. It's not 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.560 here in America. Yet they're containing it's containing. It's impossible. 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.240 You have the flu. Do a flu test negative, do 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:16.639 another one negative, Take this uh Tama flu, Take these 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:20.799 steroids for the swelling, and and you know, take advil 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.880 all And so I do everything he says, and taking 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.560 it and taking it. I'm not getting better. So I'm like, dude, 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.720 I have corona. How long How long was it before 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.480 the next step? Five days? Right, I'm so five days 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:38.080 You're doing everything. The doctor said, yes, bad flu, taking 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:40.920 it not getting better, getting better, getting worse, or staying 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:46.080 the same. Um, just like not getting better. Whereas usually 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.440 like a thing would be whatever, so we passed it. 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.920 Normally would pass quickly. This day like seven days in 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:57.000 around like March twelve, where I'm like, all right, this 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:00.360 Tama flu worked and I'm kind of like I feel 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:04.280 that I'm coming on the other side, right, So call everyone, 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:05.720 all right, I'm ready to go back to work. I'm 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.320 blah blah. But people are talking about Corona. In this time. 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:14.240 I find out that Lucy and Grange is like really sick, right, 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.240 and there's this party that happened. You heard about this 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:20.480 the Palm Springs for his birthday, and a couple of 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:23.040 people from London were there and they're getting sick. So 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:25.640 I'm like, okay, maybe I got it. And then I'm better. 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:29.960 Two days after, I wake up in the middle of 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.479 the night and I'm like hallucinating, you know. I'm like, 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:42.480 I feel like death. I can't breathe this. I'm like, whoa, 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.120 what's happening? So I called this is worse than it was, Yeah, 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.160 worse than it was. And I call this doctor. I'm 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.040 like this guy was seeing I'm like I gotta get 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:51.840 to this blah blah, comes over, gives me another flud 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:54.320 Testa's like, you don't have corona, people don't have it. 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.360 You're like, over and over, take the advill I finally, 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.960 you know, friend of mine got me a different doctor 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.800 who was like a really you know, I guess not 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.240 that this other doctor wasn't a good doctor trying to 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.320 do his best, but no one knows anything at this point, right, 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.479 So he gets me this other doctor and he's like, 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.440 you can't breathe. You're you know, oxygen's lower. We're going 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:20.159 to the hospital. So go to the hospital. Which hospital 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.560 to go to? I went to UCLA. I'm sitting there. 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.040 I literally can't breathe. It's like a weird feeling. I'm 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:32.279 twenty nine years old and terrible scary, and I don't 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:33.960 know what's going on. But I'm like, have you ever 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:35.800 been in the hospital before. I had been in the 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:38.840 hospital before, but only for like simple things, never like 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.880 you know, you ever stay in the hospital before, No 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:48.720 pendix out, that kind of stuff, you know, tonsils, hernia, 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:56.480 so um, you know, I'm there And finally they're like 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:58.479 they're giving me a flu test. I'm negative. I'm like, 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.640 can you test me for corona? This other great nice 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:03.880 doctor comes with me to the hospital. He's like there, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.640 he's like, test this guy for corona. No one can 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:12.119 get tests, no one can do anything. So I'm there 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.800 at the hospital. Finally they take me to get a 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:17.960 chest x ray. They won't test me for anything. Chest 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:21.440 X ray. My chest X ray comes back with pneumonia. Right, 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:25.440 they still will not test me for corona. Now is 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:28.000 everyone around you, all the doctors, everything, We're in masks 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:31.760 and has matsuits like crazy, but they won't test you. 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.560 Even though they will not test me. No matter what 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:39.000 I'm doing, I'm texting my manager help me. I need 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.720 to get tested. I don't feel right like I'm at 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.640 this point where I'm like desperate. I never had that 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:49.120 feeling before of feeling desperate. You know, I'm lucky, I'm blessed. 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.479 I make music. I can't believe it's my job to 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:53.960 make music and I can kind of do what I want. 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.360 I'm desperate sitting here in this hospital and they will 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.200 not test me even though they know I have pneumonia. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.520 So they're like, sorry, CDC rules, we can't do it. 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.440 We're only testing old people because they're gonna die. You're young, 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.440 You're not gonna die even if you have it. You 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:10.560 just need to go home. I wait hours and hours 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.280 and hours for this doctor to come in, and that's 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.800 what they tell me. Right. So the other doctor that's 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:16.600 there is just like with me. He's like, you know what, 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:18.720 I'm gonna go to my office right now. I'm gonna 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:20.960 get a flu test. I'm going to test you for 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:22.640 this thing, and I'm going to write on the thing 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.800 this person I'm almost positive he has corona. I'm gonna 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.240 send it to Quest Diagnostics and I'm going to see 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.520 what's going on. So he too give me a flu test, 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.160 but wrote I think this person is corona, left it 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:40.840 on their doorstep, and they tested it for corona. That's 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.720 how you found out, and that's how I found out 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:47.640 I was positive for corona. Wow. And you know, all 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.960 the people trying to help me and the people there, 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:54.520 but it's not their fault. They're following regulations by the government. 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.720 That's who's fault. We all know who I You know, 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:58.520 I could say it was fault. It is to me, 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.360 and you know they're just not handling it the right way. 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.480 And it's so early. Also, now that you have this, 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:07.560 no one really knows what to do if you do 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.520 have it anyway, there's no there's no treatments, no one 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.200 knows nothing. So all we can do is read and 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:18.000 do this stuff. And so I was in bed for 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.880 thirty five days. Wow, how long we in the hospital for. 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.480 Let me go. They're like, they didn't even I didn't 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:26.280 even get my results that night. They're like, go home 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.320 if you have it, just don't see anyone. Like they 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.200 wouldn't test me, did nothing for me. They're like, you 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.280 have pneumonia. You have pneumonia, just rest yea and go home. 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:36.640 So you stay in bed for you stay home for 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:38.960 thirty five days. I'm home in bed and I'm just 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:43.120 feeling awful, hallucinating. What type of therapeutics are you doing? 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:46.200 I had a fever for sixteen days, which was you 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.640 go crazy? How high did it go? Up? One oh 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.400 three was the worst, and then it was kind of down. Um, 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:54.160 and you know, it's really hard for me. I've played guitar, 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:56.040 you're not so how we met. I came and played 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.079 guitar here. We'll talk about that after. But I played 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:04.080 guitar every day for my whole life, and I'm suddenly 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:07.640 not wanting to play guitar because it's I don't want 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.920 to play in this negative place, in this mindset. And then, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.960 you know, I think just after that and dealing with 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:19.040 post COVID stuff was tricky, but I got back and 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:21.280 I think I'm making the best music in my life now. 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:25.560 So and since you've recovered, have you had any bad 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:29.640 days or has it been pretty consistently good. I haven't 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.120 had knock on wood a bad day in a really 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:34.520 long time. But you know, a couple of months ago, 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:38.000 if I was doing kind of strenuous exercise or really 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:39.920 pushing myself, I would find myself kind of in like 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.440 a mental fog. And that was hard. But what it 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.120 made me do was, you know, and I'm sure I 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.120 know from talking to you before, but I was working. 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.520 I was the producer that was working twenty four hours 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.719 a day, working the day with someone working the night 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.640 with someone else, my studios, in my house, working on stuff. 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.360 It's made me change my hours and work kind of 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:05.120 more in a in a more of a scheduled thing. 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.040 If creativity strikes at a different time, then I'll deal 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:09.959 with that or use it as a decision. But it's 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.800 not a necessity, and so doing that has kind of 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.720 made me take better care of yourself, take better care 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.760 of myself. And if and if I want to exercise, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.720 I'll do it super early in the morning where it 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.640 doesn't affect my day and I'm not going one thing 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.240 into the other or at nighttime, and just kind of 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.560 finding different ways. I'm not in the gym pounding weights, 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.880 but I never really liked doing that anyway, you know, surfing, 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.800 spending time on the water, paddling, doing yoga, walkding, doing 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.440 really long walk stuff like that. It's all I had 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.160 to adjust like that, and doing those adjustments was not 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.319 really something that affect were in New York did you 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.080 grow up? I grew up in Great Nack, originally in 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:54.040 Long Island, and then funny, I went to NYU and 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.080 lived in Weinstein dorms, just like someone else I know 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:02.280 a Long Island that went to New York in New 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.559 York City to try and make music. I didn't want 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:09.320 to go to college. I wanted to play gigs and 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.440 play and in bars. But like I got through with 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:14.719 my parents of like, okay, if you get I got 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:17.840 into NYU, so you gotta go went to Weinstein dorms, 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.800 was making music and out of my dorm room until 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:24.920 I dropped out. And how was that? What was your first, 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:31.200 um professional experience in music? My first when I like 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:35.680 really really kind of professional thing besides just making records 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.080 on my own at my house and everything was. I 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:44.720 got to NYU and the roots had just started there, 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.680 Jimmy Fallon thing and they were doing these amazing jams 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.480 at the high Line Ballroom in New York because they 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:53.800 were there and they were, you know, wanted to do it. 0:11:54.440 --> 0:12:00.440 And I remember I waited outside after the show for 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.440 a long time to talk to quest Love. I wanted 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:05.600 to talk to him. I was so he's not only 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.040 one of the costs, but how knowledgeable is that guy? 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.720 Just believable on everything? And I was a big you know, 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.439 I loved his website, Okay player that reviewed music. I 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:17.040 would find a lot of music on there is it 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.760 just always searching and he's such an audio file you know. 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.079 So anyway, so I talked to him and I was like, hey, man, 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.480 I want a jam. I want to jam with you guys. 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:26.880 Because I would go to jams all the time. I 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.400 would go to blues jams and bring my guitar and 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.120 that's really how I like, I learned to play with 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.559 other people as I had bands, but they my band sucked, 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:38.960 do you know what I mean? Like I went to 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.839 these jams at the cutting Room and the Bitter End 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:44.520 and the bottom Line and all these places and would 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:46.679 just be there with my guitar and I'd get up 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.560 and we'd play little wing for no one practiced with 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.120 each other before or superstition, and I'd to learn how 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:54.040 to catch horn lines and kind of that was like 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:56.760 really important to me. I would steal a car and 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.640 drive out to Manhattan from Great Neck and do that 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.920 all the time. So I asked quest of if I 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.040 could jam with him, and he was like, yeah, I 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:07.800 talked to this girl she does the jams. He was 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:10.400 just kind of like really nice and cool. So I 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:14.439 got this woman's number. Their name was Ginny, and I 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.960 called her probably a thousand times and of seventeen at 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:21.840 this time, and emailed her and she would not answer me. 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.080 So I was like, Okay, the jam, it's Thursday. It's 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.400 next Thursday. And I didn't hear am I jamming? Am 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.280 I not? So I bring my guitar and I go 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:31.559 at sound check time. I'm like I'm gonna just sneak 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.640 into this place and go because quest Love will see me. 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:36.360 And he said, oh yeah, you can jam. And I 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:38.440 had a big heart, you know, I follow my heart. 0:13:38.679 --> 0:13:40.679 Of course he's gonna let me do that, right, So 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.040 I sneak in. I might come here for the gig 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.640 I'm playing tonight, Sir. Suddenly come right, and people are 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:51.160 coming at all and quest Love's not there, but that 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:53.319 woman Ginny is there and she sees me and she's 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.680 just her face goes white, right, and so they're like, 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.680 give me a wrist band. And I'm there and I'm 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.520 waiting by the side of the stage with guitar. All 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.080 these people come. I see Bilal play for the first 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:04.719 time and he does like a whole lot of love it. 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:07.240 I didn't even know who Bilal was, and then you know, 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:11.160 I'm like, oh my god, this guy's incredible, and watching 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:14.560 Captain Kirk play guitar, who's amazing musician. And I'm sitting 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.640 there and I don't get asked the jam obviously, but 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.520 I see this woman Jinny freaking out the whole time. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.800 She can't handle what's going on with the amount of 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:26.760 people that are there and the guys need drinks and 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.120 want to smoke weed, and she's just too much for 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:31.760 her to handle. And so my brain, I'm in the 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:35.680 music business program at NYU, my brain goes, I need 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.320 an internship. Maybe this could be my internship. So I 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:41.400 was like, hey, you know, I know I didn't get 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.160 the jam and stuff like that, but like you seem 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.400 like you need an intern, like you're you have too 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:48.080 much going on. She was like, I actually do need 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.960 an intern. Here send your resume. So send my resume. 0:14:50.960 --> 0:14:52.760 I get a whole thing, and I get the job 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:57.000 of being this girl's intern and working at Okay Player 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.840 during the week and helping with the jam every week. 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.920 So I'm backstage every time. I bring my guitar every 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.480 single time, and I never get asked to play, and 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:10.680 I'm annoying little kid. But I learned how to roll 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.200 blunt from Black Thought and rolling his blunts before it 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:17.520 was smoking, get drinks for people, and I'm around all 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:25.200 these amazing musicians, like the best musicians, and and you know, 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.440 I get to know James Poyser really well, and it 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:31.120 gets you know, Black Thought and Kirk and Quest Love 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:34.240 and all the people around in their crew, and you know, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.120 guys from the Fuji's Come and Erica Bad Dude Come, 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:42.800 and and and Balal and all those people, and I'm 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:44.960 and I'm just meeting all these people, and I'm open 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.160 to a different kind of music than I was listening 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.880 to them, the rock and roll that I was raised on. 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:58.200 And this one night happens where um Kirk, his father 0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:01.120 was really sick and couldn't make the gig, and so 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.600 quest looks like, all right, you got your guitar, and 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.920 I didn't have my guitar that so I run back 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.160 to at Weinstein Dorms, get my guitar, come back and 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:13.600 I got to play that night, and I did great. 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:15.960 It was one of those moments where I did great. 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.680 You know, I understood the space and I had been 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.240 watching how they did their stuff every night and did great. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:23.520 And then they let me jam a bum there and 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:25.280 would let me play a bunch of times, and I 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.880 met amazing artists and got kind of my first gigs 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:33.080 playing for artists, not doing my own thing from there, 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.120 and that's kind of how it started. What was your 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.240 first studio gig? My first studio gig, I was making 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:46.480 my own records, and then the first time I produced 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:50.200 I was working with this kid, Jared Evan. He was 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.600 signed to Interscope, and I was playing guitar for him 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:57.600 kind of throw all that stuff, and then he would 0:16:57.600 --> 0:16:59.240 always bring me around with him and want me to 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.640 play guitar. And his guy that was producing him was 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:06.159 Jimmy Douglas, one of the greats, and he kind of 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.720 taught me how to play guitar and the studio and 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:13.000 double track myself and get parts and work through stuff. 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:14.680 And I would play for a long time and then 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.240 he chopped parts out so that I kind of cut 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.120 my teeth that way and then used it to make 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.159 my own records. And then as I was going on 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:25.960 tour with people, I was on tour with an artist 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:28.919 named Cody Simpson and Justin and then they wanted me 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:34.439 to make their records and I just would kind of 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.679 did that and moved out to LA and made that 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:43.120 one album with Glenn and in Nashville on tape, which 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.679 was a great experience too. I think everyone should make 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:47.879 an album on tape at some point, just wants to 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.920 see what that process is like. It's a fuck ton 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.879 harder and doesn't really make that much of a difference 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.560 for everyone that says it does. It really doesn't. But 0:17:57.800 --> 0:17:59.800 you know, drums sound great on tape, and I'm so 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:02.520 happy I had the experience. Now we have all the 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.399 plugins that make it sound like tape anyway, So why 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:09.480 are you going to do that to yourself? Yeah, And 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.080 I came out here and I had this song that 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.159 I wrote with a friend of mine named Ali tem Posey, 0:18:16.200 --> 0:18:20.720 who's still my number one collaborator until today. We're working 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.560 together on Monday again. We've been working together for nine 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:28.840 years NonStop, never had an argument. And we wrote the 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.439 song called let Me Love You, which was on a 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:35.200 guitar and it was a folk song, and it kind 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.800 of got passed around the industry in that way. Everyone 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:40.399 we've heard this song. And I played it for Justin 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:41.879 because he was a good friend of mine and he 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:45.159 really wanted the song, and then everyone else somehow started 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.959 cutting the song. I didn't understand how people were cutting 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:49.879 my song without asking me or talking to me. It 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.199 felt wrong. It was like, and I told Justin he 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.840 could do the song already. So I kind of had 0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:57.840 to like get involved with that part of the industry, 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.560 which I never did before. I'd start talking to these 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:03.920 record label guys and these managers and these different people 0:19:03.960 --> 0:19:06.280 and kind of be like no, I learned the power 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.239 of no, kind of the first time, which you know 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:11.720 you have to say and be like, hey, no, this 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:14.320 is not actually happening. I don't care what you want 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.080 to pay or what like. I promised this song to 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.320 someone else and so through a long story, justin ended 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:23.280 up singing the song. And that was my first like 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:29.359 big hit song and it was such a cool experience 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.240 to I didn't know that it was going to be that. 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.639 I just everyone wanted the song for a reason and 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.920 it was amazing. So like the first time I went 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.080 to one of his shows and I saw him play 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:44.080 that song and then everyone in the crowd was singing, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:46.159 held the mic out and it was words I wrote about, 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.960 like hurt and pain I had, but to them it 0:19:49.040 --> 0:19:51.600 was the happiest thing ever. And it was just like 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:56.440 in a surreal, amazing experience. And I think it's when 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.920 you see that happened, you want to do that again 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:02.600 and again and again. And what was the next one? 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:08.520 The next one after that was a Selena Gomez song 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.320 that she did with Kigo, which was another song that 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:13.760 was on the guitar. It's called it ain't me. Did 0:20:13.800 --> 0:20:15.479 you write it for her? You just wrote it and 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:17.680 then she heard it. I just wrote it and played 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:22.200 it for her because we were friendly, and she loved 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.399 it and cut it kind of instantly. So many of 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:29.359 my songs that you know became big songs have these 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:34.119 insane long stories of me flying to Japan for twenty 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:36.240 four hours and doing all this stuff that I had 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:38.320 to do to get the record across the finish line, 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.199 which I'm sure you have crazy getting the Getting the 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:44.560 song sometimes is the easiest part, and getting the artist 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:48.159 to actually do the song is really hard. Sometimes it 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:52.520 doesn't make sense, but it is. That was the easiest 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:55.680 song I ever had, that one. She sang the song 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.480 and made her tweaks to it, and she sounded amazing 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:00.119 on it, and I did the production with I Go, 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:01.640 and it kind of just came out two months later, 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:07.240 and so that one was was was awesome. We'll be 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.080 right back with more from Andrew Watt after the break. 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:16.639 We're back with more from Andrew Watt and Rick Rubin 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:19.480 talking about their mutual friend drummer of the Red Hot 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.959 Chili Peppers, Chad Smith. What was the first session you 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:28.320 ever played on with Chad Chad came to play on 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:33.080 I was when I was signed to Republic Records as 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:35.960 a rock artist and kind of doing that. He came 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:39.720 and played on one of my a couple of my songs. 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:41.600 I had met him. I was in that band with 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:44.959