Image by Alex Lockett, wikimedia commons
From producing chart-topping albums with Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey to co-writing songs with Lorde and The 1975, his collaborations have earned critical acclaim and a shelf full of Grammy Awards. But if you’re out of the loop, this is the start of your Jack Antonoff internet rabbit hole.
A few weeks ago, in the midst of the debate around whether Doechii’s Anxiety was great or awful, I was feeling nostalgic for an old cover of the songs original sample.
Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra is a song that needs no introduction. As the biggest song of 2012, it spent 8 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, but the version of the song I was craving is fun.’s BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge cover featuring Hayley Williams.
I went to YouTube, found the video and was shocked to see who was playing guitar alongside frontman Nate Ruess in signature round spectacles. None other than the most influential producer in modern pop, Jack Antonoff.
This felt a bit like finding Wally in a Spider-Man comic. I had completely missed that the mega-producer behind Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet, Lorde’s Melodrama and Taylor Swift’s last 5 albums was also in the band behind ‘We Are Young’.
Before his time with fun, Antonoff had his musical breakthrough in 2003 with Steel Train, releasing two albums with the band before Nate Ruess recruited him to join fun in 2011.
Fun’s last release is now 11 years ago, and since then Antonoff has produced 10 albums with Grammy Nominations for Album of the Year. With three of those winning, he has six more golden gramophones from other categories, including Producer of the Year which he won three years in a row for 2022, 23 and 24.
Antonoff’s ability to show up in places unexpectedly extends beyond his history as a band member. As well as his ability to consistently produce pop bangers, he’s also the main producer behind Kendrick Lamar’s album GNX and has been a staple in Lana Del Rey’s recording studio sessions since 2019, producing four of her last five albums.
He also shows up unexpectedly in a marriage with superstar actress Margaret Qualley, with the two’s love story the focus of Lana Del Rey’s 2023 song ‘Margaret’ featuring Bleachers, Antonoff’s most recent band.
Bleachers was formed by Antonoff during his time on the road in the twilight days of fun. With him as the only consistent member before 2023, the band has been an outlet for Antonoff’s personal projects when he isn’t collaborating with the biggest artists of the day.
In a 2024 interview on the podcast ‘and the writer is…’, Antonoff took time to debunk some music industry myths, most notably the notion that in modern pop music “album’ isn’t god”. With many modern artists prioritising singles and short snappy ‘TikTok’ music.
As reflected in his award show record, Antonoff has maintained his passion for albums over the years, and rarely works with artists as a producer on just one song.
Somehow, as well as being one of the most accomplished producers and songwriters of the last decade, he has maintained his prowess as a live performer. Which is lucky for both fans and his collaborators alike, who seem to love bringing him out as a special guest for live performances.
These days, Antonoff’s name on a list of album credits is synonymous with success, and his credit on upcoming Sabrina Carpenter single ‘Manchild’ has pop fans already expecting it to be a song of the summer contender.
For more stories on Music click here: https://illuminatedmag.co.uk/music/
For more stories on Taylor Swift click here: https://illuminatedmag.co.uk/taylor-swift/
