Benny Blanco is the best new producer you may actually have heard of! Some industry giants never break through to the spotlight (usually out of choice) but recently Blanco hit the charts in name with Halsey and Khalid with their new single Eastside.
Not that it was Benny’s first experience with a chart topping hit. Quite the contrary, this oddball producer from North Virginia has a hand in everything from Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Kesha, Taio Cruz, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, Iggy Azalea and Kanye West. That would be an impressive list for any professional producer, now consider he’s done it all by the age of only 32.
The secret to Benny Blanco’s success comes down to his incredible, infatuating friendliness. As he states himself, “I think maybe once or twice in my career, maybe, I’ve done a song with someone who’s not my friend.” When your work environment is filled with joy and good vibes, regardless of the industry, it’s no wonder you get something great.
Despite all this, and his new place as the title artist on a track, Benny maintains he, “definitely [doesn’t] want to be famous at all.”
Regardless of if you want to be the mastermind behind the scenes or at the centre of a mass of screaming fans, there is certainly a lot to be learned from Benny Blanco.
How to Make a Remix
Making a remix can be a great way to get recognition from some of your favourite artists. If you make a great remix that catches the attention of the original artist, you might just get a valuable shoutout that can kick start some interest in your other work, but getting a remix right can be a tough job.
In an interview with KiwiBox from 2008, Benny outlines his process for making a great remix that is something unique, but still pays tribute to the original.
1. Start with the acapella
The first step to the process is just getting intimately familiar with each core element of the song, in pop this might be the chorus acapella or a funky guitar lick. Listening to this element on it’s own and in the song many times will start to get the creative juices flowing while understanding what actually makes the original so great.
2. Take a break
This might seem counterintuitive, but amazing music doesn’t always flow right off the bat! Once you have the melody and some ideas in your head, sometimes the best thing is to just think about it for a while, take a short nap or refresh with a light snack before taking the producer chair with some new, fully formed ideas.
3. Make it different
There is no one size fits all strategy to a good remix but generally you want to make it different, better but still familiar. For example, check out the difference between the original, and Benny Blanco’s remix of Katy Perry’s “I kissed a girl”. While taking elements of the original song, Benny chops them and adds familiar sounds with new melodies. Although it is still pop, the remix takes significant influence from neighbouring 90s dance music genres therefore being different, familiar and (arguably) better.
Connect with who you’re working with
As stated before, Benny Blanco will say time and time again that (almost) everyone he works with is a good friend, “I never try to stress it, I go in and I have fun with my friends.” The trick, according to Blanco is to just let things happen naturally.
Being able to connect with someone personally, and getting to know them outside the studio will go a long way to making a song that not only works but shows off everyones best quality.
Not to say that it’s smooth sailing every day. Getting in the studio and laying out some ideas should be an incredible and fun process, but there are many aspects of song finishing that still need a nitty gritty and focused touch.
“What I can do is meet an artist, know what type of song I think we should make and be their therapist, make everyone feel comfortable.” Benny Blanco.
The results should speak for themselves, including the legendary singles, Don’t by Ed Sheeran, and Love Yourself by Justin Beiber
Song Structure Buildup
Benny Blanco is a verified pop music master, and if you’re familiar with any pop music from the last 2 decades you’ll recognize the incredible energy that is carried throughout a song.
A common misconception might be that the energy is held at a high level the whole time, but Blanco posits that as opposed to maintaining energy it is actually about a constant cycle.
Starting with energy is classic pop music trope but it’s often a good idea to include a brief interlude before the chorus where the energy dips slightly and the mix gets wider creating a moment of calm (think of it like the eye of a hurricane). Shortly thereafter however, in comes the chorus with the highest point of energy in the song before returning to the verse to its original point and a slow buildup once again.
As Blanco himself puts it, “it’s not so much what you hear, it’s so much the feeling it gives you.”
Sound Different
While it is still important for a song to be captivating and relatable as Blanco states, “There continuously has to be something exciting to the ear.” Similar to his advice on song structure, you have to be able to catch people’s attention within the first 10 seconds and hold it for a full 3 minutes. Even the man himself muses that he only really skims through the 100 songs he downloads a day until something really catches his ear.
Another way to think about it is in the form of a 3 hour DJ set compressed into 3 minutes. Each subsection of buildup, verse, chorus, and drop is itself split into subsections and constantly projecting what to expect from the next part while staying fresh. “You can’t just flow things, it has to be like ‘Bam’.” Says Blanco.
The idea of sounding different extends to the instruments used during a song as well. Although he might be making pop, Benny Blanco is always trying to find new and interesting instruments that will give that exciting ear catching vibe just mentioned. Adding sounds and elements that may even be slightly out of tune will give your songs a much more interesting character, especially when surrounded by music created entirely in the box with all perfect pitch.
As Blanco puts it, “I just wanna use things where when people hear it, theyre like, I’ve never heard that!”
Conclusion
“My style is different every day” - Benny Blanco
When you’ve made a career producing huge pop hits over and over with some of your best friends, it can be hard to pinpoint just one thing that makes you different. Indeed, every one of these tips contribute to Benny Blanco’s incredible success up till now and without a doubt, far into the future.
One thing that cannot be ignored however, despite how humble Blanco may be, is just how important his awesome work ethic is to his success.
Back in the Myspace days when Blanco was still trying to get a footing he would not stop working towards his dream despite countless failed phone calls with label execs, pretending to be artists lawyers and even sleeping on couches in New York just to get that moment of face to face time with someone that makes industry decisions.
In retrospect it is easily all worth it, having glowing references from almost every artist including Kanye West and even John Janick, CEO of Interscope Geffen A&M.
For all of us still in the grind however, it’s all too easy to be discouraged. You might have all the necessary components of a successful song, but if no one hears it (or more importantly, the right people don’t hear it) it will never get off the ground. Collabing, working with and making friends with “people who are much better” (in Blanco’s words) is essential to breaking through into this amazing, but sometimes unforgiving, world of popular music.
- By Erik Steiner
If you want to listen to Jony and Erik discuss more about Benny Blanco and tips on how to succeed in the music industry listen to the Jony Studios Podcast Episode 8 here:
If you’re interested in hearing more amazing production and audio engineering tips make sure to keep up with our industry spotlight series and all other blogs on our website.
Furthermore, if you are interested in elevating your music career through professional mixing and mastering check out the many services we provide at Jony Studios.
