Who is Jack Antonoff?
Jack Antonoff is an unlikely producer hero who breaks the mould in many ways. Most producers rise through big-name collaborations or famous studios and schools. Comparatively, Antonoff is a total Pop outsider. He started playing music in punk bands before his breakout came with fun., an indie pop band.
Antonoff co-wrote and produced their second album, 2012’s Some Nights, which featured three radio hits and won two Grammys. But Some Nights was just the jumping-off point for Antonoff’s career. He collaborated with Carly Rae Jepsen on “Sweetie” and with Taylor Swift on “Sweeter Than Fiction”. Before long, he was in ridiculously high demand.
In 2017, possibly his peak year, Jack Antonoff wrote and produced albums with Lorde, St Vincent, Taylor Swift, Landa Del Rey and Pink. All while managing to release an album for his own band The Bleachers.
Jack Antonoff’s Producer Style
Jack Antonoff has a unique style for a pop producer. He has a very rock-based background compared to other producers (many of whom started out with hip hop, dance music, or as DJs.) This definitely shows through in his writing and production style. The writing is often loose and improvisational, and the production has a rock-like feeling even though it’s not rock at all. His music also tends to take a lot of inspiration from 80’s music production, with clean tones, layered instruments, and epic energy. And it’s very catchy and hook melody-focused.
This might sound like a strange combination of styles. But when you put it all together, you get music that’s simultaneously familiar and new. And that’s what makes it so compelling. Read on, and I’ll break down some of Jack Antonoff’s tricks for writing and producing music.
Write and Play like a Rock Musician
Jack Antonoff’s music can be very diverse, with loads of different sounds blended together. The common ground is that he always thinks like a rock musician.
Rock has a very defined character. It has a chugging, consistently driving rhythm. Usually with the feel of repeating 8th notes. And there is a strong accented snare hit on beats 2 and 4. Many of Antonoff’s productions have this feel, no matter what genre they are in, even if there is no guitar in sight.
Don’t Use Pop Formulas To Write
Pop music is more likely to be locked into formulas, like “intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge.” Rock music has a more unstructured and improvisational approach. Antonoff prefers to just jam and experiment, and keep anything he likes.
Speaking about writing “Green Light”, he said “We were just around a piano and somehow we landed on that. […] And you just sorta go with the idea and develop it.”
You can hear examples of his rock-influenced writing and production in “Green Light” by Lorde.
The Instrumental Always Follows the Vocals
Jack Antonoff may take a rock approach to pop music. But he treats the vocals like a pop producer. In rock music, the instrumental is usually the most important element. Sometimes the vocals are an afterthought. This can be true with other genres too, like many types of dance and EDM music.
However, Jack Antonoff’s music is always driven by the vocals. The entire instrumental only exists to follow the lead of the vocals, and to complement them. Antonoff referenced this attitude when he said “I always imagine that vocals should be dancing on top of the track.”
Keep Hooks in the Vocals
Jack Antonoff’s tracks don’t usually have many instrumental breaks or melodies. Most of the catchy melodies and hooks are in the vocals.
The Instrumental Only Does Whatever the Vocals are Not Doing
He always pays attention to the rhythm and energy of the vocals first and foremost, and the instrumental only plays the roles that the vocals are not playing. For example, if the vocal delivery is quick and percussive, the instrumental will be simple. If the vocals are powerful and epic, then the instrumental will be stripped back so it doesn’t compete.
Example of Vocals Driving The Song: “We Are Young”
Listen to the epic chorus of Fun’s “We Are Young.” The lead vocals are absolutely mighty and the song sounds huge at this part. But the instrumental is deceptively simple. It’s a simple, repetitive drum beat with a distorted bass synth and a high-pitched note piano rhythm on top. And that’s basically all!
The vocals have space to shine and to carry the song. The instrumentation is just following along.
Driving Rhythm and Energy
This technique is related to the rock approach that Jack Antonoff takes. Antonoff’s songs are not tender ballads and are not dramatically lyrical, but his songs are driven. This driving feeling is pretty much always there. It’s like a heartbeat that he puts in the song.
The Drive can Come from Many Sources
Often the drive comes from the vocals, with a percussive and rhythmic delivery. When the vocals enter a more legato section, the drive picks up in the instrumentation. It could be rhythmic synths and guitars or percussion.
This gives the song energy and makes it fun and energising to listen to.
A Fine Balance
Antonoff has a fine-tuned technique to maintain balance. Too many driving elements at once can clash and the song begins to lose power.
When the vocals are driving, the percussion will be more simple. And when the vocals are slower, the percussion or other instrumental will drive.
For examples of the drive in Antonoff songs, listen to Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods”
Major Chords, Uplifting Energy, but A Little Weird
Jack Antonoff’s music is very uplifting. He actually mostly uses major chords. And his songs don’t use dramatic turns or dark moods in the writing. Antonoff’s music is written in a simple, happy way.
However, music always has to have some kind of weirdness to create tension, be memorable and artistic.
Different Kinds of Quirks to Keep Songs Interesting
The weirdness can take many forms. Sometimes, it’s just in the tense or energetic vocals. Other times, it’s through the use of strange and ear-catching tones.
How the weirdness is used will depend on what the song needs. For example, Lorde’s album Melodrama has simple and surprisingly positive chord progressions.
But the instrumentation is minimal. Lorde’s vocals are breathy and nervous. Strange synth sounds come in and out. You can hear this weirdness on the track “Louvre” by Lorde.
Layer Instruments to Create Epic Energy
Some producers prefer to create powerful or epic sections by using modern powerful tones. But Jack Antonoff is very influenced by 80s production styles.
He quotes: “To me, the ’80s were epic and sincere. Music was large and grand and unapologetic.”
So Antonoff adds energy by adding more layers of instrumentation. He only starts to cut layers out once they are getting too complex. If you have too much going on, the song loses power. Instead of adding reverb to add epic power to instrumentation, he prefers to work with clean tones and add layers instead.
You can explore Jack Antonoff’s layering technique with The Bleachers’s “I Wanna Get Better”
Conclusion
And there you have it, a list of the writing and production techniques that Jack Antonoff often uses. Jack Antonoff usually works at home and creates a lot of magic in the box. So even a bedroom producer with limited gear can use these techniques, and create music that is epic, driving, energetic, and catchy. Explore the possibilities and enjoy!
