In this current decade, pop music has grown as a genre to incredible means, stretching and expanding across genre barriers and soaring to new heights. To state pop music is better today than ever before would not be overstating it. The mainstream has become its most interesting and experimental, with both artists and their audience yearning for ever-new audio adventures.
Some of the industry’s big name producers have helped direct this, but more inspired to explore and rebel are a select number of sonic sculptors who have come up through the underground indie scenes, influencing artists today and for future generations to come.
Here are five of pop music’s indie power producers:
Ariel Rechtshaid
Ariel Rechtshaid’s resume now is so stacked, it’s hard to imagine he was ever anything but the industry’s go-to producer for slightly off-kilter successes. Early work with Cass McCombs, Blood Orange and Theophilus London helped pave the way for collaborations with with Usher, Charli XCX, Brandon Flowers, Madonna, No Doubt, and more. His work on Haim’s Days Are Gone album and Vampire Weekend’s Grammy-winning Modern Vampires of the City helped solidify him as the de facto producer for indie bands aiming big, as well as pop acts going artsy.
Notable track: Usher – “Climax”
Dev Hynes
Dev Hynes’ own musical journey has led him from a young British punk in the short-lived band Test Icicles to folk troubadour as Lightspeed Champion to the utterly cool ’90s-inspired new wave crooner recording under the name Blood Orange. A frequent collaborator with Rechtshaid, Hynes’ smooth sound has its fingerprints all over tracks by Theophilus London, Solange Knowles, Sky Ferreira, Florence & The Machine and more, often bringing with him now signature synths and slap bass.
Notable track: Carly Rae Jepsen – “All That”
Emile Haynie
Emile Haynie has produced work for Kanye West, Eminem, Bruno Mars, and Ghostface Killah, to name a few, but his personal taste became more apparent on his own debut album, We Fall, which came our earlier this year. Joined by Lana Del Rey, Lykke Li, Randy Newman, and Father John Misty on the set, Haynie’s knack for emotional composition through orchestral arrangements is put on full display, providing more insight into what he is capable of behind the scenes.
Notable track: Eminem featuring Sia: “Guts Over Fear”
Diplo
The best known from the list, Wes Pentz, aka Diplo, isn’t just one of the world’s biggest DJs and EDM producers, but he’s also on his way to super producer fame. While releasing a continuous stream of his own work as Diplo, Major Lazer and Jack Ü with partner Skrillex, his output is equally doubled with tracks for other artists, including No Doubt, Usher, Chris Brown, Jessie J, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Bruno Mars, and more. Most recently he teamed with Madonna on her Rebel Heart album, and before that helped conjure Snoop Dogg’s inner Rasta with the Snoop Lion Reincarnated album. He’s also on the cusp of introduce the American market to K-pop, particularly with his new track “Doctor Pepper” that features Koren phenom CL, as eel as US rappers RiFF RAFF and OG Maco.
Notable track: Skrillex and Diplo – “Where Are Ü Now” (with Justin Bieber)
Greg Kurstin
Greg Kurstin first made himself known as a powerful producer and musician at the end of the 2000s through his own band The Bird and the Bee and through work on Lily Allen’s first albums. Since then, he’s carved out a niche for himself behind the scenes of some of music’s biggest female-fronted hits, teaming with Sia, Lana Del Rey, Kelly Clarkson, Tegan & Sara and Lykke Li, among others.
Notable track: Sia – “Chandelier”
