Why two Swedes with long hair have fans of Taylor Swift so excited

Martin, a bearded and affable 54 -year -old man, whose real name is Karl Martin Sandberg and whose parents were teachers and police, is largely considered the most prosperous producer of modern pop. A winner five times at Grammy was worth $ 400 million, he is about to exceed Paul McCartney as a writer of toppers of the most advertising graphic: McCartney A 32 and Martin A 27, of which he produced 25. Four of them are fast songs: We will never recover together,, Shake it, Empty space And Bad blood.

The former leader of a Glam Flop rock group, Martin went to the creation of success for other artists in the mid-90s, joining the Studios Cheiron de Stockholm at a time when, thanks to dance music, the roles of the singer-songwriter and producer became intertwined.

One of his first productions, 1995 wish you were Here By the Swedish group Rednex, he went to n ° 1 in four countries.

“I did not even know what a producer had done,” said Martin about his career change in an interview in 2001. But his own mentor, the late DJ who became Denniz Pop producer, had spotted something in him and soon Martin sprinkled with magic on songs for Backstreet Boys and Robyn.

It was writing … Baby once againBritney Spears in 1998 Single and Global No. 1, who really put Martin on the map and had artists as disparate as Celine Dion, Nsync and Bon Jovi come to call. He is also recognized for launching Katy Perry’s career.

No doubt Martin’s most successful apprentice, and certainly his most secret, is Shellback. Martin hired the multi-instrumentalist 14 years his junior in 2007 and, before meeting Swift, they co-wrote enormous successes for Britney, Pink and Maroon 5.

While Martin constitutes an improbable Impresario Pop – no demons, no usual drugs, with his wife since 2000 – the shellback with Tassegagis hair is even more unusual.

Shellback (Karl Johan Schuster) grew up on the coast in the south of Sweden and in mid-adolescent played battery in metal groups. Swifies that feel fairly courageous can even hear it screaming on a 2006 album by the largely forgotten colony.

A friend of Martin’s young brother-in-law Shellback met the 16-year-old producer for the first time and told him how much he hated pop music. During their second meeting, five years later, Martin decided that he could be instructive to hear how a metal musician would tackle the writing of pop songs and noted the young.

In a rare interview with a Swedish publication in 2021, Shellback recalled acceptance. “My basic idea was that I would show Martin how damn easy it is to make pop music,” he said. “Instead, it was he who educated me -” It’s pretty good, but you might not want an intro of several minutes? ” – I was arrogant, I opposed, but each time I test his proposal, it improved.

In a year, Shellback worked for Martin and co-wrote Pink’s rock hymn So what. More success have followed, from Maroon 5 Moves like Jagger to bailiff and Pitbull DJ made us fall in love. On X, his name is a cat fanatic, which probably helped him click with Swift.

Swift and Martin met for the first time when the singer was 21 years old and they recorded in the same studio complex. She presented herself as a fan of her work and when they agreed to try to write together, it was Shellback, so much closer to Swift age, that Martin called.

The trio has co-written three key songs on RedThe album that has become rapid from a sweet country star in a brilliant artist whose gender mixed discs dominated the radio. Among them was We will never recover togetherSwift’s first electronic track, and the very started and tinted from Dubstep I knew you were trouble. The criticisms were sniffed, but the public hung the sudden Sassy Swift, sending the songs to No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the United States and in the British top 5.

On the 2014 synth-pop giant 1989Their collaborations included the megahits Shake,, Style,, Empty space,, Bad blood And Crazy dreams. Martin and Shellback returned to work on his follow -up ReputationBut lost more American producers in Lotfield, Lock-Clet, including Jack Antonoff.

Rift rumors have been swirling for years. Martin’s Juke-Box musical & Juliette Pothed his vast back catalog but did not present a single quick song. Unlike several other past swift producers, Martin, who lives between Stockholm and the, did not contribute to the re -recorded versions of the singer of his old albums. Shellback’s only production credit on 1989 (Taylor version) is for Crazy dreams.

The producers continued to work with Adele and Ariana Grande, but above all went from each other, Shellback keeping her intimacy in her studio in Stockholm while Martin worked with Coldplay and co-written on weekend’s LightingThe most broadcast song on Spotify. Then Swift returned to their lives.

To the delight of Swifies, The life of a showgirl Makes his long -awaited return to Pop Bangers, a 12 concise songs promising clear words and infectious melodies. “It was like catching lightning in a bottle,” said Swift. The difference between this and 1989? The conductor. “This time, we had the impression that the three of us have in the same weight as the creators,” said Swift, who described and Shellback as ingenious in Martin in the past.

Make no mistake, it’s fast now in charge. Having declared his latest album, the lyric dense Department of tortured poetsAs a “data emptying” of 31 tracks, she looked for a clear change of sound. The life of a showgirl Supposedly take a look behind the curtain of his Eras tour. As usual, all the words were written by Swift. “It just comes from the most infectiously joyful, wild and dramatic place in my life, so that effermescence occurred on this disc,” said Swift, who also announced the theme of the color of the album. Prepare for an orange fall.