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“[Female producers] They have the same stereotypes, they probably have the same misogynistic stories. It's almost like a trauma bond.”
“The first 10 minutes were awful,” she recalls, grimacing. “I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, my whole body was twitching. By the second song, he was like, 'I need to calm down.'” During the listening session, Griff played the frontman 30 songs. “I didn't mean to! I think he could see my screen. I had a Dropbox folder open, and I was skipping songs because I didn't want to take up too much of his evening, so I was like, 'I'll listen to five songs and then I'll go out, no big deal.' But he was manipulating my mouse and going, 'What's that?' It was a lot, but it was so amazing. He really helped shake and break down that wall of insecurity I had when it came to playing my music.”
As they listened, Martin played “Astronaut” over and over again, now a piano-led, sharp-tongued gem. But when Griff played it for him, it lived “in the same world as 'Vertigo.'” [‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’’s] “Shade Of Yellow.” “I'd had it for so long, I kept adding to it, so it was kind of chaotic. There was a lot going on.” The Coldplay singer's advice was to strip everything back to how it was now, which was just the fresh perspective Griff needed at the time.
Martin's opinions aside, Vertigo was primarily produced by a small, close-knit group of collaborators, including producers Congee, Lostboy and Sheba. Keeping the list of creative staff short was a struggle for her. “I think people liked the idea of me being a producer girl, but at the end of the day, [in the industry] “You panic and think, 'This person wrote this, so I'll just ask this person,'” she says. “It's like insurance: If the project flops, at least you made it with a blockbuster.”
Griff is, as she alludes, an accomplished producer in her own right, having taught herself how to use Logic when she first began making her own music. Being both an artist and a producer has helped her to be taken more seriously by those she worked with, but she says she still felt a bit ignored along the way. “Even if I want to take the stems home at the end of the day and work on them, I can't lean into that. [from the other producers]”Or producers are just surprised that I produced something,” she says.
Working with female producers or engineers in the studio is rare, but when the opportunity arises the atmosphere changes. “We're so used to working with men that it takes us a while to shift gears, but there's also a sense of relaxation and not having to prove ourselves. There's an unspoken understanding that, 'We're all women in this industry, so we're all subject to the same stereotypes and probably have the same stories of misogyny.' It's like a trauma bond.”
She hopes more women understand that taking on such a position at a studio isn't “crazy and out of reach.” “Working at Logic is like understanding Photoshop,” she suggests, adding that the industry has a responsibility to change its mindset when it comes to women. “There's a tendency to push people to be artists because there's something to sell. Female talent is like a commodity and there's no room to grow and develop. So I think gatekeepers, A&R and label heads need to actually think about what they're investing in when they sign someone.”
Griff has often spoken about her time as a behind-the-scenes songwriter when she first got her big break, never expecting to be thrust into the pop star spotlight. With her debut album on the way, she says she's still new to many aspects of the job. “It depends on when you ask me,” she laughs. “It'll never feel normal to pursue a career as an artist, but it's amazing and a lot of fun. I really love going into the studio and writing songs, but everything else feels really scary.”
As she pushes through her fears, she has a simple goal that makes it all worth it: “I just want to be an artist that people can relate to, that when they listen to this album over the years, they feel like they've grown through different stages and related to every song,” she says. “And ultimately, I want to be able to write great, classic songs that move people!”
“Vertigo” will be released by Warner Music on July 19th.