THE SCOT BEHIND THE BIGGEST SONG IN THE WORLD
Scots panto legend Allan Stewart’s son pens the No1 song in 108 countries.. and he owes his success to dad
AS DAVID Stewart celebrates the global success of the No1 hit he co-wrote and produced for the world’s biggest boyband, he owes much of his success to his theatre legend dad.
The proud Scot, son of panto star Allan Stewart, has written hit songs for artists including the Jonas Brothers, Tinie Tempah and Hailee Steinfeld.
For five years he was the guitarist for Example, performing in front of crowds of up to 80,000 people.
Now artists across the world are showering both him and writing partner Jessica Agombar with praise for their song Dynamite, which Korean boyband BTS have taken to the top of the iTunes charts in 108 countries and to No1 in the US Billboard chart.
As David enjoys every second of the success, he will always be grateful for the support he received from his dad.
The 30-year-old, who spends every Christmas in Edinburgh watching Allan perform as the panto dame at the city’s King’s Theatre, said: “I’ve grown up watching my dad on stage.
“He’s always been performing, writing for his shows, and I know I get much of my creativity and songwriting talent from him.
“As a comedian, everything he writes is about setting up the punchline. With songs it’s the same, only you are leading up to the chorus – that’s your punchline.
“It was my dad who taught me the different chords on my first guitar, but he’s taught me so much more too.
“I’ve got my own recording studio now but for a long time I was working from my bedroom in my parents’ home and he would always come up and give me his advice.
“He would be saying, ‘You know that could be better.’
“He would tell me to do things like start with the chorus – and 99.9 per cent of the time his advice would be right.
“He gave that advice on Dynamite. I should really have put him down as executive producer.”
David, who was born and grew up in London but counts himself as Scottish, was just three when
he made up his first song, which he performed for his family on Christmas Day. His mum Jane was a dancer and his sister Kate is also in the music business. David said: “Music has always been such a huge thing in my family. From an early age, I used to put on a lot of little performances. “It was what I did for fun, and what I do now is still fun. Music has never felt like work to me.” David, who taught himself to play instruments including the guitar, keyboard and drums, started his professional career as a drummer with a band that was supporting Simply Red. A tour manager for Example knew he played the guitar and asked if he would join the musician’s band. David said: “I was 17 at the time and didn’t have to think twice.
“Example was about to set out on his first tour, supporting Lily Allen. The tour manager asked if I fancied coming on the road with them. I decided it would be far better than going to university.”
David stayed with Example for the next five years. He said: “We went from playing to audiences of 30 people to headlining arenas and flying in private jets.
“We had Ed Sheeran on our tour bus for two years, among others. It was a wonderful time in my life but I knew I didn’t want to be a session guitarist forever. I wanted to be an artist in my own right. I was always writing and producing my own stuff.”
David put together a mixtape of his work, which he sent off to record companies. He recalled: “The reaction was great.”
He ended up signing with a record label in Atlanta, where he spent the next three years honing his talent.
David said: “I learned so much, including how much I loved the writing and producing side of the business. “My biggest downfall as an artist was that I did so many different types of music, but as a writer and producer that could be my biggest strength.” David returned to London where, working from the bedroom of his parents’ home, he started writing and producing an impressive catalogue of songs.
He said: “A pivotal moment in my life was meeting Jessica Agombar backstage at a music festival 10 years ago.
“Over the years, like me, she came to the realisation that she didn’t want to be a solo artist but wanted to be a songwriter.
“We had the same ambition and really got each other’s work.
“We became writing partners and have now written hundreds of songs together.”
Earlier this year, David was approached about writing and producing a song for BTS, who have sold more than 20million albums.
The Korean band were looking for a song that would be the first they recorded in English.
David, whose girlfriend is former X Factor contestant Betsy- Blue English, said: “Jess and I wrote the song at the start of lockdown.
“Everything going on around us felt really dark, so we decided to write something hopeful, fun and exciting.
“We wrote it together over Zoom, and we probably had it written in three hours. It was one of those songs that almost wrote itself.”
BTS released the song two weeks ago. It quickly set a new YouTube record of 101.1million views in 24 hours.
David, who hasn’t yet met the band but plans to once coronavirus restrictions ease, said: “The success of the song has been amazing.
“Only one of the lads in BTS speaks English, which makes what they have done with it all the more impressive.”
David also confessed that, despite his massive success as a songwriter, he can’t read a note of music.
He said: “Bizarre as it might sound, you don’t have to know how to read music to do what I do.
“When I’m writing songs I don’t have to write any music down. It doesn’t hold me back.”