WHO'S THE STAR,
Berklee alum making a name for herself with creative pop
Pop
stars like to open albums with something big, something grand, something so sugary sweet, Top 40 radio will gobble it up: Think of Katy Perry's “Teenage Dream,” Bruno Mars' “24K Magic” or Britney Spears' “Womanizer.”
Betty Who kicks off her new album “The Valley” unusually. Over a minute-and-30-second a cappella track, Who overdubs her voice into intricate, beautiful harmonies. What turned out to be the title track is big and grand, but it's also totally unexpected.
“I just sort of just did it and then liked how it sounded,” Who said from her home in Los Angeles. “I locked myself in my home studio one day, and I was like, `OK, let's mess around with some lyrics and see what happens.' Six hours later, I had finished `The Valley,' and I knew I was going to open the record with it.”
The Australian-born, Berklee-educated budding pop star — who plays Royale on Saturday — makes music Perry, Mars and Spears fans would dig. But she does it with flourishes of modern synth-pop and dance-y tropical beats that hint at her outsider approach and unique history.
Born Jessica Newham in Sydney, Who started out studying cello at Berklee. She might be playing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra if she hadn't met fellow student Peter Thomas. The two quickly bonded over guilty pop pleasures and began a partnership that continues today: Thomas co-wrote and produced half the tracks on “The Valley.”
“Back at Berklee, he said, `I quietly want to be a pop producer,' and I answered, `I quietly want to be a pop star,' ” Who said. “But so does everybody at Berklee. When you find somebody that is willing to let you be bad and let you experiment with them, like I found with Peter, you stick with them.”
Who says the pair allowed each other the freedom to write and produce awful songs as they sharpened their skills.
“If I didn't have him, I would have just released all my bad songs on the internet because that's what you do now, you release all your content,” she said. “I'm so grateful for the time I spent in a bubble with Peter trying to create Betty Who. The stuff we are putting out now is on such a different level than all that stuff we made while living in his parents' basement in Rhode Island.”
Now that Who has a major label deal with RCA and a trio of No. 1 singles on the Dance Club Songs chart, she has been able to work with top production teams, including Pop & Oak and Robopop. But it's questionable if she needs them. The album's standout, “Human Touch,” came out of a Who/Thomas writing session.
It's unlikely Who will guest with the BSO anytime soon (but maybe with the Pops, fingers crossed). However, her cello isn't stuffed into some storage space; it was within arm's reach when she phoned the Herald. It's a reminder that her distinctive sound and story aren't another music industry creation.