TECHNICAL EXPERTISE NLY GETS Y U S FAR
Jeff Lynne and Brian Eno are among Antonoff’s musical idols for their shared ability to write, produce and perform in equal measure. Antonoff, too, prides himself on being something of a technical whiz — but he has also learned that no amount of studio mastery can substitute for the unpredictable, sometimes grueling work of good songwriting.
I’ve finally figured out this huge separation between craft and process. Craft is like, “I know how all these things work.” I know how to make that Mellotron [keyboard] sound how I want it to sound. I know how to put it through that tape echo. If something needs to feel like a dream or like a nightmare, I can do it. That’s great. But none of that helps you get to the core of an idea. Those are all the clothing you put some [ideas] in.
The craft is something you can work on and grow, but it’s just a tool. And the act of writing, having ideas of value and making albums, is truly something from the heart and the mind that mostly happens outside the studio. You get thoughts in the shower or walking or doing things, and that’s a really frustrating reality. The mystery of where it comes from and how it comes? There’s no answer to that.
You’re always learning from everyone around you. Lana [Del Rey] taught me that sometimes that thing that just comes out of thin air is the thing, and you don’t even touch it. Ella [Yelich-O’Connor, aka Lorde], on the other hand, teaches me
what can happen if you keep chipping away at something over and over. The idea of the process is these big egos and big attitudes [colliding], but once you get into that very vulnerable place of working and writing, everyone’s just a half-broken sponge. There’s so much being passed around, there’s so much information and so much emotion, and that’s why I love it so much. It’s really this rarefied space.