Andrew Watt on his “intense” approach to music production

Music production is often the home of happy accidents; melodies that spring from nowhere after days of writing, a single production decision that elevates a track threefold.

But while most producers can recall more than one instance of creative serendipity, super producer Andrew Watt maintains that all of his production decisions are carefully considered.

In a new conversation on the And The Writer Is… YouTube channel, Watt describes his “intense” and very methodical approach to music production.

“I’m so detail-oriented in my mixing process and production process,” he explains. “There’s not a thing in, like, a millisecond of any of my records that I don’t know exactly what it is and what it’s doing and why it’s there. So mixing the record is a very intense process for me.”

Of course, the pursuit of perfection is never quite finished, so Watt admits that he doesn’t like to listen to his records once they are finished and released.

“Once it’s out, I’d never listen to it again,” he says. “If I did listen to it, I would want to change 100 things.”

At 34 years old, Andrew Watt has built just about the most stacked producer’s resume imaginable, having worked with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, The Rolling Stones, Post Malone, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, to name just a few.

Elsewhere in the interview, Watt recounts his experience working with the Stones on their latest album, Hackney Diamonds.

“I remember hearing the song on the last Stones album that had Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder on it [Sweet Sounds of Heaven],” he says. “It’s like six minutes or something like that. And it’s just people in a room jamming, and they build, and you don’t know why they’re building, it’s just humans doing superhuman things… It was an incredibly emotional experience for me.”

Watt also speaks about the importance of not being intimidated by big artists when working as a producer, and to remember the reason that you’re there in the studio in the first place.

“There’s no like, I’m sitting in the room with Post Malone, and I have to just shut my mouth or I’m gonna get thrown out of this room,” he says. “It’s like, No, you say what you feel and your opinion. You’re there to give your opinion…

“Being a producer, you are not there to just smile and nod. You’re there for your opinion, even if you have imposter syndrome, which happens to me all the time, and you think, ‘Why the hell am I here? Why does this person even need me? They can do this without me.’

“You’re there to give your opinion. That’s why they want you there. Otherwise they would just do it themselves.”

Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of MusicRadar, Guitar World, Total Guitar and Metal Hammer.