If you are a fan of modern pop music, you’ve probably heard the name Jack Antonoff. The New Jersey native is a singer, songwriter, and music producer who has worked with artists ranging from Lorde to St. Vincent to Taylor Swift. Even if you don’t think you know who Jack Antonoff is, chances are you’ve heard at least one song he has worked on.
Antonoff started his career in the music industry as the drummer of a band called Fun. Some of their most popular songs include “We Are Young,” “Some Nights,” and “Carry On.” They took over the music scene in 2013, getting Antonoff his first Grammy for Best New Artist with the band. Currently, he fronts the rock band Bleachers, which has collaborated with artists like Bruce Springsteen and Lana Del Rey. You may recognize some of their songs like “Rollercoaster,” featured in the first season of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Though his career in bands has brought him success, Jack is most well-known for producing and writing music. He has worked with major names in the pop, alternative rock, and indie genres exclusively. Working with global superstar, Taylor Swift has brought him his most fame. He helped write and produce multiple of her albums including 1989 and folklore, which have both won Album Of The Year. Working with Swift is how he started to change the sound in the music industry. 1989 reintroduced synth-pop, a popular style of music from the 80s, into mainstream music. This has been reflected in not only Swift’s 5th studio album, but most of the work Antonoff has produced and put out for his own band. Most recently, he has had a hand in each of Swift’s re-recordings from Fearless (Taylor’s Version) to the most recent 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
Since 1989, the synth-pop sound has stuck around. We have seen several artists use this style and a great deal is due to Jack Antonoff. Most notably, Grammy Award Winner, Olivia Rodrigo used this sound in her hit song “deja vu.” It even went as far as to interpolate, and use aspects from one song into another, Taylor Swift’s song “Cruel Summer,” which was co-written and produced by Antonoff himself. The style of the song has punchy instrumentals with strong, hard-hitting lyrics, similar to that of which Antonoff has produced and written.
Rodrigo isn’t the only artist inspired by Jack Antonoff’s production style. For the first time in their band’s history, the British band, The 1975, worked with Antonoff for their 5th studio album, Being Funny In a Foreign Language. This album changed their sound from alternative indie to indie pop and many credit this to Jack Antonoff. This also happened with Lana Del Rey as she made a sound shift from her album Lust for Life to Norman F******g Rockwell! while beginning to work with Antonoff. Jack has now been known to work with artists who are prone to changing their genre from album to album while collaborating with him.
Jack Antonoff continues to take the music industry by storm. He is quickly becoming a household name to those who have a keen interest in music. His sound has become iconic and makes him one of the most sought-after producers in the industry. He has fans and artists constantly anticipating his next move.