the beat
GREY: ADAM FRANZINO. HOPE: DAVID O’DONOHUE. MARINA: KARWAI TANG/WIREIMAGE. TEGAN & SARA: PAUL MORIGI/WIREIMAGE. JEPSEN: MARK SAGLIOCCO/GETTY IMAGES. PLATT: WALTER MCBRIDE/GETTY IMAGES.In April 2018, Hope tried to collaborate with Tegan & Sara via Twitter DM — and, she
thought, failed. Then her manager called to say the duo wanted to work together in
person. Hope flew to Vancouver and joined the all-female studio team for the pair’s
new album, out Sept. 27 on Sire Records. “Working with two Virgos is kind of a
dream for me,” says Hope of the hyper-organized duo. As for producing an entire LP
for the first time? “It was fun to feel supported by super-talented women.”Hope describes her best friend, fellow Aussie singer-songwriter Ben Abraham, as
her partner in binge-watching The Office. But Abraham helped shape her work, too,
by introducing her to Platt in January 2018. The three worked together on the Dear
Evan Hansen star’s debut album, munching on doughnuts in the studio. “It was very
Nashville-style, sitting around with an acoustic guitar,” says Hope. “The two Bens
had been working together for a minute, so they had great synergy.” Sing to Me
Instead reached No. 18 on the Billboard 200.When Jepsen was ready to follow up 2015’s Emotion, she reached out to Hope,
whom she had met in 2016. They worked in the basement studio in Hope’s former
home, which she calls “a dark little cave with a lot of weird novelty lighting.” They
ended up co-writing “Right Words Wrong Time,” which Hope then co-produced
with Grammy nominee Rogét Chahayed (Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar).In 2018, Hope met British singer-songwriter James Flannigan for coffee, and
the two bonded over their shared admiration of Marina, who was on Hope’s list
of dream collaborators. Within days, the trio headed to Flannigan’s Los Angeles
studio for a session that resulted in a standout track off Love + Fear, which hit
No. 28 on the Billboard 200. “It was a good hang that happened to also produce a
song,” says Hope, “which is the best kind.”MARINA
“No More Suckers,”
Love + FearTEGAN &
SAR A
Hey, I’m Just
Like YouBEN PLATT
“Grow As We Go,”
Sing to Me InsteadCARLY RAE
JEPSEN
“Right Words Wrong
Time,” DedicatedIN DEMAND
Six years ago, when Alex Hope was 19, she signed her first publishing deal with Sony/ATV in her native
Sydney and went on to write songs for contestants on Australia’s version of The X Factor. By early 2014, she and
Troye Sivan — whom she met through Sony/ATV head of A&R Maree Hamblion — were regularly meeting in
Los Angeles for writing sessions. Working with Sivan expanded Hope’s circle of collaborators and inspired her to
try producing. She moved to L.A. that year and quickly started strengthening her résumé. She won breakthrough
songwriter of the year at the 2016 Australasian Performing Right Association Awards; produced and co-wrote
“Lucky Strike” on Sivan’s 2018 album, Bloom; and so far this year has produced for Alec Benjamin, Ingrid
Michaelson, Alanis Morissette and others. No matter the act, working one-on-one remains Hope’s favorite
approach to making music. “It’s a very vulnerable thing,” she says. “It really does feel like therapy.” —GAB GINSBERGAlex Hope
SONGWRITER-PRODUCER
THE AUSTRALIA NATIVE HAS WANTED TO WRITE SONGS
FOR HER FAVORITE ARTISTS SINCE SHE WAS A TEEN —
N OW, T H E Y ’ R E CO M I N G TO H E R40 BILLBOARD | AUGUST 24, 2019
SIGNED
Skylar Grey has been in the industry
for over 15 years, but she’s still
looking for new ways to innovate.
Many of her greatest successes
have come as a songwriter — first
with Eminem, with co-writes on his
2010 hit “Love the Way You Lie”
(featuring Rihanna) and the Dr. Dre-
Eminem single “I Need a Doctor”
(on which she guested), and later
on hits like Zedd‘s “Clarity” and
Macklemore’s “Glorious.” After
signing to Interscope in 2011, she
left her prior management in 2017
and then finalized a split with the
label this summer. (Grey describes
the latter as “amicable” and the
result of “creative differences.”)
The 33-year-old went looking
for new representation with a
finished album, and after receiving
recommendations to connect
with Crush Music co-founder
Jonathan Daniel, the two met in
mid-2018. “He wasn’t trying to sell
me some crazy ‘I can make you a
superstar’ story,” says Grey. “It was
real, and he seemed like somebody I
could look up to.” Since the meeting,
Grey has been in frequent contact
with various members of the Crush
team, including head of A&R
Evan Taubenfeld. Now officially
on the roster, she’s preparing to
self-release her new album, Angel
With Tattoos; lead single “Shame
on You” is due Aug. 26. Grey says
the concept project “could end
up having a hundred songs” and
that she’s going to continually add
tracks to digital service providers.
Taubenfeld is confident that Crush
can present Grey as more than a
behind-the-scenes star: “She has
an incredible amount of fans inside
the business. The next phase for us
is creating a large amount of fans of
her artistry.” —JOSH GLICKSMAN
NAME SKYLAR GREY
MANAGEMENT CRUSH MUSIC