Karl Johan Schuster (; born 1 February 1985), known professionally as Shellback, is a Swedish record producer and songwriter. He was listed as the No. 1 producer of 2012 on '' Billboard'' magazine's year end chart, and he also topped the list of their "Top 10 Songwriters Airplay Chart" the same year; he has won four Grammy Awards. Shellback initially started his career as a heavy metal guitarist before transitioning into pop music production and songwriting. Shellback regularly collaborates with songwriter Max Martin and together they have produced, written, or co-written songs for various artists such as P!nk,

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, Usher,

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

, Ariana Grande, Adele and Maroon 5. Shellback has also collaborated with fellow producer

Benny Blanco Benjamin Joseph Levin (born March 8, 1988), known professionally as Benny Blanco (stylized in all lowercase), is an American record producer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2013 Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall ...

and has produced songs by himself, including " Want U Back" by

Cher Lloyd Cher Lloyd (born 28 July 1993) is an English singer. She participated on the The X Factor (UK series 7), seventh series of the television talent show ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor'' in 2010, where she finished in fourth place. F ...

and "

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" by Maroon 5. He co-wrote and co-produced the song " Can't Stop the Feeling!" along with Martin and

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...

for the animated film '' Trolls'' (2016), earning a nomination for the

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in 2017.

Life and career

Karl Johan Schuster was born and raised in Karlshamn, Sweden. He started as a drummer in local

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

bands in Karlshamn, as well as recording all instruments on the 2003 Meriah demo ''...Turn Him Your Other Cheek'' (a strictly

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

recording), before joining the hardcore-metal scene as a vocalist in 2004 for Blinded Colony, with whom he recorded 2005's ''Promo Demo'' and 2006's '' Bedtime Prayers'', drawing comparisons to fellow Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames, before leaving in 2007. In 2005, he also performed as a guest musician on the

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

album '' Sorg''. At the age of 16, Schuster met Max Martin through a mutual friend. By that time, according to an interview in the Swedish music magazine ''Stim-magasinet'', Schuster's taste in music was "too cool for school" and he had no interest in pop music whatsoever. Julius kept sending Schuster's indie rock-death metal demos to Martin, who became curious about what it would sound like if Schuster were to make pop music. So in 2006 Martin invited Schuster to his studio in Stockholm to record a demo with him, and since 2007 Schuster has been signed to Martin's production company Maratone. Among the first songs Schuster co-wrote with Martin are

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

's 2008 single " So What" and

' 2008 single " If U Seek Amy". In 2012 Schuster won the STIM Platinum guitar prize. In 2014, Schuster produced "

Problem Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business an ...

" alongside Martin and Ilya. In 2015, Shellback collaborated with Swedish

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band Refused, as he is both a fan of the band's music and friends with the band's drummer David Sandstrom. Sandstrom sent him the versions of the songs "Elektra" and "366" that Refused had recorded with producer Nick Launay, and Shellback replied with his own arrangements of the two songs. Refused frontman Dennis Lyxzen explained in June 2015 that Shellback's versions were "far more Refused than our versions" and "were better" than the Launay-produced versions. The two songs appear on Refused's comeback album ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

''—"Elektra" was released as a single on 27 April 2015—which was released on the label Epitaph Records on 26 June 2015.

Discography

;With Meriah * ''...Turn Him Your Other Cheek (Demo)'' (2003) ;With Blinded Colony * ''Promo Demo'' (2005) * '' Bedtime Prayers'' (2006) ;As a guest musician *

- '' Sorg'' (2005) * Refused - '' War Music'' (2019)

Production discography

Awards

Grammy Awards * Album of the Year - '' 1989'' * Best Pop Vocal Album - ''1989'' * Album of the Year - '' 25'' * Best Song Written for Visual Media - " Can't Stop the Feeling!"

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shellback 1985 births Living people Grammy Award winners People from Karlshamn Swedish heavy metal singers Swedish record producers Swedish songwriters 21st-century Swedish singers Musikförläggarnas pris winners