Karl Johan Schuster (; born 1 February 1985), known professionally as Shellback, is a Swedish record producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Shellback 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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. He regularly collaborates with songwriter Max Martin and together they have produced, written, or co-written songs for various artists such as P!nk, Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert,

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** Fiel ...

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

, Adele and

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

. Shellback has also collaborated with fellow producer Benny Blanco and has produced songs by himself, including " Want U Back" by Cher Lloyd and " Animals" 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, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

for the animated film ''

Trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...

'' (2016), earning a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

in 2017.

Life and career

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

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 ''Bedtime Prayers'' is the second full-length album released by the Swedish melodic death metal band Blinded Colony. It is the only full album to feature new vocalist Johan Schuster, and also the first album under Pivotal Rockordings. Track ...

'', drawing comparisons to fellow Swedish melodic death metal band

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...

, before leaving in 2007. In 2005 he also performed as a guest musician on the Faith album ''

Sorg ''Sorg'' is the second studio album released by the Swedish doom metal band Faith. It was released in 2005 on Doom Symphony Records. Sorg means "grief" in Swedish. Track listing *"Emotional Retard" - 08.12 *"The Day I Died" - 06.51 *"Winter" - 0 ...

''. At the age of 16, Schuster met Max Martin through their mutual friend Julius. 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 would 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's 2008 single "

So What So What may refer to: Law *Demurrer, colloquially called a "So what?" pleading Music Albums * ''So What'' (Anti-Nowhere League album) or the 1981 title song (see below), 2000 * '' So What?: Early Demos and Live Abuse'', by Anti-Nowhere League, ...

" 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 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 Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

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 understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

''—"Elektra" was released as a single on 27 April 2015—which was released on the label

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

on 26 June 2015.

Discography

;With Meriah * ''...Turn Him Your Other Cheek (Demo)'' (2003) ;With Blinded Colony * ''Promo Demo'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) ;As a guest musician * Faith - ''

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

Production discography

Billboard Hot 100

The following singles peaked inside the top ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ;Number-one singles * "So What" * "3" * "Raise Your Glass" * "Moves like Jagger" * "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" * "One More Night" * "Shake It Off" * "Blank Space" * "Bad Blood" * "Can't Stop the Feeling!" ;Top 10 Hits * "Whataya Want from Me" * "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" * "Fuckin' Perfect" * "Loser Like Me" * "I Wanna Go" * "Payphone" * "Scream" * "I Knew You Were Trouble" * "Problem" * "Animals" * "Style" * "Wildest Dreams" * "Just like Fire" * "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" * "...Ready for It?" * "I Don't Care"

Awards

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

- ''

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

'' * 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