5 Qs With - Wallpaper.
Several years ago, I chatted with a fairly unknown electronic producer and artist named Wallpaper. He was releasing this really weird (though incredibly catchy) music under his own name, and as much as I loved it, I wasn’t sure it would ever catch on.
Here we are several years later, and things have changed immensely, and somehow also not at all. WHile the name Wallpaper. still isn’t a mainstream moniker, he has exploded onto the scene in plenty of other ways. You have been listening to Ricky Reed’s music (his real name) for years, you just didn’t know it.
Wallpaper. has produced hits for acts like Fifth Harmony and Jason Derulo, and influenced artists like Ariana Grande to include certain instruments that had all but left top 40 radio. When was the last time we heard a dirty sax on a track?
I spoke with Ricky recently about his successes with other artists, which was incredibly exciting. I’m personally very happy to see this guy make it.
You made this last album a big break for Jason Derulo. How did both of these hits come about?
Honestly “Talk Dirty” was somewhat of a fluke. It was rare industry magic. A good A&R guy gave me a sample to try, which I did and sent it back to him. He thought it was going to be for Missy Elliott, which I thought was great. He played it for some vocal writers and they worked on it, and then it went to Jason. I had never met him by the time the single was out.
I made the beat and every month or so there was something new. It would be like ‘Jason Derulo cut it’, and I’d think ‘oh great!’ The next month it was like ‘Hey, it might be a single’, and a month after that it was it went gold in Australia. Like, are you serious?
After that song started rolling, people on his team were like ‘OK, we've got to get you two together.’ We made two or three very cool, very strange songs. We have a really good chemistry.
I never would have assumed this before, but he's one of a few artists that lets me run wild. He's a very unique, creative dude, musical dude. Anything I whistle at him, he can sing back to me. It's been liberating working with Jason.
How involved is he in the entire process?
He's very involved from the get go. He knows what he likes, what he doesn't like, and he's a great writer. Right off the bat we were sharing ideas. I remember in this one session--both of us totally hungover--he came to me and was like ‘I kind of want to do something that has the drum feel of “Come Together”’, and I was like ‘“Come Together by The Beatles?’, so we did.
He comes in with really interesting concepts and ideas, and I take whatever he says and spiral it out into the oblivion.
Are you already working on new stuff with him?
For sure.
Was there a point in time where you were making your own music, and something happened where then all of a sudden you were writing for other people as well?
I always had interest in making music for other people. When I first heard Lil Wayne's "A Milli" I was like ‘Yeah I want to do that’. Even pre-Wallpaper. hits, I was kicking around the idea of trying to make tracks, but I was having zero success. After I made “Stupidfacedd” and everyone reacted so well I realized that maybe people want my sound.
The real breakthrough song was one that I did for Far East Movement called “Turn Up The Love”. That was the first one that I thought might really work, and “Talk Dirty” with the follow up to that. All downhill from there.
We don't know that yet.
Maybe all downhill like, I'll be coasting. Just put it in neutral.
That wouldn't be so bad.
I don't think it's a matter of what strange instrument I can put into a song, it's that it all feels good. That can be taken lightly, because all pop music should feel good, but it's more that there's a different electricity in the air when it’s on. That sense of real, pure fun. That’s me waiting in the studio sessions for that moment. As soon as you hear it, put it on the record and don't mess with it. Get it out. That's my sound.
Now, is it fair to say that the funky, dirty sax sound is yours? Maybe you didn't create it, but now it's the Ricky Reed sound?
It was my sound certainly, but you have to stay a couple of steps ahead at all times. The morning that Ariana Grande's “Problem” hit the internet, I woke up with like ten text messages wondering if I was going to sue them. It is a great compliment to me. I think it's a great song. I was really happy to hear that sound that I had helped form was getting traction, especially one so odd.
So you're not upset that other people quickly picked up your sound and ran with it?
Not at all. Anyone can pull up a saxophone, trumpet, or synthesizer when they're making a song, but if it isn't funky it doesn't mean shit. I'm pretty stress-free as far as people copying my stuff.
Since “Turn Up The Love” and “Talk Dirty” blew up, have you had a lot of people reach out and say they want one of those--a hit with sax?
Yeah definitely. There was that first round of people who were like “Hey, we want a ‘Talk Dirty’”. Even now people come to me and say “We have this song, and it's pretty cool, but it needs a funky drop”. Sometimes the sample is pretty cool, and I work on it to get it to the right place. Other times somebody will lob me a cheesy after school special pop track and they just want me to add in sax somewhere. Like, no. I need to hear that element of magic in the record before I get involved with something that has already begun. Also for an artist to put out a record I made, I have to really believe in them.
When I did a song for Pitbull, I met the guy and had no idea that he was so fucking cool. He's so hardworking and so magnetic. When I met him I thought “I want to do as much work with him as I can”. He's incredible. Now I'll make shit for him all day.
So did you only write those party songs because you thought it's what people would like and the kind of thing that would help you get to a good place in the industry?
No, those songs are genuine. You can't write good songs like that without living it. I still party now, but I do it a different way. I'm in a really happy place and I think that'll come across in the music.
How do you prioritize taking on some work with other people versus turning things down to spend time on Wallpaper.?
I never need to make time for Wallpaper., Wallpaper. just happens. I'm in the shower or I'm walking to get coffee and I'll get ideas, and I'll just go and work on them. Being in that healthy creative space where I don't feel bogged down or shitty because I'm overworked, that’s the scheduling priority. I honestly took on too much last night, because I was up all night eating Denny’s salad and recording.
At least you had a salad.
Yeah, that bright white, translucent lettuce. Not exactly nutrient-packed.
Several years ago, I chatted with a fairly unknown electronic producer and artist named Wallpaper. He was releasing this really weird (though incredibly catchy) music under his own name, and as much as I loved it, I wasn’t sure it would ever catch on.
Here we are several years later, and things have changed immensely, and somehow also not at all. WHile the name Wallpaper. still isn’t a mainstream moniker, he has exploded onto the scene in plenty of other ways. You have been listening to Ricky Reed’s music (his real name) for years, you just didn’t know it.
Wallpaper. has produced hits for acts like Fifth Harmony and Jason Derulo, and influenced artists like Ariana Grande to include certain instruments that had all but left top 40 radio. When was the last time we heard a dirty sax on a track?
I spoke with Ricky recently about his successes with other artists, which was incredibly exciting. I’m personally very happy to see this guy make it.
You made this last album a big break for Jason Derulo. How did both of these hits come about?
Honestly “Talk Dirty” was somewhat of a fluke. It was rare industry magic. A good A&R guy gave me a sample to try, which I did and sent it back to him. He thought it was going to be for Missy Elliott, which I thought was great. He played it for some vocal writers and they worked on it, and then it went to Jason. I had never met him by the time the single was out.
I made the beat and every month or so there was something new. It would be like ‘Jason Derulo cut it’, and I’d think ‘oh great!’ The next month it was like ‘Hey, it might be a single’, and a month after that it was it went gold in Australia. Like, are you serious?
After that song started rolling, people on his team were like ‘OK, we've got to get you two together.’ We made two or three very cool, very strange songs. We have a really good chemistry.
I never would have assumed this before, but he's one of a few artists that lets me run wild. He's a very unique, creative dude, musical dude. Anything I whistle at him, he can sing back to me. It's been liberating working with Jason.
How involved is he in the entire process?
He's very involved from the get go. He knows what he likes, what he doesn't like, and he's a great writer. Right off the bat we were sharing ideas. I remember in this one session--both of us totally hungover--he came to me and was like ‘I kind of want to do something that has the drum feel of “Come Together”’, and I was like ‘“Come Together by The Beatles?’, so we did.
He comes in with really interesting concepts and ideas, and I take whatever he says and spiral it out into the oblivion.
Are you already working on new stuff with him?
For sure.
Was there a point in time where you were making your own music, and something happened where then all of a sudden you were writing for other people as well?
I always had interest in making music for other people. When I first heard Lil Wayne's "A Milli" I was like ‘Yeah I want to do that’. Even pre-Wallpaper. hits, I was kicking around the idea of trying to make tracks, but I was having zero success. After I made “Stupidfacedd” and everyone reacted so well I realized that maybe people want my sound.
The real breakthrough song was one that I did for Far East Movement called “Turn Up The Love”. That was the first one that I thought might really work, and “Talk Dirty” with the follow up to that. All downhill from there.
We don't know that yet.
Maybe all downhill like, I'll be coasting. Just put it in neutral.
That wouldn't be so bad.
I don't think it's a matter of what strange instrument I can put into a song, it's that it all feels good. That can be taken lightly, because all pop music should feel good, but it's more that there's a different electricity in the air when it’s on. That sense of real, pure fun. That’s me waiting in the studio sessions for that moment. As soon as you hear it, put it on the record and don't mess with it. Get it out. That's my sound.
Now, is it fair to say that the funky, dirty sax sound is yours? Maybe you didn't create it, but now it's the Ricky Reed sound?
It was my sound certainly, but you have to stay a couple of steps ahead at all times. The morning that Ariana Grande's “Problem” hit the internet, I woke up with like ten text messages wondering if I was going to sue them. It is a great compliment to me. I think it's a great song. I was really happy to hear that sound that I had helped form was getting traction, especially one so odd.
So you're not upset that other people quickly picked up your sound and ran with it?
Not at all. Anyone can pull up a saxophone, trumpet, or synthesizer when they're making a song, but if it isn't funky it doesn't mean shit. I'm pretty stress-free as far as people copying my stuff.
Since “Turn Up The Love” and “Talk Dirty” blew up, have you had a lot of people reach out and say they want one of those--a hit with sax?
Yeah definitely. There was that first round of people who were like “Hey, we want a ‘Talk Dirty’”. Even now people come to me and say “We have this song, and it's pretty cool, but it needs a funky drop”. Sometimes the sample is pretty cool, and I work on it to get it to the right place. Other times somebody will lob me a cheesy after school special pop track and they just want me to add in sax somewhere. Like, no. I need to hear that element of magic in the record before I get involved with something that has already begun. Also for an artist to put out a record I made, I have to really believe in them.
When I did a song for Pitbull, I met the guy and had no idea that he was so fucking cool. He's so hardworking and so magnetic. When I met him I thought “I want to do as much work with him as I can”. He's incredible. Now I'll make shit for him all day.
So did you only write those party songs because you thought it's what people would like and the kind of thing that would help you get to a good place in the industry?
No, those songs are genuine. You can't write good songs like that without living it. I still party now, but I do it a different way. I'm in a really happy place and I think that'll come across in the music.
How do you prioritize taking on some work with other people versus turning things down to spend time on Wallpaper.?
I never need to make time for Wallpaper., Wallpaper. just happens. I'm in the shower or I'm walking to get coffee and I'll get ideas, and I'll just go and work on them. Being in that healthy creative space where I don't feel bogged down or shitty because I'm overworked, that’s the scheduling priority. I honestly took on too much last night, because I was up all night eating Denny’s salad and recording.
At least you had a salad.
Yeah, that bright white, translucent lettuce. Not exactly nutrient-packed.
