Great Music Producers Have Both of these Traits
So many great music producers are somehow chill and high-agency at the same time.
Here’s a story about benny blanco and Ed Sheeran that shows how it's done.
So, the industry folks say, “Hey benny, you should work with this guy Ed Sheeran.” Benny hears Ed’s track “A-Team” and is like, “I want to work with this guy right away.” But instead of the usual corporate email, benny hits the entire email thread with, “I gotta take a sh*t.”
Instant vibe check.
Everyone on benny's team starts freaking out. What did you do? This is a disaster.
But then Ed replies, “Me too.”
And benny thinks: "That's when I knew we were going to be friends."
Now they know they’re on the same wavelength. That’s the laid-back part—keeping it real, no posturing.
But here’s where the high-agency kicks in.
They decide they want to make music together, but Ed says, “I’m on tour.”
Most people would just wait. Not benny. He’s like, “Cool, I’ll join you on tour. We’ll set up a studio on the bus and at the arenas, and we’ll make music on tour.”
That’s the magic combo: chill and spontaneous, but also ready to jump on opportunities without hesitation.
And the result? They ended up spending two years on tour together, creating an album and a half-dozen number ones for other artists.
That’s how “Love Yourself” got written—after a night of partying, they decided to mess around with a song in the last two hours before hitting the Canadian border. That laid-back, in-the-moment energy, combined with an internal creative engine, created a megahit.
So be yourself, focus on being a good hang, and then don't be afraid to swing at fat pitches.
That’s how you can be chill and high-agency at the same time.
Notes: This story is from @DanielSWall's interview with @ItsBennyBlanco, which you should go watch right now. High agency is an idea from @george__mack and the fat pitches reference comes from @ShaanVP.
Here's the full interview, cued up to the @edsheeran story: