He\u2019s made albums with the Stones, Sir Elton, Iggy and more, but who exactly is go-to producer to the elite Andrew Watt?<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/01.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”01″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Star Wattage: Andrew Watt in Sunset Sound studio, LA, October 2023.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
AS IF FURTHER proof were needed that Andrew Watt is currently the most in-demand record producer on the planet, MOJO\u2019s hour-long call with the 34-year-old New Yorker is almost interrupted more than once by one of his most famous charges, Elton John.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
\u201cHe\u2019s tried to FaceTime me about six times since you and I have been doing this interview,\u201d Watt laughs. \u201cI have to keep pressing the red button on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watt is talking while driving between Italy and France, on a rare vacation (since last September, he claims he hasn\u2019t taken \u201ceven a fucking weekend\u201d off). If his current production CV is impressive \u2013 catalogue-refreshing, elixir of youth-supping albums by The Rolling Stones, Elton\/Brandi Carlile, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and Pearl Jam, pop success with Lady Gaga and Post Malone, ongoing work on the upcoming Paul McCartney record \u2013 his rapid career ascent has surely been dizzying. He admits he\u2019s still acclimatising to life in the starry firmament. <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
\u201c\u2018Why do they want me<\/i>?\u2019 That\u2019s hard for me to think about,\u201d he confesses. \u201cSometimes you get imposter syndrome a little bit, but all I can say is that, y\u2019know, I love<\/i> these artists.\u201d<\/p>\n
A top-flight production career certainly wasn\u2019t in his plans. Having grown up in Long Island\u2019s Great Neck versed in rock classics and playing in bar bands, he became a guitarist for Australian pop artist Cody Simpson, through whom he met Justin Bieber, leading to his first co-written 2016 hit, Bieber\u2019s Let Me Love You. Subsequent work with Post Malone, Lana Del Rey and \u2013 side-stepping into rock \u2013 his production of Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s 2020 LP Ordinary Man<\/i> led to a Producer Of The Year Grammy win in 2021.<\/p>\n
The next thing, Paul McCartney was coming to his Beverly Hills studio for tea. Watt confesses that, the night before, he woke up in a cold sweat, realising he had no left-handed guitars should McCartney fancy playing. That morning, he hired a Hofner violin bass, Epiphone Casino and late-\u201960s-era Martin D-28 acoustic. When Watt asked Macca to teach him his finger-picking technique on Blackbird, he was able to hand him the Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe picked up the lefty guitar, and an hour later, we were writing a song,\u201d says the producer. \u201cYou just always have to be ready because you never know what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”2844,2845″ fullwidth=”on” module_class=”fp-gallery” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
From left: Watt with collaborators Mick Jagger, Elton John and Paul McCartney<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Sometime later, over lunch, McCartney recommended Watt to Ronnie Wood, leading to Watt\u2019s overseeing of the Stones\u2019 Hackney Diamonds<\/i>. \u201cPaul McCartney got me the gig for The Rolling Stones!\u201d he enthuses now, disbelievingly. \u201cI mean, that sounds like a fake-ass dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Watt wasn\u2019t thrown by the challenge. During the Stones sessions at Henson Studios in LA, the producer ended up playing bass on a number of songs (and co-writing three). \u201cIt\u2019s not me pushing in and just inserting myself,\u201d he insists. \u201cSometimes there wasn\u2019t a bass player present.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition, in the old school tradition of the \u2018executive producer\u2019, Watt brought in two of his other clients, Gaga and McCartney, for appearances on the album \u2013 the latter contributing thrillingly fuzzy low-end to Bite My Head Off. \u201cHe got to just be the bass player in the band, and he fucking loved it. As I was walking Paul out of the studio, he said, \u2018I just fucking played bass in The Rolling Stones, and I\u2019m a fucking Beatle!\u2019\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/04.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”04″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Playing ball with Iggy Pop and Chili Pepper Flea.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
When MOJO spoke to the Stones in 2023, Jagger explained that part of Watt\u2019s appeal was his understanding of modern streaming platforms and his promise to help the band navigate them. Some critics of Hackney Diamonds<\/i>, however, felt that Watt\u2019s production sacrificed vintage, analogue warmth for Spotify-friendly digital punch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I use it all<\/i>,\u201d he retorts. \u201cI use tape machines, I use digital. But we mixed it a little louder than maybe older records are and, y\u2019know, a little more in-your-face\u2026 to make them more upfront, so that when you\u2019re listening to a Travis Scott song and then a Rolling Stones song comes on right after it, it sounds at a competitive level.\u201d <\/p>\n
Significantly, Watt managed to push the Stones\u2019 first album in 18 years over the line. He\u2019s able to get records made, even if the process involves gnarly moments. As captured on in-the-studio video, he even managed to cope with one of Elton John\u2019s legendary tantrums while recording 2025 Brandi Carlile collab, Who Believes In Angels?<\/i>. At one point, an exasperated Elton, sat at the piano, ripped up his lyrics sheet and trashed a pair of headphones. Watt remained unflappable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen the behaviour before,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019d never had it directed at me. But I really understand the process of a genius at work that is frustrated. And I moved through it with him as slow as I could, but tried to stay strong, and I never take anything personally.\u201d <\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/05.jpg” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” title_text=”05″ sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Watt with his Grammy for Best Rock Album for his work on Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s Patient Number 9<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Today, Watt is circumspect about the details of the long-gestated McCartney album (\u201cThat\u2019s something you have to talk to Paul about\u201d) and his helming of Morrissey\u2019s Capitol Records contract-busting and yet-to-appear Bonfire Of Teenagers<\/i> (which the singer now holds the rights to). \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening,\u201d he carefully avers. \u201cI just leave it to Moz. It was awesome. Another master at work, y\u2019know? We don\u2019t make art for it to sit on a hard drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As to his own growing fame, Watt tells MOJO that he has a solo album half-finished but is for the moment content with performing alongside Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith in their \u201chigh-level cover band\u201d, the Smith & Watt Steakhouse \u2013 whose summer 2024 appearance at a small New York venue saw Macca get up and sing I Saw Her Standing There. \u201cA bar with 200 people got to watch Paul do his thing,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was amazing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ultimately, Watt is keenly aware that his hot streak could end any day, and is determined to make the most of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Mick Jagger\u2019s dancing in the control room, then I\u2019m doing my fucking job,\u201d he stresses. \u201cI\u2019m so lucky to be in the room, and I\u2019m gonna work harder than anyone else to stay in that room.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]
Tom Doyle<\/I><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Courtesy of Andrew Watt, Adali Schell, Danny Clinch, Getty Images<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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