Despite what everyone believes, it is not about writing a big chorus. It is about catching a unique emotion. An emotion that solely appears when the composition and production are tightly connected, I mean, really tightly. Then you have created magic. And only then have you created a song that can reach any heights.
This is how the Swedish songwriter and producer Johan Åberg defines a hit. And after a decade of creating worldwide hits for artists like Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson and Cher, he should know.
But let's tell the story from the beginning.
Johan Åberg's road to the songwriting elite started in the traditional manner of having a moderately successful – or to be completely frank; catastrophic - career as a guitarist in a rock band in the late 80's.
But instead of giving up the music dream – and because this is a story with a happy ending – Åberg traded in the guitar for a computer and started writing pop songs. In 1998 he met the legendary hit maker Anders Hansson, and together they started the production company Eclectic and built a studio complex in central Stockholm.
Just two years later, Johan Åberg realized his and most other songwriters' dream, a dream which rarely materializes; a No 1 hit in the US. It was Christina Aguilera who took his latin inspired dance tune "Come On Over Baby" to the top of Billboard's HOT100. There it remained comfortably for four weeks, selling more than ten million copies and kicking off both Aguilera's and Åberg's careers.
- A US number 1 is obviously something very special. It brings you respect. I didn't think much of it back then, but suddenly all doors were wide open. I got to meet whoever I wanted in the business and American artists where flown to Sweden to work with me, Åberg recalls, who since then has had eight unbelievably successful years. The numerous awards and gold and platinum discs hanging on the studio walls are a testament to this.
Highlights on his long list of merits are a couple of songs on Jessica Simpson's multi-million selling debut; Cher's hit "A Different Kind Of Love Song", which topped the Billboard Club Chart; record breaking sales and number ones in the French charts with pop sensation L5; equally huge sales in Germany with girl band No Angels, and several specially written No 1 hits for "Idol" winners in Germany, Norway, Spain, France and Sweden. In addition to all this, Johan Åberg has also worked with such different names as Victoria Beckham and Chinese pop star Wei Wei.
What is it like working with all these super celebrities?
- It varies a lot. Cher came to the studio with her entourage of ten people, went straight into the vocal booth and sang the song twice.
Then she came out and said "I think you have what you need now, boys"
and disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, laughs Johan Åberg and
continues:
- With Victoria Beckham on the other hand, I had to work on the same song for a week. But there were never any complaints, Victoria was very un-diva like. My strongest memory of her is one where she is standing outside in the back yard smoking, freezing in the middle of the winter in her tiny indoor slippers. I also remember that David used to call her on the mobile the whole time.
Tell us about some of your career highlights.
- Being successful in the charts is obviously a sort of highlight, although being able to meet old heroes outweighs that. Like the time when I was invited over to Quincy Jones' enormous house in Bel Air and spent an afternoon with him and Chris Tucker. Or when I partied with Richie Sambora from Bon Jovi during an ASCAP Award gala in LA.
During his years in the business, Johan Åberg has made a name for himself as a reliable hitman, predominantly for female artists. This is an epithet he now intends to broaden. In the future, Åberg wants to work closer to the artists and be more involved in the development of their careers. Music for films and commercials is another area of work into which Johan Åberg has thrown himself recently.
- As we all know, the music industry is having a hard time at the moment. However, it is also an exciting time. Nobody knows what the future will look like. Although one thing is certain: music makes the world go round.