Shellback

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Shellback, real name Karl Johan Schuster, is a Swedish producer and songwriter, born in 1985. He began as a guitarist in the metal band Blinded Colony and as a teenager hardly listened to pop. At sixteen he came into contact with Max Martin through an acquaintance, and Martin wondered what pop music by this metal musician would sound like. In 2006 Martin invited him to his studio in Stockholm, and since 2007 Schuster has been under contract to Martin's company Maratone.

Music and breakthrough

Among his first songs with Martin are So What by Pink from 2008 and If U Seek Amy by Britney Spears. In 2012 he topped Billboard's year-end list of producers and won the STIM Platinum guitar prize. Together with Martin he worked for, among others, Taylor Swift, Adam Lambert, Usher, Avril Lavigne, Ariana Grande, Adele and Maroon 5. With Swift he made the album 1989 from 2014. He also wrote and produced Can't Stop the Feeling! for the film Trolls, together with Martin and Justin Timberlake. In 2015 he made arrangements for the album Freedom by the Swedish band Refused. He won four Grammys.

Influence

His style is energetic and percussive, with a rock and metal background beneath the pop. In School of Rock he is the Swedish producer with whom Swift made the move from country to pop on 1989, as part of the modern hit factory.

Listening

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 12: The Hit Factory^NL Reader