Cirkut

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Cirkut in the studio

Cirkut (born April 23, 1986 as Henry Russell Walter in Halifax , Canada ) is a Canadian music producer and songwriter . He co-produced, among other songs for Britney Spears , Rihanna and The Weeknd and was lead author of the number-one hits Good Feeling by Flo Rida , Timber by Pitbull and Sweet but Psycho by Ava Max . Since 2010 he has been working closely with the American songwriter and producer Dr. Luke and the Swedish author Max Martin .

Career

Walter was born and raised in Halifax , the capital of the province of Nova Scotia in Canada . Through his circle of friends, he made contact with music for the first time and began to develop an interest in hip-hop. As a teenager he was active as a DJ and first found pleasure in producing.

After graduating from high school in 2004, he moved to Toronto to find a better way into the music scene. He took a one-year audio engineering course at the Harris Institute . He then came into contact with the Canadian producer Alex Puodziukas (member of the DJ duo MSTRKRFT ), who occasionally brought him into the studio and taught him a lot in the field of electronic dance music . Through him he also met the attorney Chris Taylor.

In 2008 he designed the instrumental for the song Mmm Papi by the American singer Britney Spears , which was part of her second studio album Circus . He sent the piece to Chris Taylor, who brokered it for their record company " Kobalt Music Group ". The songwriter Nicole Morier then decided to finish the song for the studio album and wrote the lyrics together with Spears.

Together with Adrien Gough and Peter-John Kerr he started the electro project Let's Go To War, with which he released the studio album Karmageddon in 2009. They toured together as a support act for the British musician MIA . They also produced remixes and songs for other musicians. The project was later reorganized. Kerr left the group, for which the American Nick Jarjour joined. Under the name The Dream Machine they concentrated more and more on songwriting. Since Jarjour was previously active as a manager, they also set up a management and publishing department. The company expanded further with Dream House Studios, which opened in Toronto in 2010. Later Nelly Furtado , The Weeknd and Kiesza , among others , were signed here.

The Weeknd met Cirkut by chance in Toronto. Together they produced the song High For This , which became part of his first mixtape Thursday . Shortly afterwards he met the American producer and songwriter Dr. Luke , with whom he produced the song Seal It With A Kiss for Britney Spears . This is how he met the Swedish author Max Martin . He then signed a contract with Luke's record label "Prescription Songs". In order to maintain the close cooperation, he moved to Los Angeles , where he was able to work as a producer for Kesha , Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus .

In 2016 he produced a large part of the The Weeknd album Starboy , which received the Grammy for best "Urban Contemporary Album". He did not work with Dr. Luke together. From 2015 he accompanied the American singer Ava Max into the studio, which resulted in ten songs by 2018, including the song Sweet but Psycho , which reached number one in over 20 countries .

Discography

Author participations and productions

With Let's Go to War

Studio albums

  • 2009: Karmageddon

Singles

  • 2008: Burn Down The Disco
  • 2008: Whole City's Got A Cold
  • 2009: Life We Live
  • 2010: Wolves

Awards

  • Grammy Awards
    • 2014: Song of the Year - Roar - Katy Perry (Nominated)
    • 2015: Best Pop Duo / Group Performance - Dark Horse - Katy Perry feat. Juicy J (nominated)
    • 2018: Urban Contemporary Album - Starboy - The Weeknd (Won)
  • Juno Awards
    • 2014: Jack Richardson Producer of the Year (Won)
    • 2015: Songwriter of the Year (nominated)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Rawiya Kameir: Meet Cirkut, The Mysterious Canadian Producer Behind Pop's Biggest Hits on "The Fader"
  2. ↑ Andrea Nemetz: Canadian trio behind Spears tune Mmm Papi on " Toronto Star "
  3. ↑ Kevin Jones: Let's Go To War: North By Northeast Toronto ON June 11 to 15 on "Exclaim"
  4. ↑ Sentimentalist Staff: Electro Rock, Hop and Roll: We Are Enfant Terrible, Yes Giantess and Let's go to War, CMJ Day 3, 10.22.09 on "Sentimentalist Mag"
  5. ↑ Dan Hyman: Meet Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry's Secret Weapon on "Elle"

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Cirkut
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walter, Henry Russel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian music producer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1986
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax, Nova Scotia , Canada