INGLEWOOD, CA - MARCH 11: Halsey (L) and Justin Tranter attend the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on TBS, TNT, and truTV at The Forum on March 11, 2018 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Not many artists consider themselves lucky to have dodged fame. But Justin Tranter is a unique voice. At one time, the frontman of New York-based Semi Precious Weapons, known to many as one Lady Gaga's favorite bands and opening act on her 2010 Monster Ball tour, Tranter is now one of the biggest songwriters in pop music.
A Grammy nominee this past year for Songwriter Of The Year, Tranter's recent catalogue of hits include Halsey's "Bad At Love," Imagine Dragons' "Believer," Justin Bieber's "Sorry," Camila Cabello's "Into It," Julia Michaels' "Issues" and "Uh Huh" and countless more for Gwen Stefani, Jason Derulo, Fifth Harmony and on and on.
For Tranter, the best part of his recent success is the ability to use his influence and voice as a role model for the LBGTQ community. An outspoken activist, Tranter spoke with me about working with acts like 5 Seconds of Summer, his dream artists to work with, using his voice as a role model and why "fame is terrible."
Steve Baltin: Talk about what you get to learn being around so many different artists.
Justin Tranter: There is always something to learn. It's awesome. I had such an amazing time with [5 Seconds Of Summer] and I think the album is gonna really surprise people. They're all really talented. I went in and did two sessions initially and was so blown away by their talent and their songwriting talent I was like, "Oh, I'm going in deep." I don't know exactly what the track list is yet, but I think I have a good chunk of the album with them. And also, for me, coming from a band background, I really love the band vibe and I love you're writing a song, but you're having to take in four different personalities, make sure everyone feels respected, heard and seen. They deserve to be because they're the ones who have to go and play these songs the rest of their lives, not me. It was an awesome experience and being a mentor to somebody is really cool. And, as you said, every single day I go and I learn something new from somebody, so that's a really cool feeling.
Baltin: Do those moments where you are referred to as the "super-songwriter" and you have five songs on the charts still feel surreal to you?
Tranter: Everyday there is something where I'm just like, "How the f**k did this happen?" When I first started writing songs with and for other people there were two years of no hits and no success and I was just going to as many sessions as possible and I was just writing as much as I possibly could. Now that there's been success I'm still just going to as many sessions as possible and writing as much as I can. My actual day to day life hasn't changed at all, cause I just work with famous people, I'm not a famous person. I think when you're famous you can feel your life changing or better or worse with your musical success. Even though I was trying to be a superstar myself for a very long time, I was always obsessed with songwriters, always. I always knew all the pop songwriters. I'd try and find out as much about their life as possible. And now to see that's happening for me is just really beautiful and I'm grateful. I tell all the writers who are signed to me, "Everything is meant to be as long as you don't quit." So all the ups and downs my band had, it was all meant to be because I didn't quit and now I found this whole other career and it's unbelievable.
">INGLEWOOD, CA - MARCH 11: Halsey (L) and Justin Tranter attend the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards which broadcasted live on TBS, TNT, and truTV at The Forum on March 11, 2018 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Not many artists consider themselves lucky to have dodged fame. But Justin Tranter is a unique voice. At one time, the frontman of New York-based Semi Precious Weapons, known to many as one Lady Gaga's favorite bands and opening act on her 2010 Monster Ball tour, Tranter is now one of the biggest songwriters in pop music.
A Grammy nominee this past year for Songwriter Of The Year, Tranter's recent catalogue of hits include Halsey's "Bad At Love," Imagine Dragons' "Believer," Justin Bieber's "Sorry," Camila Cabello's "Into It," Julia Michaels' "Issues" and "Uh Huh" and countless more for Gwen Stefani, Jason Derulo, Fifth Harmony and on and on.
For Tranter, the best part of his recent success is the ability to use his influence and voice as a role model for the LBGTQ community. An outspoken activist, Tranter spoke with me about working with acts like 5 Seconds of Summer, his dream artists to work with, using his voice as a role model and why "fame is terrible."
Steve Baltin: Talk about what you get to learn being around so many different artists.
Justin Tranter: There is always something to learn. It's awesome. I had such an amazing time with [5 Seconds Of Summer] and I think the album is gonna really surprise people. They're all really talented. I went in and did two sessions initially and was so blown away by their talent and their songwriting talent I was like, "Oh, I'm going in deep." I don't know exactly what the track list is yet, but I think I have a good chunk of the album with them. And also, for me, coming from a band background, I really love the band vibe and I love you're writing a song, but you're having to take in four different personalities, make sure everyone feels respected, heard and seen. They deserve to be because they're the ones who have to go and play these songs the rest of their lives, not me. It was an awesome experience and being a mentor to somebody is really cool. And, as you said, every single day I go and I learn something new from somebody, so that's a really cool feeling.
Baltin: Do those moments where you are referred to as the "super-songwriter" and you have five songs on the charts still feel surreal to you?
Tranter: Everyday there is something where I'm just like, "How the f**k did this happen?" When I first started writing songs with and for other people there were two years of no hits and no success and I was just going to as many sessions as possible and I was just writing as much as I possibly could. Now that there's been success I'm still just going to as many sessions as possible and writing as much as I can. My actual day to day life hasn't changed at all, cause I just work with famous people, I'm not a famous person. I think when you're famous you can feel your life changing or better or worse with your musical success. Even though I was trying to be a superstar myself for a very long time, I was always obsessed with songwriters, always. I always knew all the pop songwriters. I'd try and find out as much about their life as possible. And now to see that's happening for me is just really beautiful and I'm grateful. I tell all the writers who are signed to me, "Everything is meant to be as long as you don't quit." So all the ups and downs my band had, it was all meant to be because I didn't quit and now I found this whole other career and it's unbelievable.
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