<p id=”par-1_75″>Swifties rejoiced when their beloved leader <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/taylor-swifts-30k-worth-cartier-new-heights-album-announcement-represent-chapter-said-jewelry-expert.html/”>appeared on the <em>New Heights</em> podcast</a> to introduce <em>The Life of a Showgirl</em>. As she discussed the making of her 12th studio album, fans want to know more about Shellback, a music producer <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/taylor-swift/?swcfpc=1″>Taylor Swift</a> has worked with several times since 2012. The mysterious songwriter is notoriously secretive with a private Instagram account and few media appearances. So, who is Shellback, and is that really his name? </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-taylor-swift-s-producer-shellback-met-max-martin-when-he-was-16″>Taylor Swift’s producer, Shellback, met Max Martin when he was 16</h2>
<p id=”par-2_94″>Karl Johan Schuster, also known as Shellback, was born in the south of Sweden along the Baltic Sea. The now-40-year-old got into music as a drummer for local indie rock bands — he told Swedish publication <a href=”https://www.cafe.se/mot-max-martins-producentpartner-johan-shellback-schuster/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Café</a>, “I was two when I got my own drum in the stroller” — before transitioning to heavy metal as a guitarist. At 16, he met Max Martin through a mutual friend but expressed no interest in pop music. Martin eventually convinced him to visit his studio in Stockholm, where Shellback signed with Martin’s production company within a year.</p>
<p id=”par-3_53″>Heavy metal and pop might seem like oil and water. However, certain elements of heavy metal’s sound, structure, and attitude can translate surprisingly well into pop music, especially in modern pop where genre-blending is common. Shellback likely carried over the tight musicianship, rhythmic precision, and layering skills from metal into his pop hits.</p>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-why-does-the-life-of-a-showgirl-producer-use-the-name-shellback”>Why does ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ producer use the name ‘Shellback’?</h2>
<p id=”par-4_33″>Unlike the traditional naval meaning of “shellback” (a sailor who’s crossed the equator), Schuster chose the name in reference to Skalman, the <strong>wise turtle character from a beloved Swedish comic</strong> called Bamse. </p>
<p id=”par-5_59″>Schuster told Café that he adopted the name partly because the character is multi-talented, but also because, just like Skalman, who abruptly dozes off, the music producer tends to fall asleep unexpectedly in the studio. The alias is a playful, personal nod to Swedish pop culture and a funny inside joke about being both talented and prone to napping.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-taylor-swift-and-shellback-first-worked-together-13-years-ago”>Taylor Swift and Shellback first worked together 13 years ago</h2>
<p id=”par-6_94″>Shellback had already worked with many pop stars — Britney Spears, Pink, Kesha, and Avril Lavigne, to name a few — by the time <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/taylor-swift-reveals-that-travis-kelces-dream-pet-is-a-really-specific-type-of-otter.html/”>Taylor Swift</a> sought his services for her 2012 album <em>Red</em>. Alongside Max Martin, he helped Swift write and produce prized <em>Red</em> singles “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “22,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” Next, Shellback worked on <em>1989</em> with Swift and Martin, creating hits like “Blank Space” and “Shake It Off.” Next came 2017’s <em>Reputation</em>, and then the Swede worked on Taylor’s Versions of <em>Red</em> and <em>1989</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-7_49″>Regarding Swift’s talent, Shellback told Café that she wrote the lyrics to “Shake It Off” in 30 minutes. “She is a hell of a writer, personal and broad at the same time,” the producer explained. “And the speed of it is unreal. I don’t get how she does it.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_92″>“Shellback and I were both in our early twenties when we started working together, the three of us,” Swift explained on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast. “And so it was very much like we were the ingenues and Max [Martin] was the mentor.” Now, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/hidden-meaning-behind-taylor-swifts-new-album-represents-end.html/”>with <em>The Life of a Showgirl</em></a>, Shellback and Swift feel more like equals to Martin. “[This] time,” she told Travis and Jason Kelce, “was the time where it felt like all three of us in the room were carrying the same weight as creators. It was really special.”</p>