Jack Antonoff on Growing up Jersey

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2021

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jack Antonoff has had a busy pandemic. Sought out by Taylor Swift as a producer, he ultimately made two records for her—one of which, “Folklore,” won the Grammy for Album of the Year. He also worked on albums for Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Clairo that are out or forthcoming this year. And Antonoff just released his own new record, “Take The Sadness out of Saturday Night,” his third album with the band Bleachers. It’s music for driving fast down the highway—heavy on the horns, the power chords, and the emotions. But, like his fellow New Jerseyan Bruce Springsteen, Antonoff tells intensely personal stories in his anthems. He talks with David Remnick about how growing up in the suburbs inspired him, and about a death in his family that shaped his songwriting.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:10.0	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Jack Antonoff is a very busy man. In the midst of the long
0:17.8	pandemic, Antonoff co-wrote and co-produced, not one, but two albums with Taylor Swift.
0:24.7	And one of those, folklore, won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
0:28.9	Antonoff was also hard at work producing other albums for Lord, Lana Del Rey, and Clero, all of which are out this year.
0:36.4	And the producer also has a record of his own coming out.
0:40.2	The album is called Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night,
0:43.8	and it's his third with the band, Bleachers.
0:46.7	It's the kind of music you want from a Jersey guy,
0:49.5	music you can blast while driving fast down the turnpike,
0:53.0	heavy on the horns, and the big emotions.
1:11.4	I spoke with Antonoff recently, and he was in his home studio,
1:17.1	with guitars and recording gear all over the place.
1:20.0	And in the corner, the bust of a former president.
1:23.9	Was that John Kennedy?
1:25.7	Yeah, my dad had this Kennedy bust in the house. So it's you in the Oval Office have that? Yeah, yeah. My dad had this Kennedy bus in the house.
1:28.9	So it's you in the Oval Office have that?
1:31.1	Yeah, it's a really good vibe.
1:35.6	Now, Jack, you have a new album.
1:37.2	It's called Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.
1:39.8	It makes me want to ask how are your Saturday nights right now.
1:43.0	How has the pandemic treated you and your work?
	...

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