Benny Blanco, the hitmaker behind some of the biggest pop anthems of the past two decades, is pulling back the curtain on his creative process. In a new interview with Harper’s BAZAAR for its Icons issue, released August 19, the producer shared how he approaches songwriting and what keeps him grounded after years of success.
“I feel like my mind and a 15-year-old girl’s mind are very similar in what we like, musically,” Blanco, 37, said. “I’ve just always been drawn to having fun and making stuff that makes me feel good. If it winds up being something that other people like, then that’s cool to me. If it doesn’t, then that’s also cool to me. I think being iconic is not giving a f—.”
Blanco has co-produced some of modern pop’s defining tracks including Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera’s “Moves Like Jagger” and Kesha’s “TiK ToK.” Despite his track record, he admitted he never anticipated the career that unfolded. “When we were making ‘Teenage Dream,’ we didn’t know it was gonna be this iconic song people are gonna talk about forever,” he said. “We were just making a song and having fun and getting drunk. It’s not rocket science. Sometimes you happen to be in the right spot at the right time.”
In July, Blanco appeared on Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast where he revealed that he sometimes forgets his own catalog. “The first, like, big pop thing that I ever worked on was Britney Spears,” he said. “Sometimes I am in a restaurant and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, this song’s so good.’ And I Shazam it, and then it’s my own song.” Laughing, he admitted, “I’m old and can’t remember anything,” noting that after 16 years of making music, it’s easy to lose track.
Most recently, Blanco teamed up with his fiancée Selena Gomez for the collaborative album I Said I Love You First, released in March. The project came together organically, born from the comfort and ease the two felt working side by side, resulting in a collection that reflects their shared experiences both personally and creatively.
