Buddy Ross

Last updated
Buddy Ross
Birth nameJosiah Sherman
Origin Kelso, Washington, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • songwriter
  • keyboardist
  • audio mixer
  • audio engineer
Years active1999–present
Labels
Formerly of

Josiah Sherman (born March 4, 1983), known professionally as Buddy Ross, is an American record producer, keyboardist, songwriter, and audio engineer from Washington. He is best known for his work with Frank Ocean, having produced on his albums Blonde (2016) and Endless (2016), as well as his singles "Provider" and "Moon River." [1] Ross has also written or produced material for artists including Bon Iver, Hozier, Vampire Weekend, Miley Cyrus, HAIM, Arlo Parks, Fred Again, Wet, Banks, and Troye Sivan, among others.

Contents

Ross produced, mixed and played piano on Vampire Weekend's 2018 Father of the Bride (2018), which won a Grammy Award. [2] [3] He co-wrote "Jelmore" with Justin Vernon from Bon Iver's Grammy-nominated album i,i (2019), [4] [5] and was a co-writer and producer on "I Know Alone" from Haim's Grammy-nominated album Women in Music Pt. III (2020). [6] [7] In 2023, he produced several songs on Travis Scott's fourth album, Utopia . [8]

In 2020, he released his debut single as a lead artist, "Bored Again." [9]

Career

In 2009, Ross produced and mixed his first album with Tacoma, Washington artist Daniel Blue. [10] Together they formed the band Motopony and released their self-titled debut album in 2009; they were later signed by TinyOGRE in 2011. [11] They toured the United States extensively from 2010 to 2012. Motopony's self-titled debut charted at #1 on KCRW and on the CMJ 200 chart in 2011. [12] In 2012, as they were in the process of recording their second album, Ross received a call from Motopony's former tour manager requesting he fly down to Los Angeles to try out for Frank Ocean’s band prior to the release of his Channel Orange album, as well as one week before the tour would commence. [13] After landing the position as Ocean's keyboardist, Ross performed on the Channel Orange tour and live on SNL with Ocean and John Mayer that same year. [14] He would ultimately leave Motopony to continue to tour with Ocean through 2017. [15]

In 2013, Ocean brought Ross to the studio to write and play keyboards on his critically acclaimed albums Blonde and Endless . [16] [17] He sampled Ross's song "Running Around" as the recurring theme to Blonde on the songs "Be Yourself", "Good Guy", "Facebook Story", and "Futura Free". [18] In 2014, Ocean released a voice memo as his first follow up song to Channel Orange titled "Memrise" on Ocean's Tumblr. "Memrise" was co-written with and produced by Ross. [19] [20] In 2017, Ross music directed and played keyboards for the nine Frank Ocean festival headlining slots in support of Blonde . [1] While on that tour, Ross and Ocean co-wrote and co-produced "Provider" from their hotel rooms.

Ross would later go on to write, produce, play keys and mix for artists including Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Vegyn, Carly Rae Jepsen, Troye Sivan, WET amongst others.

In 2023, Ross collaborated as a writer and producer on 5 tracks featured in Travis Scott's studio album Utopia, which debuted at No.1 on Billboard 200: "My Eyes," "Sirens," "I Know ?," "Parasail", and "Looove." [21] All five songs made their debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. [22] Ross also attained a position on Billboard's Hot 100 Songwriters, reaching a peak rank of No. 21. [23]

In 2024, Ross was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award (Best Contemporary Song) for his contribution to the song "Enough" as performed by Fred Again and Brian Eno. [24]

As an artist, Buddy Ross has released three singles; "Running Around" in 2016 and "Green Light" and "Bored Again!" in 2020, the latter two released through Vegyn's label PLZ Make It Ruins. [25]

Personal life

Ross was born and raised in Kelso, Washington. He studied classical piano from age 5 to 15 and began composing piano music at the age of 9 before he transitioned to electronic music in his mid teens.

Ross resides in Los Angeles.

Discography

Singles

TitleYearLabel
"Running Around"2016-
"Bored Again"
(featuring Gabriel Delicious)		2020PLZ Make it Ruins
"Green Light"
"Menthol (Remix)"2022-

Songwriting and production discography

List of songs co-written, featuring production involvement, instrumentation, vocals, arrangement, engineering, and/or mixing for other artists, showing year released and album name
TitleYearArtistAlbumCredit(s)
"June"2011 Motopony MotoponyWriter, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"King of Diamonds"
"Seer"
"I Am My Body"
"Vetiver"
"Intro"
"God Damn Girl"
"Wait For Me"
"27"
"Euphoria"
"I'm Here Now (Bonus Track)"
"Magnificent Defeat"2013 Josh White PilgrimProducer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Outrageous"
"Surrender"
"I've Been Surprised"
"Forgive"
"Only Your Presence"
"One Drop"
"Fills The Skies"
"Final Word"
"Faith Facing The Dark"
"Memrise"2014 Frank Ocean MemriseWriter, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Get Down" Motopony Idle Beauty (EP)Writer, Co-Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"About A Song"
"Buffalo Song"
"She Is Spirit"
"Breakthru (Bonus Track)"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Welcome You"2015Welcome YouWriter
"Daylights Gone"
"Molly"
"Abide" Liz Vice There's A LightProducer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Empty Me Out"
"Entrance"
"The Source"
"Truly Today"
"Pure Religion"
"Everything Is Yours"Producer, Mixer, Keyboards, Vocals
"All Must Be Well"Producer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Enclosed By You"
"There's A Light"
"Mine"2016 Frank Ocean Endless Producer, Keyboards
"U-N-I-T-Y"Keyboards
"Comme des Garçons"Producer, Keyboards
"Slide on Me"Keyboards
"Sideways"Producer, Keyboards
"Florida"Bass, Keyboards
"Rushes"Keyboards
"Be Yourself" Blonde Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Nights"Producer, Keyboards
"Pretty Sweet"Bass
"Facebook Story"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Close To You"
"White Ferrari"Keyboards, Arranger
"Godspeed"Piano
"Interviews"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"In A Blackout" (Buddy Ross remix) Hamilton Leithauser & RostamIn A Blackout (Buddy Ross remix)Remixer
"Into The Dark"Night SeaInto The DarkProducer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Lost In The Tunnel"
"Drift Away"
"Gold"
"Last Light"
"Biking"2017 Frank Ocean Biking Bass
"Provider" Provider Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Un-named"CosimaUn-namedAdditional Production, Engineer, Keyboards
"Sweet Hell"Maiah ManserSecond Skin EPProducer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Top of My Lungs"
"Second Skin"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Want You Back" HAIM Something to Tell You Keyboards
"Right Now"
"Nothing's Wrong"
"Something to Tell You"
"You Never Knew"
"Don't You Pretend" Kelly Clarkson Meaning of Life Piano
"Meaning of Life"Organ
"Love So Soft"
"Moon River"2018 Frank Ocean Moon RiverProducer, Keyboards
"Animal" Troye Sivan Bloom Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Somebody" Jim-E Stack SomebodyAdditional production, Engineer, Keyboards
"Spiritual" Mereki SpiritualProducer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Dip My Toe" Rae Morris Someone Out There Writer
"There's a Reason" Wet Still Run Keyboards
"Out Tune"
"Ruby" Gaika (musician) Basic VolumeWriter, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Doll"Maiah ManserNon-album singleWriter
"Nobody"2019 Hozier Wasteland, Baby! Keyboards, Organ
"To Noise Making (Sing)"Keyboards, Piano
"Sing It Louder"IntellexualIntellexualKeyboards
"Call You"
"Harmony Hall" Vampire Weekend Father of the Bride Keyboards
"Unbearably White"
"Spring Snow"Piano, Keyboards
"My Mistake"Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards, Vocals
"Jerusalem, New York, Berlin"Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"The Most" Miley Cyrus She Is Coming Additional Production, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming
"Gimme" BANKS III Writer, Keyboards
"Sawzall"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Hawaiian Mazes"
"Alaska"
"Propaganda"Keyboards, Programming
"If We Were Made of Water"Keyboards
"What About Love"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"iMi" Bon Iver i,i Keyboards
"Holyfields,"
"Hey, Ma"
"Jelmore"Writer, Keyboards
"Faith"Keyboards
"Salem"
"Sh'Diah"
"RABi"
"Heartbeat"2020 Carly Rae Jepsen Dedicated Side B Producer, Piano, Keyboards
"Now I'm In It" HAIM Women in Music Pt. III Bass
"I Know Alone"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming
"The Steps"Organ
"Another Try"Keyboards
"Wishin' You Better" Denai Moore Modern DreadWriter
"Zillionaire" The Aces Under My Influence Keyboards
"Harbor"LupinLupinKeyboards
"Jeanie"
(feat. Bon Iver)		 Jim-E Stack EPHEMERAWriter, Producer, Keyboards
"One Shot"
(feat. bearface)
"Hard Candy Christmas" Amber Coffman Hard Candy ChristmasProducer, Engineer, Mixer, Piano
"On Your Side"2021 Wet Letter BlueWriter, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Clementine"Additional Production, Engineer, Keyboards
"Blades of Grass"Writer, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"The Letter Blue"
"Larabar"
"Come On World, You Can't Go!" Frank Ocean Come On World, You Can't GoWriter
"New Earth"2022 Cass McCombs Heartmind Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"Belong To Heaven"Organ
"Lost Track" HAIM Non-album singleKeyboards
"Letter Blue (Reprise)" Wet Letter Blue (Reprise) EPWriter, Producer, Engineer, Mixer, Keyboards
"Island"2023 Miley Cyrus Endless Summer Vacation Keyboards
"I'm Sorry" Arlo Parks My Soft Machine Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming
"Puppy"
"Room (Red Wings)"
"Enough" Fred Again & Brian Eno Secret Life Writer, Producer, Engineer, Keyboards
"My Eyes" Travis Scott Utopia Writer, Producer, Keyboards
"Parasail" (featuring Yung Lean and Dave Chappelle)
"Sirens"Writer, Additional producer, Keyboards
"I Know ?"
"Looove" (Kid Cudi)"Additional Producer, Keyboards
"I'm Sorry (featuring Lous and The Yakuza)"2024 Arlo Parks My Soft Machine Writer, Producer
"Deep In The Water" Don Toliver Non-album singleWriter, Producer, Keyboards
"Deep In The Water"2024 Don Toliver HARDSTONE PSYCHO Writer, Producer, Keyboards
"5 to 10"

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References

  1. 1 2 "Frank Ocean's Keyboardist Talks Making of New Albums Blonde and Endless". Pitchfork. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2022-05-04.
  2. ↑ "Here Are Vampire Weekend's New Album Father of the Bride Full Credits". Pitchfork. 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  3. ↑ "Vampire Weekend". GRAMMY.com. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  4. ↑ "Jelmore". Genius. 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  5. ↑ "Bon Iver". GRAMMY.com. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  6. ↑ "Haim (2) I Know Alone". Discog. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  7. ↑ "Alana Haim". GRAMMY.com. 2019-06-04. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  8. ↑ "Travis Scott's 'Utopia': Here Are the Feature and Production Credits". Complex.com.
  9. ↑ "Buddy Ross Shares New Single, 'Bores Again'".
  10. ↑ "Band Dreams Become Reality: An Interview with Daniel Blue of Motonpony". PopMatters. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  11. ↑ "Electro-folk on the L.A. fast track from Seattle's Motopony". LA Times blogs. 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  12. ↑ "Motopony: The TVD Tour Diary". The Vinyl District. 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  13. ↑ "Frank Ocean collaborator describes mystery behind new album 'Blonde'". NME. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  14. ↑ "Meet The Band Members Behind Frank Ocean's Intimate Festival Performances". The Fader. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  15. ↑ "Frank Ocean has shared a live studio recording of Nikes". DIY Mag. 2017-08-04. Retrieved 2022-05-17.
  16. ↑ "Here Are the Full Credits from Frank Ocean's 'Endless'". Vice. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  17. ↑ "View The Full Credits For Frank Ocean's Blonde Album". Fader. 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  18. ↑ "Buddy Ross assembles music video for "Running Around"". Blonded.blog. 2018-01-11. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  19. ↑ "Your guide to the collaborators on Frank Ocean's Endless". Dazed. 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  20. ↑ "Frank Ocean Teases Us With A New Track Called 'Memrise'". MTV. 2014-11-28. Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
  21. ↑ "Travis Scott Releases New Album Utopia: Listen and Read the Full Credits". Pitchfork. 2023-07-28. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  22. ↑ Zellner, Xander (2023-08-07). "Travis Scott Charts All 19 Songs From 'Utopia' on Hot 100, Reaches Historic Milestone". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  23. ↑ "Hot 100 Songwriters (DATA FOR WEEK OF 08.12.2023)" (PDF). Billboard .
  24. ↑ Grein, Paul (2024-05-16). "RAYE, Tyla, Harry Styles & More Nominated for 2024 Ivor Novello Awards: Full List". Billboard. Retrieved 2024-06-18.
  25. ↑ "Buddy Ross Releases New Single Bored Again!". Vice. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2022-05-18.
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