Tobias Jesso Jr.

Last updated

Tobias Jesso Jr.
Birth nameTobias MacDonald Jesso Jr.
Born (1985-07-11) July 11, 1985 (age 38)
Origin North Vancouver, Canada
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • bass
  • guitar
Years active2014–present
Labels True Panther Sounds [1]
Website www.tobiasjessojr.com

Tobias MacDonald Jesso Jr. (born July 11, 1985) is a Canadian musician from North Vancouver, British Columbia. [2] His debut album Goon was released in 2015 on True Panther Sounds. He was included in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 20 Biggest Breakouts of 2015. [3] He won the first ever Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on releases by Harry Styles, Adele, FKA Twigs, Orville Peck, King Princess, Diplo and Omar Apollo. [4]

Contents

Career

After living and playing bass in Los Angeles for 4 years, Jesso moved back to his home in North Vancouver. [3] He started playing the piano in his spare time while working for a moving company. It was during this period that he wrote his first piano-based song "Just a Dream." Eventually, he sent one of his demos in an email to former Girls bassist JR White. Jesso co-wrote the songs "When We Were Young" and "Lay Me Down" (featured on the Target version of 25 ) with Adele, which is included in her 2015 album 25 .

Goon

Jesso's first demo was released in August 2013 after a painful break-up and his mother's cancer diagnosis. [5] JR White, along with Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, John Collins of The New Pornographers, and Ariel Rechtshaid, helped produce Jesso's debut album entitled Goon . Aaron Sperske plays drums on the album except Danielle Haim plays drums on the track "Without You." His song "How Could You Babe" garnered increased attention after being tweeted about by both Adele and Alana Haim. [6] He collaborated with Sia and Adele on the song "Alive". Originally intended for Adele and Rihanna, the song was eventually recorded by Sia and appeared on her album This Is Acting . [7] His first major tour started in 2015.

Musical style

Jesso's music has been compared to singer-songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s from Randy Newman to Harry Nilsson and Emitt Rhodes. He cites Newman as one of his favourite artists. [8] Even though he was a bassist and guitarist for years, his new music was written by him on the piano—an instrument he started playing at the age of 27.

Awards

Jesso was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2015 Juno Awards. [9] On June 20, 2016, Jesso was the recipient of the SOCAN Breakout Award at the SOCAN Awards in Toronto. He won the Grammy for Songwriter of the Year non-classical in 2023. [10]

Personal life

Jesso married Australian musician Emma Louise in January 2019; [11] [12] they have since had a child. [13]

Discography

List of albums
TitleAlbum details
Goon

Singles

Songwriting and production credits

TitleYearArtist(s)AlbumCreditsWritten withProduced with
"Alive"2015 Sia This Is Acting Co-writer Sia Furler, Adele Adkins
"When We Were Young" Adele 25 Adele Adkins
"Lay Me Down" Adele Adkins
"Roses"2016 Shawn Mendes Illuminate Shawn Mendes, Thomas Hull
"How Do We Make It" Jarryd James High EP Producer Jarryd James
"Same Old Story" John Legend Darkness and Light Co-writer John Stephens, Blake Mills
"Marching into the Dark" John Stephens, Blake Mills
"Slow Hands"2017 Niall Horan Flicker Niall Horan, Alexander Izquerdio, John Ryan II, Julian Bunetta, Ruth-Anne Cunningham
"Orlando" XXXTentacion 17 Jahseh Onfroy
"Ayala (Outro)"Producer XXXTentacion, John Cunningham
"You Get My Love" Pink Beautiful Trauma Co-writer/Producer Alecia Moore Pink
"Still Around" Paloma Faith The Architect Co-writer Paloma Faith, Christopher Stracey
"If You Leave Me Now"
(featuring Boyz II Men)
2018 Charlie Puth Voicenotes Charles Puth Jr., Robin Wiley
"Hunger" Florence and the Machine High as Hope Florence Welch, Emile Haynie, Thomas Bartlett
"Grace" Florence Welch, Emile Haynie, Sampha Sisay
"The End of Love"Co-writer/Co-producer Florence Welch Emile Haynie, Florence Welch
"Bruised Fruit" St. Paul & The Broken Bones Young Sick CamelliaCo-writerSt. Paul & The Broken Bones, Jack Splash
"Not Thinkin' About You" Ruel Ready Lary Darnell Griffin Jr., Mark Landon, Ruel Vincent Van Dijk, Samuel Elliot Roman
"Wish You Well" Emma Louise Lilac Everything ProducerNone
"Mexico"
"Falling Apart"
"Just the Way I Am"
"Never Making Plans
Again"
"Gentleman"
"Shadowman"
"Solitude"
"A Book Left Open in a
Wild Field of Flowers"
"When It Comes to You"
"Malibu Nights" LANY Malibu Nights Co-writer Paul Klein
"Reasons" Cautious Clay Table of Context EP Joshua Carpeh, Ross Birchard
"Unsaid"2019 Ruel Free Time Peter Harding, Mark Landon, Ruel Vincent Van Dijk, Spencer Stewart
"BRKN"Madison WardBeyond MeMadison Ryann Ward
"Hallelujah" Haim Women in Music Pt. III Danielle Haim, Alana Haim, Este Haim
"Nice to Meet Ya"2020 Niall Horan Heartbreak Weather Niall Horan, Ruth-Anne Cunningham, Julian Bunetta
"San Francisco"Co-writer/Co-producerJulian Bunetta, Teddy Geiger
"Bend the Rules"Co-writerNiall Horan, Julian Bunetta, John Ryan
"Nothing"Co-writer/Co-producerJulian Bunetta, Jeff Gunnell
"No Judgement"Niall Horan, Julian Bunetta, Alexander Izquierdo, John RyanJulian Bunetta
"Woman" Ellie Goulding Brightest Blue Co-writer Ellie Goulding, Eli Teplin, Christopher Stacey
"Brush Fire" Gracie Abrams Non-album single Gracie Abrams, Blake Slatkin
"Pain" King Princess Non-album singleMikaela Straus, Nick Long, Shawn Everett
"Intro" Shawn Mendes Wonder Kurtis McKenzie, Adam King Feeney, Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes
"Always Been You"Scott Harris, Shawn Mendes, Zubin Thakkar
"Overdrive"2021 Conan Gray Non-album singleCo-writer/Co-producerChristopher John Stracey, Conan Gray, Jordan K. Johnson, Oliver Peterhof, Stefan Johnson The Monsters & Strangerz, Chris Stracey
"Kansas" Ashe Ashlyn Co-writer Ashlyn Willson, Leroy Clampitt
"Whoa" Cautious Clay Deadpan Love Cautious Clay, Christopher John Stracey
"Shook" Cautious Clay, Nolan Lambroza
"To Be Loved" Adele 30 Adele Adkins
"Somewhere" LANY gg bb xx Paul Klein
"I Die First"
"Tom Brady" Amy Allen AWW!Co-writer/Co-producer Amy Allen, Andrew Haas, Ian FranzinoAmy Allen, Afterhrs
"Unsatisfied"
"Which Way"
(featuring Dystopia)
2022 FKA twigs Caprisongs Co-writer FKA twigs, Mike Dean
"Careless"
(featuring Daniel Caesar)
FKA twigs, Simon Christiansen, Daniel Caesar
"Thank You Song" FKA twigs, Alejandra Ghersi
"C'mon Baby, Cry" Orville Peck Bronco Christopher Stracey, Orville Peck
"The Curse of the Blackened Eye"
"Let You Go" Diplo Diplo Matthew Phelan, Naji Kareem Lomax, Teisha Matthews, Thomas Wesley Pentz
"No Good Reason" Omar Apollo Ivory Co-writer/Co-producerOmar Velasco, Kevin Rhomberg, Carter LangCarter Lang, Knox Fortune, Omar Apollo
"Boyfriends" Harry Styles Harry's House Co-writer Harry Styles, Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson
"Dotted Lines" King Princess Hold On Baby Co-writer/Co-producer Amy Allen, Dave Hamelin, Mikaela Straus, Shawn Everett King Princess, Shawn Everett
"Dangerous" Madison Beer Silence Between Songs Co-writer Jeremy Dussoliet, Leroy Clampitt, Madison Beer, Tim Sommers
"Better Angels" Marcus Mumford (self-titled) Blake Mills, Marcus Mumford, Robin Pecknold
"How I'm Feeling Now"2023 Lewis Capaldi Broken by Desire to be Heavenly SentLewis Capaldi, TMS
"Heaven" Niall Horan The Show Niall Horan, Joel Little, John Ryan
"Thousand Miles" (Featuring Brandi Carlile) Miley Cyrus Endless Summer Vacation Miley Cyrus, Mike Will Made It, Bibi Bourelly,
"Wildcard" Miley Cyrus, Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson
"Always" Daniel Caesar Never Enough Ashton Simmonds, Justin Lucas, Sir Nolan
"Champ" (Featuring Edgar Winter) Portugal. The Man Chris Black Changed My Life Casey Bates, Edgar Winter, Homer Steinweiss, Jason Sechrist, Jeff Bhasker, John Gourley, Kyle O'Quin, Zoe Manville
"Are You Awake?" Lauren Mayberry Non-album single Lauren Mayberry, Matthew Koma
"Houdini" Dua Lipa Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin, Danny L Harle, Kevin Parker
"Training Season" Dua Lipa Dua Lipa, Caroline Ailin, Danny L Harle, Kevin Parker, Martina Sorbara, Nick Gale, Shaun Frank, Steve Francis Richard Mastroianni, Yaakov Gruzman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Eaton</span> Musical artist

Gerald Eaton is a Jamaican-Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and music producer, also known by his stage name Jarvis Church.

William Gregory Wells is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and audio engineer. He has worked with Grace VanderWaal, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Quincy Jones, Adele, Michael Bublé, Taylor Swift, John Legend, Kid Cudi, Sir George Martin, Dua Lipa, Stephen Schwartz, Missy Elliot, Burt Bacharach, Celine Dion, Timbaland, Selena Gomez, Rufus Wainwright, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ryan Tedder, Weezer, Jazmine Sullivan, Katy Perry, OneRepublic, Carrie Underwood, Deftones, Jamie Cullum, Pink, Theophilus London, Keith Urban, Crash Test Dummies, MIKA, Twenty One Pilots, Aerosmith, Elton John, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Throughout his career, Wells has contributed to projects which have sold cumulatively 130 million units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian West (record producer)</span> Canadian record producer and songwriter

Brian West is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, and musician. Formerly of the production team Track and Field, he is best known for his work with Nelly Furtado, Maroon 5, Awolnation, K'naan, and Bono. He co-produced Andy Grammer's single Honey, I'm Good with Steve Greenberg and Nolan Sipe. His most recent release, "Salted Wound," sung by Sia, is on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. West has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Grammy Awards and has won seven Juno Awards. West is a guitarist for the Canadian band The Philosopher Kings.

The Sessions were a Canadian dance-rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band won the world's largest battle of the bands, Emergenza, in 2006.

Stephan Moccio is a Canadian composer, producer, pianist, arranger, conductor and recording artist. He co-wrote and co-produced the two end credit songs for Fifty Shades of Grey and its soundtrack: "Earned It" and "I Know You", with the former being nominated for Best R&B Song and Best Song Written For Visual Media at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, and Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards. He also was a producer on the Weeknd's album Beauty Behind the Madness, which was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Connelly</span> Musical artist

Alan Connelly is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Glass Tiger. He and his band received five Canadian music industry JUNO Awards and multiple Canadian songwriter SOCAN Awards, as well as being nominated Best New Artist at the 1986 Grammy Awards. Connelly has been part of all GT's major album releases as well as numerous solo recordings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Kurstin</span> American record producer and songwriter

Gregory Allen Kurstin is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and contributed to four songs which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Samuel Dixon is a record producer, songwriter and musician, based in London. Dixon has produced and written with artists including Adele, Sia, Kylie Minogue, Christina Aguilera, Paloma Faith and Jack Savoretti. He is a multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as a bass guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Rechtshaid</span> American record producer

Ariel Rechtshaid is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. His accolades include three Grammy Awards for music production.

<i>25</i> (Adele album) 2015 studio album by Adele

25 is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 20 November 2015 by XL Recordings and Columbia Records. The album is titled as a reflection of her life and frame of mind at 25 years old and is termed a "make-up record". Its lyrical content features themes of Adele "yearning for her old self, her nostalgia", and "melancholia about the passage of time" according to an interview with the singer by Rolling Stone, as well as themes of motherhood, new love, and regret.

<i>Goon</i> (Tobias Jesso Jr. album) 2015 studio album by Tobias Jesso Jr.

Goon is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr. released on March 17, 2015 in the United States and Canada. The album was preceded by the two singles "How Could You Babe" and "Hollywood".

"How Could You Babe" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr., from his debut studio album, Goon. The song was released as a single on January 20, 2015. Rolling Stone named it one of 10 best songs of 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alive (Sia song)</span> 2015 single by Sia

"Alive" is the lead single from Australian singer and songwriter Sia's seventh studio album This Is Acting (2016). It was co-written by Sia, Adele, and Tobias Jesso Jr. The song was produced by Jesse Shatkin. "Alive" was released on 25 September 2015. The song was originally intended for Adele's third studio album, 25, along with "Bird Set Free". However, since Adele decided not to use the songs, she let Sia use them for her seventh studio album. Musically, it is a midtempo pop and synth-pop song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">When We Were Young (Adele song)</span> 2015 single by Adele

"When We Were Young" is a song by English singer Adele from her third studio album, 25 (2015). Adele and Tobias Jesso Jr. wrote the song, and Ariel Rechtshaid produced it. The song was written within three days in Los Angeles, after Adele struggled with writer's block during unfruitful early sessions for the album. XL Recordings released it as the album's second single on 22 January 2016. A soul ballad, the song has piano instrumentation that places emphasis on Adele's vocals. Inspired by the vision of meeting acquaintances at a party at an older age, it explores the fear of getting older and the loss of one's youth.

Chet "JR" White was an American record producer, musician and mix engineer. He was a member of the indie rock band Girls until their disbandment in 2012. He produced the album Goon by Tobias Jesso Jr. and Sob Story by the Spectrals, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Jesso</span> American singer-songwriter

Justin Jesso is an American singer and songwriter. He has written songs for Hrvy, AJ Mitchell, The Backstreet Boys and Armin van Buuren. He was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2017 Latin Grammy Awards for co-writing Ricky Martin's single "Vente Pa' Ca" (2016). He is a co-writer and featured artist on Kygo's "Stargazing" (2017).

Christopher Steven "Brody" Brown is an American songwriter and record producer. Best known for his association with singer Bruno Mars, they met in 2008 and formed the production team Shampoo Press & Curl in 2015. In addition, Brown is also part of the production group 1500 or Nothin' alongside fellow Californians James Fauntleroy, Lamar Edwards and Larrance Dopson. Brown has written or produced for artists including Nipsey Hussle, CeeLo Green, Kesha, Adele, Lukas Graham, Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, and Mark Ronson.

"To Be Loved" is a song by the English singer Adele from her fourth studio album, 30 (2021). She wrote it with Tobias Jesso Jr., who produced it with Shawn Everett. The song became available as the album's 11th track on 19 November 2021, when it was released by Columbia Records. A torch ballad, "To Be Loved" has piano instrumentation and sets the singer's echoey vocals over minimalistic production. The song is about the sacrifices one must make upon falling in love and addresses Adele's divorce from Simon Konecki, attempting to justify to her son why their marriage did not succeed.

References

  1. "Tobias Jesso Jr". www.tobiasjessojr.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  2. "Who is Tobias Jesso Jr.?". www.thefader.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "The Windish Agency: Tobias Jesso Jr". Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  4. "Meet The Nominees For Songwriter Of The Year, Non-Classical At The 2023 GRAMMYs". Grammy.com. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  5. Homewood, Ben (March 2, 2015). "NME Reviews - Tobias Jesso Jr. - 'Goon' - NME.COM". nme.com. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  6. "Tobias Jesso Jr: Since Adele tweeted his song, he's even bigger than his dad". www.theguardian.com. February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  7. Chau, Thomas (September 7, 2015). "Sia Reveals That She Originally Wrote Her Next Single for Adele". Popcrush. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  8. Adkins, Adele (November 16, 2015). "Adele interviews Tobias Jesso Jr: 'I think that a couple of the ideas we had could be rap songs'". The Guardian. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  9. "Junos award winners include Buffy Sainte-Marie, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber". CBC News, By David Bell, April 2, 2016
  10. http://www.socan.ca/files/pdf/SOCAN%20Awards-Winners%20List-June%202016-FINAL-EN.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  11. Instagram
  12. "Emma Louise: "I Sorted Out A Lot Of Things That Had Been Holding Me Back"". August 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  13. Instagram