Ep. 230: Cirkut | The Secrets of a Pop Super Producer

Today’s guest is the producer behind some of the biggest songs of the last 15 years — from “Wrecking Ball,” “Timber,” and “Dark Horse” to early records with The Weeknd and Britney Spears.

From teaching himself production on cracked software and vinyl turntables… to going on a run of genre-defining hits.

And the writer is… Cirkut!

In this episode, he opens up about his early grind, the moment Britney cut his beat, his first sessions in LA, working alongside Max Martin and Dr. Luke, and the mindset that helped him go from unknown kid with an MPC to one of the most important producers in modern pop.

A special thank you to our sponsors...

Our lead sponsor, NMPA aka the National Music Publisher's Association.

Your support means the world to us!

And @splice -- the best sample library on the market, period.

00:00 — Intro: Who is Cirkut?

00:04:37 — Early music influences: hip-hop, DJ culture

00:05:49 — Discovering DJ gear & beat manipulation

00:07:55 — First exposure to FruityLoops & early production

00:10:24 — DJ’ing pep rallies with vinyl

00:12:36 — Applying early skills later for Lady Gaga

00:14:14 — Skipping audio classes to make beats

00:16:46 — Early Drake encounter in Toronto

00:18:40 — How the name “Cirkut” was born

00:21:35 — How a CD of his beats got to Britney Spears

00:22:10 — First big cut: Britney’s “Papi”

00:23:01 — Discovering electronic music & the blog era

00:23:49 — Learning from Masterkraft (the MySpace era)

00:33:00 — Working with The Weeknd on “High For This”

00:33:57 — Recognizing Abel’s early greatness

00:35:06 — Moving to LA & hustling through the rat race

00:38:49 — What finally got him out of the rat race

00:39:33 — The call from Dr. Luke

00:41:11 — The Flo Rida / Levels / Good Feeling near-miss

00:42:37 — Losing a big cut overnight

00:43:19 — When the hits start stacking: “Where Have You Been,” “Wrecking Ball,” “Timber”

00:44:48 — The thing he brought that cut through the noise

00:47:18 — What it’s like creating with Max Martin

00:49:36 — Winning Producer of the Year (Junos)

00:50:17 — When Cirkut realized he belonged at the top

00:52:04 — Why his ego is different

00:53:15 — His quiet superpower in the room

00:55:45 — Ad: NMPA + ⁨@splice⁩ 

00:57:00 — The importance of speed

00:59:00 — Secret sauce... Knowing his sounds and blind listening

01:02:00 — Keeping production organic

01:03:57 — The Weeknd

01:12:10 — Ross' funny Pitbull / Cirkut story

01:13:03 — Cirkut's secret to success

01:14:00 — 'Unholy' Sam Smith

01:18:54 — Jung Kook, 'Seven' with Jon Bellion / Theron Thomas

01:21:00 — Charli XCX

01:22:00 — 'APT' and Bruno's 'Stank'

01:30:56 — Lady Gaga + Watt

01:42:30 — Production advice. Figure out what you're great at

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London and Jad Saad

Watercolor by Michael White

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