Jack Antonoff Said It Was ‘Terrifying’ to Have Taylor Swift’s Music on His Computer
Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift have worked together since she crossed over to pop on her album 1989. Their collaboration has been fruitful for both of them, though Antonoff has admitted it’s a bit stressful. He feels like he’s holding onto state secrets when he has her unreleased music saved on his computer.
Jack Antonoff admitted it was stressful to have Taylor Swift’s unreleased music
As Swift works on new projects, she takes every precaution to protect against leaks. When filming a music video for a song from 1989, for example, she used code names, a team of security professionals, and blacked out windows to safeguard her work.
“Don’t even get me started on wiretaps,” Swift told Rolling Stone in 2014. “It’s not a good thing for me to talk about socially. I freak out.”
She said she felt suspicious of everyone around her.
“[For example,] the janitor who’s being paid by TMZ,” she said. “This is gonna sound like I’m a crazy person – but we don’t even know. I have to stop myself from thinking about how many aspects of technology I don’t understand.”
Antonoff began working with Swift on 1989 and said he acutely felt the pressure to protect her work.
“Just having her songs on my hard drive makes me feel like I have Russian secrets or something,” he said. “It’s terrifying.”
She said her fans have protected her against leaks
After she finished recording 1989, Swift invited fans over to her home to listen before its release. At each Secret Session, she warned fans to keep what they’d heard to themselves.
“I would invite 89 people over to my living room, play them the entire album, tell them the stories behind it,” she told NPR. “And I’d say, you know, you can share your experience, but please keep the secrets about this album a secret. Let’s not talk about lyrics before the album comes out. Let’s not talk about song titles. And if you see anybody leaking music, please let us know.”
Despite all her precautions, the album still leaked shortly before its release date. Swift’s fans closed rank and chastised anyone who shared the songs.
“They didn’t talk about lyrics. They didn’t spoil the secret for other fans,” she said. “Two days before the album came out, it leaked online, and it was the first time I’ve ever had an album leak without it trending on Twitter — because my fans protected it. Anytime they’d see an illegal post of it, they’d comment, ‘Why are you doing this? Why don’t you respect the value of art? Don’t do this. We don’t believe in this. This is illegal. This isn’t fair. This isn’t right.’ And it was wild seeing that happen.”
Jack Antonoff thanked Taylor Swift for letting him be a producer
Swift has worked with Antonoff for years now. She said he’s an ideal creative partner.
“Sometimes he sits at the piano and we both just start ad-libbing and the song seems to create itself. His excitement and exuberance about writing songs is contagious,” she told The New York Times, adding, “He’s an absolute joy. That’s why everyone loves him. I personally wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t.”
Her belief in him allowed him to start producing music. He has since worked with artists like Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, and Carly Rae Jepsen.
“I’d been trying to produce for a while, but there was always some industry herb going, ‘That’s cute, but that’s not your lane,'” he told The New Yorker. “Taylor was the first person with the stature to go, ‘I like the way this sounds, I’m putting it on my album’ — and then, suddenly, I was allowed to be a producer.”
