The Grammy-winning producer has worked with some of the world’s biggest stars, but the Auckland-based Big Fan project is what gets him really fired up.
When Joel Little worked with Lorde (aka Ella Yelich-O’Connor) on her 2013 debut album Pure Heroine, he says the stars aligned.
“When I made that first Lorde record with Ella, we were both discovering our superpowers at the same time,” the Grammy, AMA, and Silver Scroll-winning producer and songwriter told RNZ’s Music 101.
That album launched Little into the top flight, leading to work with some of the biggest names in the business, including Taylor Swift, Imagine Dragons, Gracie Abrams, and Broods.
“When I moved to LA based off the success of that, I was still learning how to collaborate with people properly, it was still quite new to me.
“Being able to do that is quite nerve-racking. [Saying] ‘Let’s write a song’, you kind of put yourself out there.”
By the time he worked with megastar Taylor Swift – co-writing and producing four tracks on her 2019 multi-platinum album Lover – Little says he was music business-hardened.
“Sure, you’re like ‘Shit, I don’t want to screw this up, and I hope that we click and these songs are going to be good,’ but also you have to trust that you have the skill to do it.
“If I’d met her and worked with her right after Pure Heroine, it wouldn’t have gone anywhere near as well as it did at the time we did work. I was ready.”
After years based in LA, Little moved back to New Zealand in 2018 with his wife Gemma and their family, although he still does a bit of trans-Pacific shuttling.
“If I was still living in LA, I would have had a lot more of those bigger songs probably, but that’s not necessarily the most important thing to me.
“Family, our kids being around their grandparents and their aunties and uncles… New Zealand life is so cool, as well. This is just a beautiful country.”
Establishing his not-for-profit project Big Fan four years ago, Little wants to give something back to the country that launched his career.
Located in the Auckland suburb of Morningside, Big Fan has three world-class recording studios and a live music venue under one roof.
“I wouldn’t be where I am if certain people hadn’t said the right thing at the right time or given me opportunities along the way. And so, I know how important that is. We want Big Fan to be that for the next generation of people coming through.”
Little says he’s enjoying being at the helm of a project giving young talent a leg up in the business.
“It just seemed like there were definitely a lot more people interested in exploring music than there were places that they were able to do that, especially without having a lot of money.”
He’s already seeing Big Fan pay off.
“Multiple stories of people coming in, from parents especially, just saying,’ I’ve never seen my kid be so motivated about something’.
“’They’re in their bedroom, they’re writing songs with their friends every Friday, Saturday night. They’re starting a band’ … All of that stuff just gets me stoked.”