Writing/Producing Duo The Audibles Collaborate On Hits For Justin Bieber (“Intentions”) And Other Artists
Over the past few years, the writing & producing duo The Audibles have become increasingly in-demand for creating fresh & cutting edge beats, for their songwriting and for their production skills. Consisting of Dominic “DJ” Jordan and Jimmy Giannos, the Grammy-nominated duo has had consistent success collaborating with Justin Bieber, and they’ve also worked with a wide range of other artists.
The Audibles recently had their biggest hit to date, when they co-wrote & produced the worldwide hit “Intentions” for Justin Bieber (featuring Quavo). The single reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, and it was a hit in many other countries, including the U.K., Australia, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland, and in South America. “Intentions” is one of four songs that the duo co-wrote for Bieber’s new album, Changes. Their other songs are “Second Emotion” (feat. Travis Scott), “Running Over” (feat. Lil Dicky) and “Come Around Me.”
The duo has contributed songs & production to two other albums for Bieber: Journals (in 2013) and Purpose (2015). Impressively, they’ve co-written four other songs for Bieber that reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “Hold On Tight,” “Recovery,” “Bad Day” and “PYD.”
The Audibles first met in Las Vegas in 2007, and they quickly established a musical chemistry in the studio. They worked early on with hit writer/producer Polow da Don, and their big break came when they met hit writer/producer Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd and began collaborating with him. This led to the duo’s work with Bieber and other artists.
The Audibles have also had cuts with a wide range of artists such as Sam Smith, French Montana, Ty Dolla Sign, Lupe Fiasco, Mishon, Yelawolf, country artist Zac Brown and reggae band, Common Kings.
In addition, the duo will be releasing their own album called Do Cool Shit With Your Friends, which is a compilation of different artists that they’ve worked with. It will feature Poo Bear, LAZR, Tone Stith, Sasha Sirota, Sab Story and other artists.
Here’s the video of Justin Bieber’s hit “Intentions” (feat. Quavos)
which was co-written by The Audibles.
DK: How did the two of you meet, and decide to write & produce together?
Jimmy and DJ of The Audibles: We met at a video shoot in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jimmy wanted a friend of mine (an artist at the time who was signed to Interscope) on a record. We went to the studio a few days later and played each other music, loved each other’s sound and the rest is history.
Jimmy: We first met at R&B group I-15’s “Lost in Love” video shoot in Vegas. I wanted JR Castro (a singer from the group) on a song artist LAZR and I had—DJ was a friend of the singers and joined us for the session. At the end of the night, he and I played each other more music and we both loved each other’s ideas. We started working together the very next day and the rest is history.
DK: What was your first big break in the music business?
DJ: Meeting (hit writer/producer) Poo Bear was definitely a turning point in our career. Working with him and really learning how to make records as oppose to just making beats, was priceless and the things we’ve accomplished together are blessings. One of the first placements we had together was on the Grammy-nominated “Lasers” by Lupe Fiasco, followed by many others including most recently several songs with Justin Bieber.
DK: You first collaborated with Justin Bieber on his Journals album. How did you connect with Justin, and co-write these songs with him and Poo Bear?
Jimmy: At the time we were working on a project for rapper Lil Twist and it was his birthday, so he invited Justin over to the studio. When he arrived later that night, he told Justin he had to hear some of the songs we had done with Poo Bear and he ended up loving them. Weeks later, Poo flew out to work with him and some of those songs became a few of the Journals records.
DK: You worked on several songs for Justin’s new album, Changes. Can you talk about the making of this album?
Here’s the video of Justin Bieber’s song “Second Emotion” (feat.
Travis Scott), which was co-written by The Audibles.
DJ: From the jump, we were excited to start creating for this album because R&B is our favorite type of music to make, so musically we just made what felt good to us that had a good melody, fun vibes and was sonically pleasing. Between us, Poo and Justin, I feel like we usually have a similar taste on the production.
DK: I like your recent hit “Intentions” with Justin Bieber. How did you create this song with Justin, Poo Bear and Quavo?
Jimmy: We actually made the beat on our friend Trent’s kitchen table in North Hollywood. The next day we pulled up to the studio to meet Poo and as soon as we played it, he started writing to it immediately. We knew it sounded like a big song and we were happy when Justin said he loved it. Quavo ended up getting on the record last minute, just weeks before the release.
DK: What do you feel are your strengths as writers & producers? Is it creating the beats and producing the tracks?
DJ: Yes, definitely creating the beats from the sound selection, melody, structure and the overall sonics. As well as also helping produce a record with an artist, whether it be vocal producing, giving our input on some concepts, melodies or trying alternate ways of certain ideas to make a record flow better. The goal is always to make the best song possible and doing whatever we can to help accomplish that.
DK: You’ve worked with a wide range of artists, such as Sam Smith, Lupe Fiasco, Zac Brown and the reggae band, Common Kings. Besides your work with Bieber, what are some of your favorite projects that you’ve worked on?
Jimmy: One for me is our long time collaborator LAZR’s project (@JazzLAZR). He’s one of our best friends and we’ve been working and building a chemistry for many years. I’m really excited about his EPs “Bloom” and “Blawsome” to come out into the world. It’s some of my favorite music we’ve ever made, and I listen to groups of the songs daily. We have so many styles of records together so the range of what we can all do together always keeps the creative process fun and exciting.
DK: I read that you’re working on your own album, called Do Cool Shit with Your Friends. Can you tell me about this album? When will it be coming out?
DJ: Our album is a compilation of songs with different artists that we believe in, are fans of, and who happen to be our friends. The project has many different and eclectic vibes on it, and it has been really fun putting it together from working with the artists, to really going in on the post production to make something special. It will feature Poo Bear, LAZR, Tone Stith, Sasha Sirota and Sab Story to name a few, and we’re excited for everyone to hear it this spring. For more updates stay plugged in on Instagram @Audibles
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