celeb news A&R talks Lana Del Rey origins: Diet Mtn Dew demo first got Interscope interested.

[NOW]

 

A&R music exec veteran Larry Jackson speaks to the NYT Popcast podcast on the origins of Lana Del Rey as she was about to sign to her first major label record deal. I pulled the soundbites with timestamps from the section about Lana. Listen to the whole interview here.

 

 

20:30

In March 2011, he and fellow Interscope A&R exec John Ehmann came across her Diet Mtn Dew demo song. They reached out and wanted to fly her to LA to sign with them and work on new music. Once Video Games went viral after she uploaded it to Youtube, she started getting offers from many major labels. The night before she signed with Jackson on Interscope, she was offered another deal with Sony for twice the amount that Interscope was offering. However, she declined it and signed with Jackson on Interscope because she wanted to become "Gangster Nancy Sinatra."

 

 

 

24:00

The total cost to produce the Born to Die album with Emile Haynie and Justin Parker was $183K.

 

24:30

Jackson forwarded Jimmy Iovine a letter to give to Lorne Michaels to add Lana Del Rey as a SNL musical guest. Michaels agreed after being shown Lana's DIY Video Games music video. Jackson believed she could cut through in the era of uptempo pop hits like Party Rock Anthem, Tik Tok and Just Dance.

 

28:00

Jackson roasts podcast host about the cultural/commercial impact of Born to Die, who gave it a scathing review. He still stands by the review and the discourse it generated but admits Lana has evolved as an artist and is now undeniably one of the greatest singer-songwriting talents of our time.

 

 

37:00

Jimmy Iovine put Jackson with Lana in a bootcamp in order to hone in her artistry after the SNL performance's polarizing reception.

 

Lana with Interscope A&R Larry Jackson and John Ehmann on set of the National Anthem video.

 

Edited 6 hours ago by NOW

[CottageHore]

THE most influential and iconic debut album of all time iktr 

Edited 6 hours ago by CottageHore

[Zeferino]

One of her best songs 

[Bussea]

[Walk_Away21]

get her and Emile back together nowwww

[James_Dean]

Badly need her back in the studio with Emile Haynie and Rick Nowels 

[Iaintsorry]

Nobody really talks about how much of a risk it was for Lana to come into a musical landscape of DJ drops and EDM to be able to smash and do the numbers she did with BTD. 
 

She shaped an aesthetic and sound that female artists till this day are still imitating. Good on her and that A&R guy for having the vision. 

[BlackoutZone]

Always loved this version

[Aethereal]

She cannot sing BTD songs live the same they sound in studio. It's time to leave that in the past. Paros, Texas is a top teir song anyways.

[Vixen Eyes]

Notice he said TiK ToK And Just Dance and not California Gurls 

[Dragonfly]

I remember being devastated when I played my Born to Die CD for the first time, and this version wasn´t on it

[MatiRod]

 

Quote

The total cost to produce the Born to Die album with Emile Haynie and Justin Parker was $183K

That's absolute peanuts for a major label lol. The profit margin is insane.

[Starfish]

1 hour ago, Aethereal said:

She cannot sing BTD songs live the same they sound in studio. It's time to leave that in the past. Paros, Texas is a top teir song anyways.

She sounds better live than on the studio versions so it's for the best. 

[ontherocks]

Legend!

[dumbsparce]

The demo is top 5 in her discography. An immaculate song  

[alp]

my fave off of her for a reason 

[LustSpell]

Always loved the demo more than the released version. The "hurt me and tell me you're mine" line is much more raw, tbh. But I understand fully why it was changed for a debut album lol

Edited 2 hours ago by LustSpell

[Shimenawa]

A legend

[okgo]

legend  didn't even kow Jon had panned BTD and not him still standing by it

 

 

[May]

1 hour ago, LustSpell said:

Always loved the demo more than the released version. The "hurt me and tell me you're mine" line is much more raw, tbh. But I understand fully why it was changed for a debut album lol

a lot of the BTD era demos have a unique quality to them in the sense that they absolutely sound unfinished and like they need more polishing before going on an album, but the raw and gritty quality also lends itself way more to the "gangsta nancy Sinatra" feel and are WAY more vibe-y, see National Anthem demo.

 

sometimes i put on the demos in front of other ppl and they don't get them like i do .. girl nothing better than being vodka drunk with those rough ass ear splitting BTD demos playing full blast

Edited 1 hour ago by May

[Helix]

3 hours ago, MatiRod said:

 

That's absolute peanuts for a major label lol. The profit margin is insane.

crazy to think that the BTD(song) video was probably more expensive than the whole album cost 

[Helix]

I'm still impressed by the aesthetic/videography she created before signing to a major label. The demos still sound amazing and all the videos fit them perfectly. She really was able to put together her vision without loads of money from labels.

[Scandalous]

2 hours ago, LustSpell said:

Always loved the demo more than the released version. The "hurt me and tell me you're mine" line is much more raw, tbh. But I understand fully why it was changed for a debut album lol

i missed the 'gimme them gimme them dope and diamonds' line

[Illuminati]

A legend was born I'm so glad all these years later I'm just as into her music as I was back then

[getinthezone]

5 hours ago, Iaintsorry said:

Nobody really talks about how much of a risk it was for Lana to come into a musical landscape of DJ drops and EDM to be able to smash and do the numbers she did with BTD. 
 

She shaped an aesthetic and sound that female artists till this day are still imitating. Good on her and that A&R guy for having the vision. 

183k doesnt sound much of a risk