Meet Josh Gudwin: The Multitalented Producer Behind Justin Bieber's 'Purpose' Album

This story was originally published on Forbes.com

After releasing on November 13th, Justin Bieber’s fourth studio album Purpose managed to swiftly surpass Adele’s incredibly successful release of 25, peaking atop the Billboard 200 chart to give Bieber the sixth No.1 album of his career. Generating more than 649,000 units sold in its first week, with 522,000 of those units being pure album sales, Purpose now stands as the pop star’s most impressive sales week ever. Bieber’s 2012 release of Believe takes the second slot, tallying just above 374,000 copies sold in the first week. The only artist to accumulate bigger results within the opening week was Taylor Swift, when her 1989 album accounted for a staggering 1.29 million units sold.

Fueling the success of Purpose has been the growing momentum three lead singles, the Skrillex and Diplo-assisted “Where Are You Now”, “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean”. Both “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean” individually reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 40 radio-based Pop Song airplay charts. While “What Do You Mean” spent two weeks in the top slot, “Sorry” more notably defeated Adele’s “Hello”, which reigned in the peak position uncontested for an entire month. Beyond digital streams and radio airplay, all three of Justin Bieber’s videos have combined to amass more than 1.35 billion YouTube views.

One pivotal player behind the creative vision and execution of Purpose is multitalented producer Josh Gudwin. Working very closely with Justin Bieber for the past 5 years, Gudwin has developed a proven formula for crafting massive songs and record-breaking albums. Credited as producer and A&R on Bieber’s recent release, Gudwin also mixed the majority of the album. In addition to his work with Justin Bieber, Gudwin’s credits also include Rita Ora, Nico & Vinz, Selena Gomez and Arianna Grande.

I spoke with Josh about the process of creating Purpose, his creative process, picking the lead singles and what gives him an edge in the business. 

You were instrumental in all three of Justin’s lead singles, “Where Are You Now”, “Sorry” and “What Do You Mean” – what was the process of making those records?

“What Do You Mean” happened while I was in the process of mixing the album. Justin and I were in the studio, and the album was almost done. As I’m mixing the album and Justin was listening back to the mixes, he told me to hit up Mason Levy, a talented producer who produced “Boyfriend” on Justin’s last album. Justin has made some great tracks with Mason. So, I hit up Mason and got a bunch of tracks. I listened to them, picked my favorite ones, then I played them for Poo Bear. Poo Bear picked the beat for “What Do You Mean”. After picking the beat, Poo Bear wrote it and cut it right there. Poo Bear is a monster. After he cut it, we sent it to Scooter Braun, and Scooter said “that’s the single” that same night. At this time, Poo Bear didn’t even want to write anymore, because he wrote so many songs. But, after Scooter said that was the single, Justin went it and recorded it, we cut it, then I mixed the song and we put it out. I wasn’t sure about that record at first, because it was such a simple record. There wasn’t anything crazy going on in it. But, Scooter said it was a hit, and it definitely worked out.

Did “Sorry” come about the same way? 

“Sorry” came about the same way. We put Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels in the room together. I played them three tracks. I played them one track from Mason Levy and two tracks from Blood Diamonds. The first night, they Justin and Julia wrote “Sorry” to the Blood Diamonds track. The second night, they wrote a really dope ballad that Mason Levy produced, but that hasn’t been released yet.

You are credited with a variety of different jobs on this album – how did you step into such a well-rounded role? 

For me, I’ve always worked in a lot of different capacities, on a lot of different types of records. I’ve studied and watched how a lot of people work, and that’s how I learned how to do a lot of jobs in the music industry. In terms of the creative process, I’ve been involved in every step, from the initial concept, to mixing down and completing a record — even the administrative process. After studying some of the best vocal producers for years, I know how to go in and produce a good vocal mix. By completing albums with Justin and other people, I’ve learned how to complete an album from start to finish. For mixing, I had to mix out of necessity. I wasn’t a trained mixer. With all of those things tied together, when Justin is going in to make his album and there’s so many people trying to bring him stuff, it all filters through me.

By being so involved at each stage of the creative process — What is your approach to crafting a record or putting an entire album together? 

For the most part, I feel as though I have a really good taste in music. I have a pretty good ear when it comes to the sound and feel, so I just work on it until it feels really good to me. Once it feels right, from start to finish, it’s done to me. I think I can work with any artist in any capacity, unless it involved reading sheet music for jazz. I think I can make any genre of music. Classical is a little harder, because there specific techniques you really have to know to make that music sound the right way. That’s the only exception though. I’ve done some big work with strings for projects like Despicable Me and other projects like that.

Before the release, there was much talk about Purpose being Justin Bieber’s most personal album to date — What was your approach going into this album working with him? 

I really just wanted to make the album Justin wanted to make. By supporting him, I knew I could make a dope album. Especially considering the direction we started going in with Justin. My role started off as a supporting role, then once we had the project, I played the finishing role. Overall, my role was a supporting role, because my job and focus was making his dream come true.

There are so many different styles and sounds on the album, yet it still feels like the subject matter is cohesive throughout — what was the message you all wanted to send with this album? 

I think Justin really just wanted to inspire people and let them know you can really do whatever you want to do. He wanted to instill hope into people. He truly wanted to deliver his dream, while delivering a message to his fans that he’s still moving forward and focused on delivering the best honest music possible.

Describe your background and some of the key people who gave you your start?

I was always a hobbyist. I was in the Marines, and before I was in the Marines, I was in a band. While in the Marines, I was playing and creating music as a hobby. Once I got out, I went to Full Sail in Orlando, Florida. I started as an intern and climbed the ladder. While there, I met some key people in my career that really gave me my first real opportunities. I met Hit-Boy who gave me an opportunity to work with him at a young age. I also worked with Ester Dean, who is a great songwriter. Then, I met Kuk Harrell, and we worked on a ton of projects. From there, through Kuk, is how I met Justin. Kuk stayed with Rihanna and I went with Justin, because they’re both like full-time jobs pretty much. I did at least 100 records with Kuk, and if I’ve done a hundred, he’s probably done a thousand.

What are some of the misconceptions people have about what it takes to get to this point and have such opportunities to work with some of the biggest artists in the world? 

It takes a lot. Most of it has to do with the type of person you are. Most people don’t want to put the work in. It takes a lot of work, a lot of man-hours. It takes a lot of patience, to know when to take the next step in your career. There aren’t any guidelines for how to get a promotion in my job. You just take advantage of your opportunities and work hard, hoping that you don’t sink. In this business, you can stay in the same position forever. You must have a lot of self-motivation. You have to feel it, and it has to feel right to you.

What is the creative process like working with someone like Justin Bieber who is multitalented with such a massive platform?

It’s amazing. It’s fun and enjoyable. When Justin is in the booth, I don’t even need to talk to him a lot. I know what he wants to do. We focus on what we’re doing and get it done. His job is to produce a great vocal, and my job is to capture the great vocal. Once he delivers and once I capture, the song is done. He knows I’m going to take care of it, he knows I’m going to mix it and everything that comes after. It’s just a really enjoyable process when you mesh with someone that way.

You’re also credited as a producer on Nico & Vinz’s latest Cornerstone EP — What was that process like working with them?

Both of them are incredibly talented. “Not For Nothing” is a great record. I produced “Not For Nothing”, and Poo Bear wrote it. Poo Bear was hanging out with the guys and played them “Not For Nothing”. They cut it, I mixed it, and that record was finished. Very simple.

Considering all of the different positions you can play — What part of the creative process do you enjoy the most? 

I enjoy the whole process. I like to see myself as an overall record maker. Whatever capacity I’m needed at the time, I’ll do it. I see that as a really important element of learning your craft. If you really want to do something, you can’t just master one little thing about it. Yes, you’ll be an expert, but only in that area. Then, once you’re an expert, you can’t stay in that area, you have to expand and do other stuff. There’s a lot of little facets in the record making process that people can do, but they get pigeonholed in the process. The greats don’t do that. Jimmy Iovine didn’t do that. That’s why he’s a music God.

You’ve been working with many of the biggest artists in music right now — Who are some of the emerging artists you’re invested in building up?

I’m excited about K. Roosevelt and BiBi Bourelly. K. Roosevelt spent a whole year making this album, with no outside influence. He just went in and did what he wanted to do. We’re treating this like his yearly body of work, so I want to zone in and create something immaculate. I love Bibi Bourelly. I’m mixing her EP right now too. I mixed “Ego”, which was the first song that we did. Our collaboration happened organically also. I was at Def Jam talking about the Bieber songs right when “What Do You Mean” came out, and I heard a Bibi record playing next door. I had just saw her when I was in a session with Skrillex two weeks prior, and I really wanted to mix her records. Then, while I was doing the Nico & Vinz mix, the A&R’s came in to listen to my mix, then I was asked if I ever heard of Bibi. I told them yes, I had been really trying to work on her stuff. Then, I was asked to mix the project, and that’s how it happened. Now, I’m mixing the entire project.

You’re also working on Rita Ora’s upcoming album – describe working with her and what people can expect from with her next release? 

I vocal produced 13 songs with Rita. I’m not sure what will make her album, maybe a couple, I’m not sure. I love Rita. She’s fun. We just go in and we work. She’s has ideas and songs she wants to cut, so we go in, cut them and repeat. She comes back the next day, we chill, cut more songs and keep working. It’s a good process. She’s doing a bunch of other stuff, so she can’t spend all night in the studio. Her sound is changing. Even the one month I was working with her, a lot of it changed. She’s been experimenting a lot with a lot of different sounds. It should be an exciting project.

Follow me on Twitter to share your comments and continue the conversation @Allthingsmitch