Avril Lavigne

Susie-O-

A lot of my mates absolutely HATE avril lavigne's music, and i dont like some of her new stuff, but i think her old stuff - songwritingwise - is really good and the lyrics really mean something. anyone agree?

It wasn't me!

No.

projectmayhem

considering the fact that she doesn't write her own songs it's basically illogical to agree with you regardless. but whoever she outsources to writes pure muck... imo

Royale with Cheese

I was under the impression that she does write her own songs but that very few of them actually make their way onto her albums.

I definitely remember hearing her songwriting team had signed on for a multi-album deal after the success of her first record.

Frankiestylee

I remember she did an MTV On Tour Diary type thing and she was all "yeah, this is my book where I write new songs" and she opened it and yeah, it looked rather genuine... but I'm pretty sure the credits on her songs tell a differant tale.

Pretty terrible eitherway. It's either talented enough writers trying to dumb it down for the kids... or it's Avril just being shockingly stuck in a no-talent rut.

mada999

I think yer one from the Four non blondes wrote some of her 'hits' and even one a grammy I think...i could be wrong though

frobisher

I think an awful lot of people are for some reason unable to separate quality songwriting from how an artists is packaged and presented. Complicated is a very well written simple acoustic pop song. She maybe possibly be a puppet but there are any number of bands who would be delighted to have a song like that.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

"he was a sk8r boi, she said see ya later boi" enough said

Tar.Aldarion

I agree with frobisher. That song made her career, who are we to say they are badly written? with the amount sold?

Anyway, I happily mute her and watch, her new song is so ridiculous, I like it now.

mada999

whoops i got it wrong..:::

Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards & Scott Spock are not household names to most music fans, but collectively they are known as The Matrix, which is probably the hottest, most in-demand, writing/production team in the business. They co-wrote and produced three, smash hits for Avril Lavigne (“Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi” and “I’m With You”), and as a result of this success, they have had the opportunity to write and produce cuts with many other, top artists.

The list of artist projects The Matrix has worked on reads like a “who’s who” of the current music scene. During the past six months, the trio has collaborated with Ricky Martin, Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Nick Carter, Evan & Jaron, Nick Lachey (from 98 Degrees) and Paulina Rubio. In addition, they co-wrote and produced the new hit single by Jason Mraz (“The Remedy (I Won’t Worry)”), and new singles by Liz Phair (“Why Can’t I”) and Lillix (“It’s About Time”).

In a recent interview, the trio discussed how they formed The Matrix, and how they got together with Avril Lavigne to co-write and produce five songs on her multi-platinum, debut album, Let Go. They also spoke about how their success with Lavigne has led to a flurry of other writing and production projects.

Christy, Edwards and Spock are veterans of the music business, and each enjoyed success prior to forming The Matrix. Christy (who is married to Edwards; they are both from Scotland) had written and recorded two albums as a solo artist for Mercury Records in the mid-90s (Lauren Christy and Breed), and had a hit song, “Steep.” She also co-wrote and recorded the theme song to the Bruce Willis movie, Color Of The Night.

Edwards started in London as a session and touring bass player, working with Adam & The Ants, Go West, Mick Jagger and Jeff Beck. “I played on the road much of the ‘80s, including four years touring with Go West,” explained Edwards. “I had gotten tired of being on the road, so I started getting into writing. As my writing progressed, I decided to move to Los Angeles, where I was able to write several songs with the Rembrandts, and a song with the Baha Men. I also became a member of Dollshead (a rock band which signed with MCA Records).”


THE MATRIX (pictured l-r): Graham Edwards, Scott Spock & Lauren Christy
It was a Dollshead project which brought together Graham and Spock. Graham was impressed with a remix Spock had done of a Dollshead song. Spock (who is from St. Louis, MO) had begun his career as a jazz trumpet player, and later became a skilled songwriter and programmer. “Graham asked if I wanted to join Dollshead, and so we ended up working together,” recalled Spock. “Sandy Roberton was our manager, and he suggested (Graham and I) write together for other projects. In 1999 we started concentrating on writing for other people, and we grew to love what we were doing. By summer of 1999, Graham, Lauren and I officially were working together as a team.”

“Sandy (Roberton) suggested we come up with a name, because it was hard to constantly describe the three of us,” explained Christy. “So we came up with the name, ‘The Matrix’. The matrix is a name for the womb, or the rock, which everything comes from. Our name wasn’t inspired by the movie The Matrix (which came out later).”

Spock explained how the trio writes and produces together. “We all do everything: creating melodies, lyrics, and tracks. We have three, different ProTools rigs. When we write, we like to sit down with a guitar and piano, rather than starting with a track. Graham plays guitar and bass, Lauren plays piano, and I play piano and trumpet. Also we all sing, often on both our demos and the masters.”

It wasn’t long before The Matrix started getting cuts and projects. One of their first projects was writing and producing a song for Christina Aguilera’s Christmas album. They also wrote and produced songs for Irish artist, Ronan Keating. But their big break was when Roberton hooked them up to collaborate with a new, then unknown Canadian artist named Avril Lavigne. Lavigne had been signed to Arista Records by A&R exec Josh Sarubin.

“Avril was an artist that Sandy had brought to us,” said Christy.” “We began collaborating in LA (in June 2001), and the first song we came up with was “Complicated.’ Avril loved it, and Josh (Sarubin) immediately thought it was a hit. (Arista President) LA Reid freaked out when he heard our first two songs with Avril. We ended up working the whole summer with her.”

“With Avril, we would come up with the initial ideas, and play her the melody and concept,” explained Christy. “She would them come up with great melody and lyric ideas. Five of the songs we wrote together made the album, and we finished the album on October 27 (2001), which was Avril’s birthday.”

The Matrix was very pleased with their work with Lavigne, but they didn’t realize until many months later how successful her album would become. They first realized Lavigne would be big when they saw her on MTV’s “Total Request Live” (TRL) around April 2002. “Complicated” was released as the first single at that time, and by July 17, it reached number one on the Billboard “Hot 100 Singles” chart, and stayed number one for a remarkable 12 weeks. The follow-up single, “Sk8er Boi,” also reached number one, staying on top for four weeks. The third single, the ballad “I’m With You,” became another major hit.

Following their tremendous success with Lavigne, The Matrix has probably become the hottest writer/producers in the business. It seems like practically every A&R exec wants to hire them to work with their major artists, or to help develop their new artists. Their non-stop writing & producing schedule has resulted in dozens of upcoming cuts, many which will be released as singles. Their discography lists an impressive array of cuts: seven songs with Ricky Martin, four songs with Liz Phair, two songs with Evan & Jaron, five songs with Nick Lachey, two songs with Lillix, and six songs with Keaton Simon (a new artist they have been developing, who has signed with Maverick Records). In addition, they have begun working with other, top artists.

Currently, Christy, Edwards & Spock are working hard to confirm their top writer/producer status. But they also have a great appreciation for their success and good fortune of the past year. “When our songs with Avril became hits, we just pinched ourselves; it was like a dream,” said Christy. Spock added, “We are so happy to have had the success with Avril, and it’s a honor to be working now with such high level artists, plus have the opportunity to develop new artists.”

“It just goes to show, that if you keep working hard, it can turn around with one hit song,” said Edwards. “You have to keep the faith, and keep writing. It all turns around.”

Steve_o

It wasn't me! wrote:

No.

lol, i couldn't have said it better myself!!!!!!:D

It wasn't me!

Steve_o wrote:

lol, i couldn't have said it better myself!!!!!!:D

*takes bow* *accepts award for most succinct response ever on Boards*

Setun

Her newest single is arse. Arse. I worry for the mongoloids who can write such tripe.

nyarlothothep

hey, hey, you, you I dont like your girlfriend...

mr_angry

Heh. I was in Tokyo recently where they were pimping the new single - in Japanese. If its any consolation, the Japanese version is even worse than the English.

I think its interesting to see how she has abandoned the 'rock roots' that she seemed so determined to promote on her first record. Just in case anyone was actually fooled first-time around, she seems content to reveal the truth now.

electric69

no

frobisher

I'm surprised by some of the responses here. Avril Lavigne is in nothing more than a pure pop act. The fact that she had a little loose grunge-lite around the edge of her image doesn't change that. She is a pop star who has more in common with Britney Spears than The Stones. If you judge her as such I think she sings nice little pop songs. No more, no less. Although I would add that writing that kind of stuff successfully is far, far harder than many realise and I quite like my disposable pop music so no complaints from me there.

Brother A

I think Avril has got some really good songs. 'Sk8er Boi' was very good, as was 'Im with you'. Also sorry guys but I think 'Girlfriend' is great. Those lyrics are good "she's like so whatever..."...thats great, really conjures up the idea of teen angst or like whatever.

I think the grungy type sound gets a bit same-ey/noisy after a while. Particularly on the last album anyway. Also there seemed to be a lot of muck/really average songs there also.

Im just listening to the new album now, which I, er...nicked from my little sister...yeah....I would say similar to the last one, 1,2 or 3 real hits maybe, lot of muck.

MattKid

I've got all her albums and seen her twice in concert:o A guilty pleasure you might say

Creamy Goodness

new song is so crap but i don't expect anything less.

she wants to be my girlfriend but is married to some tard.

Tar.Aldarion

In other languages it is legend, oh yeah.

Frankiestylee

Pretty successful really at tapping into the market she's after, which is a talent all in itself. It's not her talent, it's the record company's obviously, but it still has to be somewhat admired, if even begrudgingly. Actually, in the magical musical world, no, she can go burn in hell... but in business land I think her company has packaged an ok product and sold it well, minus their souls.

dan_y

what exactly has everyone got against singers who don't write their own material? frank sinatra, dean martin, elvis presley - hell, any number of extremely influential artists the world over - Didn't write most of their hits. and they're worshipped regardless. when did that suddenly become unnacceptable?

Tar.Aldarion

Frankiestylee wrote:

ok product

I'd buy that product.

Steve_o

dan_y wrote:

what exactly has everyone got against singers who don't write their own material? frank sinatra, dean martin, elvis presley - hell, any number of extremely influential artists the world over - Didn't write most of their hits. and they're worshipped regardless. when did that suddenly become unnacceptable?

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley were all inspirational icons and they were pretty unique in what they did....Avril Lavigne isn't in my opinion, she's just one of countless pop acts which all do the same thing!!!

funky penguin

Black hair Avril is so mean to red head Avril in that video.

Tar.Aldarion

Yet I'd take black avril, does that make me mean too?


Made you look.
>_>

Evzer

Avril lavigne music is not music. It's accounting. When she was first signed she was doing country stuff and then she switched to that punk-pop light skatery **** because it was the flavour of the month at the time. Now shes goalhanging the old gwen stefani\nelly furtado type sound. Can't stand the woman. Still would though.

Frankiestylee

Evzer wrote:

Avril lavigne music is not music. It's accounting. When she was first signed she was doing country stuff and then she switched to that punk-pop light skatery **** because it was the flavour of the month at the time. Now shes goalhanging the old gwen stefani\nelly furtado type sound. Can't stand the woman. Still would though.

Well said sir, well said.

It's not the fact that she's just a singer, it's more the super calculating machine behind her that makes her so repulsive (in a non-physical sense)

funky penguin

Evzer wrote:

Now shes goalhanging the old gwen stefani\nelly furtado type sound.

Eh, I see what you mean about the accounting etc, but she sounds nothing like Gwen or Nelly.....

*tOpLaSs

Her newest single brought a frown to my face...:mad:
But I guess some of the old stuff was ok...
I liked Nobody's Home... Even if there was no significance to the lyrics, it was pretty damned catchy.
But still.
I agree with whoever said no.

Call Me Jimmy

I don't like her and I don't like her singing it but 'Complicated' is a great pop song. She is a **** songwriter with all her hits coming from other writers, and each album she probably gets to write one or two pieces of crap so that she can have the title of songwriter.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Brother A wrote:

I think Avril has got some really good songs. 'Sk8er Boi' was very good, as was 'Im with you'. Also sorry guys but I think 'Girlfriend' is great. Those lyrics are good "she's like so whatever..."...thats great, really conjures up the idea of teen angst or like whatever.

are you for real? you made me lol very loud!!!!:p

Simon201

yeah 'Complicated' and 'Sck8erbouioy' (or however it's spelt!) bug me a bit nowadays, well actually they always did but one found one's self humming these damn tunes without realising it!
Kinda liked that 'Breakaway' song, didn't she have something to do with writing it? There is a great song on one of her albums called 'How does it feel' though.
Damn hot bitch an' all!

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

Brother A wrote:

I think Avril has got some really good songs. 'Sk8er Boi' was very good, as was 'Im with you'. Also sorry guys but I think 'Girlfriend' is great. Those lyrics are good "she's like so whatever..."...thats great, really conjures up the idea of teen angst or like whatever.

yea she should win an award for her song writing;)

i do like her videos, but the sound does have to be muted. I wouldnt mind extending an invitation to her to the pants party

Tar.Aldarion

Stay away from my avril you fiend!

A Primal Nut

Brother A wrote:

I think Avril has got some really good songs. 'Sk8er Boi' was very good, as was 'Im with you'. Also sorry guys but I think 'Girlfriend' is great. Those lyrics are good "she's like so whatever..."...thats great, really conjures up the idea of teen angst or like whatever.

Yeah, like, whatever....

Don't like her but I can see why people i know like her music, unlike most pop acts of her type, plus most girls i know like her new single and like dancing it to it, its perfect for the audience its marketed at....or like, whatever......:rolleyes:

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

A Primal Nut wrote:

Yeah, like, whatever....

Don't like her but I can see why people i know like her music, unlike most pop acts of her type, plus most girls i know like her new single and like dancing it to it, its perfect for the audience its marketed at....or like, whatever......:rolleyes:

why did you have to go and make things so complicated?:p