By Honorary Reporter Preeti Rawat from India

Photo = Official album cover, Tushar Apte

Tushar Apte is an Indian Australian record producer and songwriter who is a known name in the Western music industry. He has helped create hits such as Chris Brown's "Zero," Demi Lovato's "Sober," and Zayn Malik and Nicki Minaj's "No Candle No Light."

Entering the K-pop scene, he led last year an Australian contingent of songwriters to Seoul for the inaugural SongHubs songwriting residency dedicated to K-pop. He also collaborated with BTS on its song "Home" and with BLACKPINK on its hit "Love to Hate Me." 

The following are excerpts from an interview with Apte.

Tushar Apte is based in Los Angeles.

You recently worked with BLACKPINK on its song "Love to Hate Me." How did that happen?
I wrote the initial demo of that song with my friends Rob Grimaldi, Steph Jones and Chloe George in a few hours. It was such a fun and effortless session. We were trying to write an empowering and fun girl group record but something with a little edge and a bit tongue in cheek. We sent it to the label, and they loved it for BLACKPINK. Then we worked with Teddy and the YG team, who did their magic on it, and the rest is history.

Tushar Apte cowrote the BLACKPINK hit "Love to Hate Me."

You also cowrote BTS's song "Home." How did that happen?

In late 2018, I was contacted by Big Hit Entertainment (BTS's management agency) to work on some ideas for the upcoming BTS album. I had no idea just how big they were globally, although I knew they were a huge success in the K-pop world. At that time, I had a studio in Hollywood that was above a barbershop, where I'd go and work late nights. One night, I couldn't sleep, so I went there at about 2 a.m. and did some ideas that would end up on "Home." It's been one of the great rides of my career to play a small role in the amazing legacy of BTS. I'm forever grateful to the band and Big Hit for the opportunity.

The two songs, along with your works for other K-pop artists, were well-received by critics and fans. What was most challenging about working on them?
I think the challenge is just always making the ideas and the songs as great as they can be. I definitely obsess over songs as I'm working on them and listen to them hundreds (if not more) of times, go through many edits and explore different options for melodies, sounds, arrangements and lyrics. This is just to make sure every record is as good as it can be. I think I enjoy that part about working with other K-pop collaborators, who have an intense ear for detail and strive for perfection and extremely high quality.

Apte also cowrote BTS's song "Home."

Last year, you led an Australian contingent of songwriters to Seoul for the inaugural SongHubs songwriting residency for K-pop. What was that like?
I partnered with (the Australian music rights organization) APRA-AMCOS to curate a K-pop focused camp in Seoul, which was my first time visiting Korea. It was an unforgettable experience, and we got the best hospitality from everyone in Seoul and the people and organizations in the music industry over there. We had some great songs come out of that camp also, which I hope you'll be hearing soon.

Why do you think K-pop is so popular around the world?
K-pop is very well thought out not just in terms of the music but the entire package; the videos, merchandise and live shows are all produced at an extremely high level. The music, of course, is fun and addictive pop music with endless catchy melodies throughout a song. There's no downtime in K-pop, it's just one big ride.

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.