Ariel Rechtshaid

Ariel Rechtshaid (born March 23, 1979) is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixing engineer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. His production, songwriting, and mixing credits include HAIM, Vampire Weekend, Madonna, Usher, Adele, Brandon Flowers, Charli XCX, Kelela, Cass McCombs, Solange Knowles, Tobias Jesso Jr., Murs, Sky Ferreira, We Are Scientists, Kylie Minogue, U2, Glasser, Alex Clare, and Major Lazer. Rechtshaid co-wrote and produced Usher's 2012 single "Climax", which won the 2013 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. Rechtshaid was nominated for the 2014 Grammy Award for Producer of the Year and has won three Grammys in total, for his production on the Vampire Weekend album, Modern Vampires of the City (Best Alternative Music Album),[1] the Adele album, 25 (Album of the Year),[2] and for another Vampire Weekend album, Father of the Bride (again, Best Alternative Music Album).[3] He also produced the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1-charting single "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's in 2007. Rechtshaid is the former lead singer and guitarist of the ska/pop-punk band The Hippos and the bassist and producer of indie folk-rock group Foreign Born.

Ariel Rechtshaid
Ariel Rechtshaid in 2013
Background information
Born	March 23, 1979 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Record producer, songwriter, audio engineer, mixing engineer
Instruments	Vocals guitar keyboards bass drums percussion
Associated acts	Adele HAIM Brandon Flowers Vampire Weekend Usher Diplo Kelela Snoop Lion Sky Ferreira Blood Orange Charli XCX Alex Clare Cass McCombs Tobias Jesso Jr. The Hippos Carly Rae Jepsen Hurts We Are Scientists G Flip U2

Early life

Rechtshaid was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, a first-generation American born to Israeli immigrants.[4] He attended Hamilton High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where he would form his first band, the Hippos.[5] One of Rechtshaid's high school classmates was rapper Murs with whom he would later record and produce.[6]

Career

The Hippos

Rechtshaid would help form the band in 1995, while he and other members were still in high school. He fronted the band as the singer and guitarist with friends James Bairian on bass, Louis Castle on trumpet, Brandon Bairian on percussion, Roman Fleysher on saxophone, Danny Rukasin on trombone, and Kyle Briggs on drums. They began to play shows around southern California, and recorded and self-released cassette demos titled Spreading the Cheese and Attack of the Killer Cheese. Shortly after this they were joined by Rich Zahniser on trombone. Despite their proximity to the Orange County ska scene, they found themselves shut out since they were from Los Angeles. Still, through perseverance and talent, they established themselves among a ska scene including bands such as Reel Big Fish, No Doubt, Dance Hall Crashers, and The Aquabats. The band would go on to release two full-length albums on Fueled By Ramen/Vagrant Records and Interscope, as well as a self-released third full length consisting of demos produced by Rechtshaid from their later years.[7]

Foreign Born

Rechtshaid joined the band as a bassist and producer in Los Angeles in late 2003. They self-released their first 12" single ("We Had Pleasure" b/w "Escape"), followed by their debut EP "In the Remote Woods" via StarTime International Records. While touring the US and UK with St. Vincent, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Rogue Wave, Jason Collett, Cold War Kids, Giant Drag, and We Are Scientists, they recorded their first full-length album, On the Wing Now, in the fall/winter of 2005, and officially released the album with Dim Mak on August 21, 2007. They released their second album, Person to Person, on Secretly Canadian on June 23, 2009.

Production, writing, and mixing

Rechtshaid's production, songwriting, and mixing is found on a wide range of albums and genres. He has written with and produced for Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Usher, Blood Orange, Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira, Vampire Weekend, HAIM, Plain White T's, Cass McCombs, Theophilus London, Glasser, We Are Scientists, Major Lazer, Foreign Born, Valencia, and Murs.[8][9][10] He is also a partner in music publishing and production company Heavy Duty.[11]

Personal life

During the production of Haim's second studio album Something to Tell You (2017), Rechtshaid was diagnosed with stage I testicular cancer.[12] In August 2017, it was reported that he is in a relationship with Haim frontwoman Danielle Haim.[13]

Discography

Producer and writer discography

Year	Artist	Title	Appearance
2020	HAIM	"Los Angeles" "The Steps" "I Know Alone" "Up From A Dream" "Gasoline" "3 AM" "Don't Wanna" "Another Try" "Leaning On You" "I've Been Down" "Man from the Magazine" "All That Ever Mattered" "FUBT" "Now I'm In It- Bonus Track" "Hallelujah- Bonus Track" "Summer Girl- Bonus Track"	Women in Music Pt. III
2019	Vampire Weekend	"Harmony Hall" "Sympathy" "Hold You Now" feat. Danielle Haim "Bambina" "This Life" "Big Blue" "How Long?" "Stranger" "Jerusalem, New York, Berlin" "Unbearably White" "Rich Man" "Married in a Gold Rush" feat. Danielle Haim "My Mistake" "Sunflower" feat. Steve Lacy "2021" "Spring Snow" "Flower Moon" feat. Steve Lacy	Father of the Bride
2017	U2	"Lights of Home"	Songs of Experience
	Kelela	Take Me Apart	Warp Records
	HAIM	"Right Now" "Nothing's Wrong" "Little of Your Love" "You Never Knew" "Kept Me Crying" "Found It In Silence" "Ready For You" "Something to Tell You" "Night So Long"	Something to Tell You
		"Want You Back"
2015	Adele	"When We Were Young"	25
	HAIM	"Cause I'm a Man (Remix)"	non-album
	Little Boots	"Better in the Morning"	Working Girl
	Brandon Flowers	The Desired Effect	Island
	Carly Rae Jepsen	"All That", "When I Needed You" - E•MO•TION	Interscope
	Tobias Jesso Jr.	"Without You" - Goon	True Panther Sounds
	Rae Morris	Unguarded	Atlantic
	Madonna	"Living for Love" - Rebel Heart	Interscope
2014	Charli XCX	"Doing It" featuring Rita Ora - Sucker	Atlantic
	Beyoncé	"Ring Off" - Beyoncé	Columbia
	Charli XCX	"Kingdom" featuring Simon Le Bon - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1	Republic
	Calvin Harris	"Pray to God" featuring HAIM - Motion	Columbia, Fly Eye
	Rae Morris	"Do You Even Know?", "Closer"	Atlantic
	Kylie Minogue	"If Only", "Golden Boy" - Kiss Me Once	Parlophone
2013	Sky Ferreira	Night Time, My Time	Capitol
	Jagga	"Brutal Beauty"
	HAIM	Days Are Gone	Polydor/Columbia
	Mikky Ekko	"Kids"	RCA
	Vampire Weekend	Modern Vampires of the City	XL
	HAIM	Falling EP	Polydor/Columbia
	Charli XCX	True Romance	Atlantic
	YADi	"The Blow"	Warner Bros. Records
	Snoop Lion	Reincarnated	RCA
	Major Lazer	"You're No Good", "Reach for the Stars" - Free the Universe	Secretly Canadian
	Little Boots	"Satellite" - Nocturnes	On Repeat
	Solange Knowles	True (EP)	Terrible
2012	No Doubt	"Push and Shove" featuring Busy Signal and Major Lazer - Push and Shove	Interscope
	Sky Ferreira	"Everything is Embarrassing"	EMI
	Charli XCX	You're The One (EP)	IAMSOUND, Atlantic
	Usher	"Climax" - Looking 4 Myself	RCA
	Justin Bieber	"Thought of You" - Believe	Island
2011	Theophilus London	"Why Even Try" featuring Sara Quin, "Stop It" - Timez Are Weird These Days	Warner Bros. Records, Reprise
	Cass McCombs	Wit's End	Domino
	Blood Orange	Coastal Grooves	Domino
	Alex Clare	The Lateness of the Hour	Island
	Active Child	You Are All I See"	Vagrant
	Cass McCombs	Humor Risk	Domino
2010	We Are Scientists	Barbara	PIAS Recordings
	Rolo Tomassi	Cosmology	Hassle
	Glasser	Ring	True Panther Sounds
2009	Cass McCombs	Catacombs	Domino
	Foreign Born	Person to Person	Secretly Canadian
2008	Valencia	We All Need a Reason to Believe	Columbia Records
	We Are Scientists	Brain Thrust Mastery	Virgin EMI
2007	Foreign Born	On the Wing Now	Dim Mak
2006	We Are Scientists	Crap Attack	Virgin EMI
	The Blood Arm	Lie Lover Lie	City Rockers/Because Music
	Plain White T's	Hey There Delilah	Hollywood Records
	Plain White T's	Every Second Counts	Hollywood Records
2005	We Are Scientists	With Love and Squalor	Virgin EMI
	Plain White T's	All That We Needed	Fearless
	Foreign Born	In the Remote Woods	StarTime International
2004	Solea	Solea	Textbook Music
2003	Murs	The End of the Beginning	Definitive Jux
	Armor for Sleep	Dream to Make Believe	Equal Vision

With The Hippos

• 2003: The Hippos, Olympic Records (LP)
• 1999 August: Heads Are Gonna Roll, Interscope (LP)
• 1997 February: Forget the World Fueled By Ramen/Stiff Dog/Vagrant Records (LP)

With Foreign Born

• 2009 June: Person to Person, Secretly Canadian (LP)
• 2007 August: On the Wing Now, Dim Mak (LP)
• 2005 June: In the Remote Woods, StarTime International Records (EP)

References

1. "56th GRAMMY Awards: Full Winners List". Billboard. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
2. https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/59th-annual-grammy-awards-2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/2020-grammy-awards-complete-winners-list. Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Powell, Mike. "The Band Leader". grantland.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
5. Battan, Carrie. "Update: Ariel Rechtshaid". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
6. Frere-Jones, Sasha. "Lend Me Your Ears". newyorker.com. the New Yorker.
7. Ankeny, Jason. "Ariel Rechtshaid". allmusic.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
8. Aaron Frank. "Ariel Rechtshaid Is the Indie Super-Producer". L.A. Weekly. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
9. Havens, Lyndsey (June 22, 2020). "Inside Haim's Most Daring and Raw Album Yet: 'It Was Literally Us Looking in a Mirror'". Billboard. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
10. Spanos, Brittany (June 15, 2020). "Haim Bottle L.A. Lightning on the Provocative 'Women in Music Pt. III'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
11. "Heavy Duty". heavydutymusic.com. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
12. Murphy, Sarah (2017-07-07). "Ariel Rechtshaid Reveals He Was Battling Testicular Cancer While Recording HAIM's New Record". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2017-07-09.
13. Reilly, Nick (4 August 2017). "Haim's second album was put on hold after Ariel Rechtshaid's cancer battle". NME. TI Media. Retrieved 9 October 2019.