You may not know his name, but you sure know the songs he has written. Meet Evan “Kidd” Bogart, the co-songwriter of Rihanna’s first number-one single “SOS” and Beyonce’s Grammy Award Winning song “Halo.” Being the son of Casablanca Records founder Neil Bogart and music manager Joyce Bogart-Trabulus, who co-managed KISS and Donna Summer, isn’t a bad jump start to any entertainment career. Bogart has even founded a new Bravo TV music competition called “Going Platinum,” which will be showcasing emerging singer-songwriters on their quest to become the next big hitmaker. Two of the most accomplished songwriters have been confirmed as Jewel is set to host the series alongside ex-American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, who will be the head judge each week. “Going Platinum” will follow 12 musicians as they battle through a series of innovative songwriting challenges; testing their creativity, patience and drive. In the end, only one will be crowned the ultimate hitmaker and walk away with a $100,000 cash prize, publishing deal with Sony, BMI Songwriters The Writing Camp (Bogart’s music publishing company) and a recording deal with RCA/Jive. From getting his first initial taste of the industry with a mailroom position at Interscope Records to selling the second song he ever wrote to Def Jam Records and also developing his own rhythmic-blues artist Zsuzsanna Ward, here is Evan’s story in his own words.
Songwriting inspiration: “Everything inspires me. I watch everything from horror movies to cartoons. I draw a story and inspiration from everything from the most magical thing I seen on TV to everyday arguments.”
Favorite artist to collaborate with: “I love collaborating with Ryan Tedder and even though him and I have collaborated as writers; he’s technically an artist. I think there are a lot of really good writing artists out there. I have a good time with Jason Derulo; he’s a really good writer. I have a great time with Leona Lewis; we have a great time in the studio. Adam Lambert was fun to work with; he’s my favorite Idol artist to work with so far. I like Jordin Sparks too.”
Inspiration behind Rihanna’s SOS: “I was dating a woman who eventually became my wife. We had just started dating; I was really raw emotionally. She had move to Las Vegas to go to school and I was just obsessing about her. I was so angry that she was there. If you read the lyrics, at the time I was writing a love song, they come from such a negative; unhealthy place but when Rihanna sings them they sound like a young girl in love.”
Inspiration behind Beyonce’s Halo: “Ryan was on tour with his band OneRepublic and he ruptured his Achilles tendon and had to go to the hospital in Detroit to get surgery. The day after that they cancelled the tour and flew him back to Los Angeles. On his first day back in L.A. I was going to take over some food and hang out with him. When I got there, he was like, “Dude, we should write. We should write a song,” and I’m like, “Well, you’re not supposed to be writing. You’re supposed to be in bed.” Eventually we ended up in his studio and, with him on crutches, we wrote ‘Halo’ in three hours. The idea was always, “Let’s write a song that embodies Ray LaMontagne’s song called ‘Shelter’. A kind of song for Jay-Z and Beyoncé.” Ryan then started playing some angelic chords. We sent it to Jay Brown and an hour after that he put it on hold for Beyoncé.
On shopping his reality series: “We showed it to Bravo. The first network we went to because I am a big fan of Bravo’s reality shows that are skill set competitions. They are an elite class, very specific, particular with their brand.”
—— By: Interview By Cola Janneti
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