Q&A with Barry Eastmond

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photos courtesy of Barry Eastmond

Barry Eastmond is one of the most prolific R&B/Pop songwriter and producers. He has over sixty gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums on his name. He worked with Britney Spears, Freddie Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Billy Ocean, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau and many more. He teaches songwriting at NYU and is currently working with Walter Christopher, a up and coming new artist.

KB: Did you always want to be a songwriter or musician or producer or all three growing up?

I began playing piano at the age of 4. My mom loved to play the piano and was my first teacher. She realized at that age that I had talent and an ear for music. I was always banging on the piano when my older brothers practiced and one day I figured out the melody to their classical piece by ear. My mom said she started giving me piano lessons immediately.

When I was a teenager, I thought I would become a classical pianist but by the time I graduated high school I was playing jazz and thought I’d go on the road with a jazz artist. Producing and songwriting didn’t happen until I became a New York session musician and was asked to write songs for a new artist. His name was Freddie Jackson and the song was “You Are My Lady” and my career as a songwriter/producer was off to an incredible start.

KB: You collaborated with Freddie Jackson many times as a songwriter and as a producer. How did you meet and what is your fondest memory over the years?

I collaborated with Freddie now for over 30 years. I met Freddie through Paul Laurence who was working with Hush Productions, Freddie’s management. Paul thought that Freddie and I would make a great team. Freddie’s always been a joy to work with. Whenever we’re in the studio, it’s so easy. I told him that he spoiled me because I thought every artist that I worked with would be as easy. We’ve worked on over 10 albums together. As far as one special moment that I’ll always cherish, was working on his first album “Rock Me Tonight”. We were both so excited to be in the studio together working on Freddie’s first solo album for Capitol Records. I was trying to establish myself as a songwriter/producer and with Freddie I knew that if I made the right record, he could the start of my production career.

KB: You wrote “When The Going Gets Tough” and “There’ll Be Sad Songs” for Billy Ocean and produced his albums too. How did you meet and how hard is it to come up with a song that actually fits the artist?

I met Billy Ocean through Keith Diamond who produced Billy’s album “Suddenly” with the hits “Caribbean Queen”, Suddenly” and “Lover Boy”. Keith hired me to play keyboards on the album and then asked me to do the string arrangements. I did the string arrangements for “Caribbean Queen” and Suddenly”. They were my first string dates that I ever worked on. Every time I hear the songs on the radio, I think about the string dates. I also co-wrote a song called “Dance Floor” with Billy and Keith.

Billy and I became great friends on those sessions. The next album “Love Zone”, I was a called by the record company to co-write and co-produce Billy’s album with my good friend and bassist Wayne Brathwaite. The best part of writing the songs for that album was that Billy was involved in the writing. We could tell immediately when Billy was inspired by a track. The songs “Love Zone”, “When The Going Gets Tough” and “There’ll Be Sad Songs’ were written within the first week of writing together. The great producer, Mutt Lange joined us on “When The Going Get’s Tough” which was a joy to work on.

KB: You did conducting, engineering, keyboards, arranging, piano for Britney Spears ” Ooops! I Did It Again” album: What was it like working with her and what is your fondest memory?
Britney was a blast to work with. I coproduced the song with Timmy Allen, a wonderful producer.

Britney’s previous album had sold about 10 million copies at that time, so Timmy and I expected an artist with a huge ego to come to the studio when we started working on the song. When she arrived, I couldn’t believe how nice and down to earth she was. All she wanted to do was to make sure that Timmy and I were happy with her vocals. A wonderful experience that I will never forget!!

KB: You teach songwriting at NYU: How do you write a great song and what key elements must be in there?

I’ve been teaching songwriting at NYU for over 12 years now. There is no formula to writing a hit song. I truly believe that if a song comes from the heart and has a wonderful melody and lyric, there is a strong possibility that it will connect with an audience. It always helps to have an amazing artist with a wonderful voice to sing your song as well. When I wrote “You Are My Lady” which was written for my wife, I had no idea that it would become a big song until I put Freddie on the demo. At that moment, I knew I had something truly special. Looking back on it now, I think the melody and lyric I wrote and Freddie’s soulful delivery made for a great record.

KB: You worked with so many people. Are there any artists out there you have not worked with but would love to and why?

I’ve been blessed to work with so many artists. At this point, I’m interested in brand new artists who haven’t been discovered yet. I love working with an artist who has a great talent but needs help developing their sound. It’s very rewarding if you make the right record.

KB: I let you make an album with 7 of your most favorite songs (not your own): what would you pick and why?

This is a very hard question for me because I have so many favorite songs. My thought is that most of the songs would probably be Stevie Wonder songs because he’s my favorite songwriter. Any song from “Talking Book”, “Innervisions” or “Songs In The Key Of Life” would be on the list.

KB: What are you currently up to?

I’m developing a couple of new artists at the moment. One singer I’m most excited about is Walter Christopher. He’s a phenomenal soulful singer that I’ve written a few songs for. Hoping to be released later this year.

Check out Barry’s website: HERE

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