Ariel Rechtshaid Is the Indie Super-Producer

He's taken a similar approach with Sky Ferreira, a model, actress and singer, who recently told Pitchfork she felt wrongly pegged as a typical vapid songstress by her label EMI. Ferreira messaged Rechtshaid to compliment his work shortly after he liked her Facebook page.

"I was in a Pinkberry and I heard one of her songs and Shazam'd it. Next thing I knew, we were in the studio together, and less than a year later, we were making a record together," he says. "That was definitely a product of the Internet. It's super useful, and it feels very organic and healthy."

PHOTO BY AARON FRANK

Ariel Rechtshaid

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Rechtshaid has stories like this for days: About the time Snoop Dogg stopped the music at a party and shouted him out on the mic, about the time he met 2 Chainz at the Grammys, about the time Miley Cyrus came to his home studio to cut vocals for the Snoop Lion album. But what seems to excite him most is working with his idols, like classic reggae artists Junior Murvin and Lee Scratch Perry, whom he met while contributing to the latest Major Lazer album. A fan of both artists since his teenage years, Rechtshaid says his efforts as a producer came full circle while working with the two on separate occasions last year.

Rechtshaid's successful track record speaks to the effectiveness of his methods, of making a personal connection with artists. Fidgeting with his phone and clearly anxious to get back to recording, he says, with commitment, "I just think that with music, it's kind of like life, and so the people you work with, you generally develop a relationship. You don't have to try to explain things. You just know. It's like you're in the band together and striving for the same goal."