Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters Ep. 129 - WRABEL ("11 Blocks")
The Los Angeles-based songwriter, who has written with and for artists such as P!nk, Kesha, Afrojack, Adam Lambert, Katharine McPhee, and Backstreet Boys while establishing his own celebrated artist career, joins us to talk about his life and art. EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul chat about Pearl Snap Studios, extending the Marty Stuart book contest for one more episode, and the phenomenon of "feature culture" in pop music. PART TWO - 10:44 mark The guys call up Wrabel and find out why he dropped out of Berkeley to write songs; the reason his first few years in Los Angeles were rough; how his debut international hit was born when an artist didn't show up for their writing session; why he called his manager questioning if his first single was too raw and autobiographical to actually release; the time Lady Antebellum let him down; the song he wrote with Kesha the first day the met; why he cried while recording with P!nk; and which of the Songcraft questions gave him goosebumps. ABOUT WRABEL Singer-songwriter Wrabel is best known for his hit “11 Blocks” and buzzworthy follow-up singles such as “The Village.” Signed to Island Def Jam Music, his first big break came when Dutch DJ Afrojack released a version of Wrabel’s “Ten Feet Tall” that became an international hit. Wrabel garnered further attention thanks to his EDM collaborations, including “Ritual” by Marshmello and “With You” by Kygo. He collaborated on “90 Days” with P!nk, who later shone a national spotlight on Wrabel when she spoke about his song “The Village” on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the spring of 2019. As a songwriter, Wrabel has written “Here Comes the Change” and “Woman” for Kesha, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by the Backstreet Boys, “Devotion” by Ellie Goulding, “Nirvana” by Adam Lambert, “Everybody Knows” by Idina Menzel, as well as songs for Phillip Phillips, Katharine McPhee, Pentatonix, Lea Michele, Fitz and the Tantrums, Ben Platt, and others. He was a 2018 GLAAD Media Awards nominee and was named to Out magazine’s Out100. In 2019 Billboard named Wrabel their Pride Artist of the Month. Soon after, he was named “one to watch” by People magazine.