Introduction
Joel Little (born 13 February 1983) is a New Zealand record producer, songwriter, musician and a Silver Scroll and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. He is best known for his work as a songwriter and producer with artists Lorde, Broods, Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, Elliphant, Daniel Johns, Jarryd James, Kids of 88, and Priory.
Career
Little began his career as singer and guitarist of pop punk band Goodnight Nurse. The band released two studio albums, Always and Never (2006) and Keep Me on Your Side (2008) both of which peaked at number five on the New Zealand top 40 albums chart. Both albums spawned a number of singles and radio hits, and the band had five singles in the New Zealand top-40 from 2004 to 2008.
Along with Goodnight Nurse guitarist Sam McCarthy, Little produced and co-wrote the majority of the debut album by McCarthy's new group, electro pop duo Kids of 88. The album, Sugarpills, was released in 2010 and debuted at number two in the New Zealand album chart. It featured three hit singles, "My House", "Just a Little Bit" and "Downtown", all co-written by Little. "Just a Little Bit" went on to win Single of the Year at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards.
In 2011, Little set up his own production studio, Golden Age, in Morningside, Auckland.
In 2012, Little co-wrote and produced, recorded and mixed The Love Club EP by Lorde at Golden Age. Singles "Royals" and "Tennis Court" both charted at number one in New Zealand in 2013, with the EP achieving gold certification in New Zealand and Platinum certification in Australia. Little also co-wrote, produced, mixed, engineered and played the instruments on the debut Lorde album, Pure Heroine, which was released worldwide on 30 September 2013.
In early September 2013, Little and cowriter Lorde were shortlisted for "Royals" in the 2013 Silver Scroll Award, which honours outstanding achievement in songwriting of original New Zealand pop music. They went on to win this award, at a ceremony on 16 October. He also won a Grammy award on 26 January 2014, alongside Lorde, winning Song of the Year for "Royals".
He produced Auckland-based pop duo Broods' single, "Bridges", and EP, Broods, and produced their 2014 album, Evergreen
Little is currently based in Los Angeles working on new projects.
Discography
With Goodnight Nurse
- Always and Never (2006) Festival Mushroom Records
- Keep Me on Your Side (2008) Warner Music New Zealand
Production and writing credits
| Year | Artist | Album | Song | Credit |
| 2010 | Kids of 88 | Sugarpills | "Ribbons of Light" | All songs co-written by Sam McCarthy & Joel Little Produced by Joel Little, Sam McCarthy & Jordan Arts |
| "Just a Little Bit" | ||||
| "Everybody Knows" | ||||
| "My House" | ||||
| "Apart of You" | ||||
| "Downtown" | ||||
| "Feed the Birds" | ||||
| "SQRL" | ||||
| "San Fran" | Co-writer (with Jordan Arts & Sam McCarthy) | |||
| Dane Rumble | The Experiment | "What Are You Waiting For?" | Co-writer (with Dane Rumble) | |
| 2012 | Kids of 88 | Modern Love | "Komodo" | Co-writer (with Sam McCarthy, Jordan Arts & Jaden Parkes) |
| "Tucan" | ||||
| "Zion" | ||||
| Timomatic | Timomatic | "AYO (That's What I Like)" | Co-writer (with Tim Omaji and Jaden Parkes), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| Lorde | The Love Club | "Bravado" | Co-writer (with Lorde), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| "Royals" | ||||
| "Million Dollar Bills" | ||||
| "The Love Club" | ||||
| "Biting Down" | ||||
| 2013 | Lorde | Pure Heroine | "Tennis Court" | |
| "400 Lux" | ||||
| "Ribs" | ||||
| "Buzzcut Season" | ||||
| "Team" | ||||
| "Glory and Gore" | ||||
| "Still Sane" | ||||
| "White Teeth Teens" | ||||
| "A World Alone" | ||||
| Broods | Broods | "Never Gonna Change" | Co-writer (with Caleb Nott & Georgia Nott), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| "Pretty Thing" | ||||
| "Bridges" | ||||
| "Sleep Baby Sleep" | ||||
| "Taking You There" | ||||
| "Coattails" | ||||
| 2014 | Evergreen | "Mother & Father" | ||
| "Everytime" | ||||
| "Killing You" | ||||
| "Bridges" | ||||
| "L.A.F" | ||||
| "Never Gonna Change" | ||||
| "Sober" | ||||
| "Medicine" | ||||
| "Evergreen" | ||||
| "Four Walls" | ||||
| "Superstar" | ||||
| Sam Smith | In the Lonely Hour: Deluxe Edition | "Reminds Me of You" | Co-writer (with Sam Smith), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| Priory | Weekend | "Weekend" | Additional production | |
| Elliphant | One More EP | "One More (feat. MØ)" | Co-writer (with Elliphant & MØ), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| Lorde | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | "Yellow Flicker Beat" | Co-writer (with Lorde), producer (with Paul Epworth) | |
| "Meltdown" | Co-writer (with Lorde), additional production, mixer | |||
| "Ladder Song" | Producer, engineer & mixer | |||
| "Flicker (Kanye West rework)" | Co-writer (with Lorde & Kanye West) | |||
| 2015 | Daniel Johns | Aerial Love EP | "Aerial Love" | Co-writer & producer (with Daniel Johns), engineer & mixer |
| "Late Night Drive" | ||||
| Talk | "Aerial Love" | Co-writer & producer (with Daniel Johns), engineer & mixer | ||
| "Cool On Fire" | ||||
| "Warm Hands" | ||||
| "Dissolve" | Producer & engineer | |||
| Jarryd James | Thirty One | "Do You Remember" | Co-writer (with Jarryd James), producer, engineer & mixer | |
| "Give Me Something" | Co-writer (with Jarryd James), producer & engineer | |||
| "This Time (Serious Symptoms, Simple Solutions)" | Co-writer (with Jarryd James), producer & engineer | |||
| "Underneath" | Producer (with Matt Corby & Jarryd James) | |||
| "Undone" | Co-producer & additional guitar | |||
| "Regardless" (feat. Julia Stone) | Producer (with Jarryd James) | |||
| "High" | ||||
| "Sure Love" | ||||
| Half Noise | "Inside" | Producer & engineer | ||
| Ellie Goulding | Delirium | "Paradise" | Co-writer (with Ellie Goulding), vocal production, & additional production | |
| "The Greatest" | Co-writer & producer | |||
| Elliphant | Living Life Golden | "Step Down" | Co-writer (with Ellinor Olovsdotter), producer, engineer, instruments & programming | |
| "Where Is Home (feat. Twin Shadow)" | Co-writer (with Ellinor Olovsdotter), producer, instruments, programming & co-engineer (with Twin Shadow) | |||
| 2016 | Fitz and the Tantrums | Fitz and the Tantrums | "Do What You Want" | Producer & co-writer |
| Broods | Conscious | "Free" | Co-writer & producer (with Broods), drum programming, keyboards & engineer | |
| "We Had Everything" | Co-writer (with Broods), producer, background vocalist, keyboards, programming & engineer | |||
| "Heartlines" | Co-writer (with Ella Yelich-O'Connor & Broods), producer, keyboards, programming & engineer | |||
| "Hold the Line" | Co-producer & co-engineer (with Alex Hope), mixer, keyboards & programming | |||
| "Freak of Nature feat. Tove Lo" | Co-producer & co-engineer (with Alex Hope, Tove Nilsson, Jason Huss), keyboards & programming | |||
| "All of Your Glory" | Mixer | |||
| "Recovery" | Co-writer (with Broods), producer, keyboards, percussion, programming & engineer | |||
| "Couldn't Believe" | Co-writer (with Broods), producer (with Caleb Nott), background vocalist, keyboards & programming | |||
| "Full Blown Love" | Co-writer (with Broods), producer, keyboards, programming & engineer | |||
| "Worth the Fight" | Co-writer (with Broods & Emmie Little), producer, keyboards, programming, mixer & engineer | |||
| "Bedroom Door" | Co-writer (with Broods), producer, keyboards, percussion, programming, mixer & engineer | |||
| "Conscious" | Co-writer (with Broods & Fran Hall), producer, background vocalist, keyboards, programming & engineer | |||
| Jarryd James | High | "1000x feat. Broods" | Co-writer (with Jarryd James), producer, keyboards, guitars, programming & engineer | |
| "Claim My Love" | Producer (with Jarryd James & Mikky Ekko) | |||
| "How Do We Make It" | Producer (with Jarryd James & Tobias Jesso Jnr) | |||
| Brooke Fraser | A Sides | "Therapy" | Producer, co-writer (with Brooke Fraser), engineer & mixer | |
| Tove Lo | Lady Wood | "Imaginary Friend" | Co-producer (with The Struts), co-writer & engineer | |
| Ruth B | "In My Dreams" | Producer & engineer | ||
| 2017 | Noah Kahan | "Young Blood" | Producer & engineer | |
| "Sink" | Producer | |||
| Khalid | American Teen | "Young Dumb & Broke" | Co-writer, producer & engineer | |
| "8teen" | ||||
| "Therapy" | ||||
| Lorde | Melodrama | "Green Light" | Co-writer (with Ella Yelich-O'Connor & Jack Antonoff) | |
| Ruth B | "Safe Haven" | "Mixed Signals" | Producer & engineer | |
| "Dandelions" | ||||
| "Unrighteous" | ||||
| "If This Is Love" | ||||
| "Young" | ||||
| "If By Chance" | ||||
| "World War 3" | ||||
| "Safe Haven" | ||||
| "In My Dreams" | ||||
| "First Time" | ||||
| Imagine Dragons | "Whatever It Takes" | Co-written, produced & recorded |
Awards and nominations
APRA awards
APRA Awards (Australia)
The APRA Awards (Australia) are annually held by Australasian Performing Right Association to honour outstanding music artists and songwriters of the year.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little | Outstanding International Achievement Award | Won |
APRA Silver Scroll Awards (New Zealand)
The New Zealand APRA Awards are held by the Australasian Performing Right Association to honour the finest songwriters and composers.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Royals" | APRA Silver Scroll | Won | |
| 2014 | Broods and Joel Little for "Bridges" | APRA Silver Scroll | Nominated | |
| Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Team" | Most Performed Work in New Zealand | Won | ||
| Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Royals" | Most Performed Work Overseas | Won | ||
| 2015 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Yellow Flicker Beat" | APRA Silver Scroll | Nominated | |
| Joel Little and Jarryd James for "Do You Remember" | APRA Silver Scroll | Shortlisted | ||
| Joel Little, Georgia Nott and Caleb Nott for "L.A.F." | APRA Silver Scroll | Shortlisted | ||
| Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Royals" | Most Performed Work Overseas | Won |
ASCAP Pop Music Awards
The annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards are held by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to honour the songwriters and publishers of the most performed pop songs.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Royals" | Most Performed Songs | Won | |
| 2015 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little - "Team" | Most Performed Songs | Won | |
| Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little - "Royals" | Most Performed Songs | Won |
Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globe Awards were established in 1944 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to celebrate the best in film and television.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Yellow Flicker Beat" | Best Original Song | Nominated |
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Joel Little, producer; Joel Little, engineer/mixer; Stuart Hawkes, mastering engineer for "Royals" | 56th Annual Grammy Awards – Record of the Year | Nominated | |
| Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little, songwriters for "Royals" | 56th Annual Grammy Awards – Song of the Year | Won |
New Zealand Music Awards
The New Zealand Music Awards are awarded annually to musicians of New Zealand origin, by Recorded Music NZ.
| Year | Nominee/work | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Joel Little for Pure Heroine | Best Engineer | Won | |
| Joel Little for Pure Heroine | Best Producer | Won | ||
| 2015 | Joel Little for Evergreen | Best Producer | Nominated | |
| 2016 | Joel Little for Conscious | Best Engineer | Won | |
| Joel Little for Conscious | Best Producer | Won |