FAULT Magazine Issue 18 – the RAW Issue features OneRepublic front man and unstoppable hit-maker Ryan Tedder on it’s internal Men’s Fashion section cover. In addition to the cover, Ryan’s feature – which includes an in-depth interview and exclusive photoshoot by photographer Kell Mitchell and stylist Patricia Villirillo – runs over 6 pages in the print issue.

 

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FAULT: What was working with Leona Lewis for her break-through single ‘Bleeding Love’ like?

RYAN: I would’ve bet money against that song being a hit anywhere outside of the UK.  That’s how cynical I was. I had no idea of the expectation that there was for it. I didn’t even know till after we did the song that she had been on X Factor.

 

FAULT: Did you feel any pressure from Simon Cowell’s label?

RYAN: Of course. Simon didn’t get to where he’s got by sitting back in the passenger seat and just assuming or hoping that things will just take care of themselves. His label is aggressive, flat out aggressive. They have an objective, they have a goal, a single-minded goal and everyone at that label is dead on in their approach. They’re like, ‘here’s when it’s coming out, here’s when it’s due, boom boom boom boom boom boom.’ When you’re making an album you can move things around, but when you have TV involved it is completely different. Their calendar is their bible. They cannot change the dates of when something is going to broadcast and so because of that they have a more militant approach.

FAULT: Does it feel different working on one of OneRepublic songs as opposed to a song for someone else?

RYAN: OneRepublic songs are a lot harder for me. I compare it to theatre. A OneRepublic album is a play written, directed, produced, performed by us, by me, but when it’s for another artist I feel like I wrote the dialogue, but I don’t have to stand on stage and deliver it, so I’m not the one getting tomatoes thrown at ‘em if it doesn’t go well.

 

On making pop music: “You have to have hits all the time: that is your currency. You have to have the most cutting edge, innovative, driving, fantastical songs that the world instantly reacts to. They don’t need a lot of thought, and you don’t have to dig deep. “

 

FAULT: Have you ever worked in the situation where the artist hasn’t been in the driving seat but it’s been the machine behind them?

RYAN: Yes. If the artist is part of the machine then they’re too busy to really artistically care, they just say, ‘Give me the biggest hit.’

 

 

FAULT MAGAZINE ISSUE 18 – THE RAW ISSUE – IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

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