Charlie Puth

Charlie Puth

Author: Pushkin Industries March 24, 2026 Duration: 56:07

Charlie Puth is a meticulous songwriter whose knowledge of pop music runs deeper than your average chart topper. Charlie, who studied music production and engineering at Berklee College of Music, first gained widespread attention in 2015 with "See You Again," his collaboration with Wiz Khalifa for the Furious 7 soundtrack. The song earned him his first three Grammy nominations.

Since then, he's released hits like "Attention," "We Don't Talk Anymore," and "One Call Away," while also writing and producing for other artists, including co-writing and co-producing "Stay" for The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber. His fourth album, Whatever's Clever!, comes out next month. It's his most honest work to date, and as he'll reveal on this episode, the songwriting is far more personal than anything he's released in the past.

On today's episode, Justin Richmond talks to Charlie Puth about making Whatever's Clever! and the process of recording a song with Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. He discusses the clever way he convinced Kenny G to appear on the album. And he sits down at the piano to demonstrate how gospel chords always find their way into pop music, revealing the harmonic foundations that shape his songwriting.

You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Charlie Puth HERE.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Imagine a conversation where the only agenda is genuine curiosity about the creative process. That's the space Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond occupies. Hosted by these four distinct voices from the worlds of music production, writing, and journalism, this podcast strips away the standard interview format. Instead, it feels like you're overhearing an insightful, meandering talk between friends who happen to be some of the most fascinating artists alive. The discussions delve into the unglamorous realities of making art-the false starts, the moments of doubt, the sheer stubbornness required to push through. You'll hear legendary musicians and emerging talents alike discuss not just their hits, but the failures and personal stories that truly shaped their sound. It’s less about celebrity and more about the human experience behind the songs we love. Each episode is a deep, unstructured dive into why creators do what they do, offering a rare glimpse into the vulnerability and chaos that fuel great work. Produced by Pushkin Industries, this series connects the dots between music, culture, and the society that inspires it, making it feel like an essential listen for anyone interested in the stories behind the art.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 50

Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Podcast Episodes
Elvis Costello [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:53
Elvis Costello seemed to arrive fully formed with his 1977 debut, My Aim Is True. The look, the voice, the wordplay and the attitude were already there, along with songs like “Alison,” “Watching the Detectives” and “(The…
Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:01
Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo helped transform the possibilities of the electric guitar at a time when its role in rock music could seem well established. He came of age in New York City’s downtown No Wave art scene in the l…
Brandon Flowers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:42
Brandon Flowers’ new album, Thrasher, is a beautifully written ode to the Southwest where he grew up. It’s a deeply personal record, shining a light on the people close to him, the lives they’ve lived, and the difficulti…
Tom Morello [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:24
Tom Morello arrived in Los Angeles from Libertyville, Illinois, in the mid-1980s with a Harvard political science degree in his pocket and a guitar slung across his back, determined to become the next great guitarist on…
David Porter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:29
David Porter's story goes well beyond writing songs and releasing albums for Stax Records. His recent memoir, The Soul Man, tells how he and his partner Isaac Hayes helped invent a sound rich and enduring enough to defin…
Travis Barker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:52
Travis Barker grew up in Fontana, California, and was gifted his first drum kit at the age of four from his mother, who made him promise before she died that he would never stop playing. This was just before he started h…
Interpol's Daniel Kessler [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:40
Daniel Kessler grew up between London, Paris, and Washington, D.C., listening to his older brother’s early UK rock records. He picked up guitar as a teenager, the same day he quit skateboarding, and after moving to New Y…
Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:29
Brittany Howard has never been the type to do things quietly. Whether it was fronting Alabama Shakes with a voice that could fill a room and level it in the same breath, or striking out on her own with two solo records t…
Harvey Mason Jr. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:27
Harvey Mason Jr. grew up steeped in music. His father, Harvey Mason Sr., was half of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters rhythm section and played on countless sessions through the '70s and '80s. After a brief detour through co…