Known For His Winning Production Work With ED SHEERAN, Producer JAKE GOSLING Reveals The Story Behind “Thinking Out Loud” And Much More!

Working closely with and cultivating Ed Sheeran since Ed was 15, Jake Gosling was nominated for this year’s 58th Annual Grammy Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ with ‘Thinking Out Loud’, which won The Grammy Awards for Song of the Year.

Jake Gosling has previously won a Brit Award for ‘Album of the Year’ in 2015 with Ed Sheeran’s ‘X’, having been nominated twice at The Brit Awards for ‘Producer of the Year.’ Gosling has been nominated twice at The Brit Awards for ‘Producer of the Year.’ He was also nominated last year at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Album with Ed Sheeran’s ‘X’.

Jake is also a multi-platinum selling music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, The Libertines, James Bay, All Time Low, One Direction, Christina Perri, Paloma Faith, and Wiley.

He received the ASCAP award in 2014 as a writer for the hit song “Lego House” and was named Music Week’s Producer of 2012 after working on Ed Sheeran’s album ‘+’, as well as being the predominant producer on ‘X’ (Multiply), Paloma Faith’s ‘Fall to Grace’, and One Direction’s ‘Up All Night’ and ‘Take Me Home’, in which he produced Number 1 UK and worldwide hit single “Little Things”. Gosling has remixed under the pseudonym Sketch Iz Dead for Lady Gaga, Timbaland & Nelly Furtado, Keane, Keri Hilson, and Far East Movement.

Gosling runs his own recording studio Sticky Studios in Surrey. Gosling and Sarah Liversedge run a joint venture publishing company called “The Movement London Limited”. Gosling is signed as a songwriter to BDi Music Limited and is a full member of the Music Producers Guild.

On his way home back to London after the Grammys, Jake answered a few questions for All Access. Enjoy!

Thanks for your time! 2016 has been treating you exceptionally well, huh? Have you been able to sit and really enjoy all the success that “Thinking Out Loud” has had?

Where do I start? Well it’s definitely been one whirlwind to the next with Ed Sheeran so I guess it’s how you measure success. I’m certainly proud of what we’ve done thus far and thrilled to see “Thinking Out Loud ” receive 2 Grammys. I’m answering this on a plane heading back to London where again nothing stops, so I haven’t really had a chance to get my head round all the attention this track has had.

You’ve been working with Ed Sheeran for a long time. Can you talk about that relationship and how you two first started working together? How did that relationship first get cultivated? 

I first met Ed at Sunningdale train station where he was only 17. He had a travelling acoustic guitar on his back. We headed to Sticky Studios where I ended up recording the whole of Ed’s first album “+” alongside a few EP’s and we talked a lot. Mainly about the fact that he had just left home and moved to London. So we wrote a track called “The City” which ended up being on the first album. From that point on we connected and spent a lot of time writing, recording various songs. On this, we have built a friendship and we both hold that very dearly.

When you were working with Ed on “Thinking Out Loud”, did you have a feeling that it was something special and that it was going to be so loved by so many people?

Absolutely, part of doing music is realizing what you think is going to connect and the whole process was so natural and fluid it came together so quickly. There was really no thought, it just happened.

You’ve also worked with James Bay, All Time Low, One Direction, Christina Perri and others. What’s been another really memorable producing experience for you?

They all are in different ways. When you work with talented people you’re lucky enough to meet different types of brilliance. For example when I recorded “Little Things” for One Direction, the label knew nothing about it. Ed just played it to them and they loved it and straight away wanted to record it, so we did.

You started your music career as a vocalist and piano player. Why did you decide to move to the production side of things? Do you ever sing or play today? Would you like to ever join a band and perform?

I started producing for my own bands because there was no one else around and we had no money to pay anyone. I learnt that way which was great because I love to experiment so it came very naturally. I still sing and I am writing  some solo material, but it’s very embryonic right now. Performance is not something I really aspire to.

Is there any artist out today making music that you would love to work with in the future? Who are some of your all-time favorite musicians?

I love to work with new artists, I find established artists already have their people and that’s ok, it’s just there’s something about building a natural relationship that beats anything else. My all time favourites are Joni Mitchell, Massive Attack, Bjork, Kate Bush, Steely Dan, Cocteau Twins and many more.

If your recording studio, Sticky Studios in Surrey could talk, what kinds of stories would it tell?

Whatever happens at Sticky, stays at Sticky.

What advice would you give to a young person that is really interested in producing music? What do you think was the best piece of advice you ever received?

Work hard, really hard. Don’t pretend you know everything but be confident and positive. Make mistakes and learn from them, and keep making mistakes and learn from them too. Nothing is perfect but ultimately you have to believe in what you’re saying and doing. Music is more than just trying to be cool, it’s trying to change things.