Producer Andrew Watt gushes over Elton John's ‘extremely volatile' talent

Andrew Watt is looking back at what it was like to work closely with Elton John during the making of Who Believes in Angels?, the singer’s collaborative record with Brandi Carlile released in April. 

The Grammy-winning producer said watching John create music in real time was unlike anything he had ever seen. 

Watt even compared the 78-year-old legend to classical greats. 

“He’s a little more like Beethoven, I would say, and when he’s writing, he’s extremely volatile,” he told PEOPLE.

Watt explained that every artist has their own process, but he had to adjust to John’s way of working. He said part of his job was understanding the environment in the studio. 

“My job is to read the room, and if you’re in Elton’s eye line as he’s writing, you’re in the f---ing lion’s den.” 

Watt stayed close enough to hear what John was working on, but kept himself slightly out of sight when the singer was deep into songwriting.

He shared that John approaches music in a one-of-a-kind format shaped by decades of collaboration with longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin. 

The producer described how John begins by placing the lyric on the piano, picturing a scene, and then building the music around that vision.

“He takes [a lyric], puts it up on the piano, reads it, sees a movie scene in his head, and then scores the movie,” Watt said. 

The melodies and chords come from the words themselves. According to Watt, John “can’t do it without the words because what makes him feel like a story.”

Watt said the studio experience on Who Believes in Angels? was emotional in other ways too. John had recently come off his retirement tour and was struggling with exhaustion and doubt during the sessions.

Watt recalled that he was “very self-conscious, very insecure at times, and we helped lift him up.” 

Watching John push through those moments became one of Watt’s favourite parts of the project. When the album came together, he said the singer felt incredibly proud.

For Watt, the entire process felt like something rare. The producer said the team was “capturing lightning in a bottle” every day, and it’s an experience he’ll always remember.