David Stewart (Dynamite producer)
{{Short description|British songwriter, producer and musician}}
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{{Infobox musical artist
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| name = David Stewart
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| origin = London, England
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| occupation = {{Hlist|Songwriter|record producer|musician}}
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| label = Stellar Songs{{cite web|url=https://www.timanddannymusic.com/roster/davidstewart|title=David Stewart|publisher=Stellar Songs|access-date=2024-04-23}}
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David Stewart is a British songwriter, record producer, and musician. He co-wrote and produced BTS' song "Dynamite" (2020).
Early years
Stewart's father is Allan Stewart, a Scottish actor, comedian, singer and pantomime artist.{{Cite news|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/son-of-scots-panto-legend-reveals-all-about-writing-worldwide-bts-chart-topper-dynamite/|author=Ross Crae|title=Son of Scots panto legend reveals all about writing worldwide BTS chart topper Dynamite|publisher=The Sunday Post, Scotland|date=2 September 2020|access-date=3 December 2020}} His mother is an actress and a dancer. Later on, she started a hospitality company that catered for major tours. His sister Kate is a musician working for Warner Music. Being in an artistic family, Stewart started very early and his father told the Scottish Daily Record that by the age Stewart was making up songs.{{Cite news|url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/theatre-legend-allan-stewarts-delight-22614173|author=Jenny Morrison|title=Scots theatre legend Allan Stewart's delight as BTS 'Dynamite' son tops US charts|publisher=Daily Record, Scotland|date=2 September 2020|access-date=3 December 2020}} In his early years, ended up drumming in a band supporting Simply Red in a 15-arena tour all across the UK.{{Cite news |date=22 September 2020 |title=Writing 'Dynamite' for BTS: It's taken a lot of years and a lot of work to get to this incredible, life-changing moment... |url=https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/writing-bts-biggest-hit-its-taken-a-lot-of-years-and-a-lot-of-work-to-get-to-this-incredible-life-changing-moment/ |access-date=3 December 2020 |publisher=Music Business Worldwide}} In 2012, he released his mixtape Late Night Viewing and following that, a four-track EP called Dark Side of Paradise.{{Cite news|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/08/24/david-stewart-dynamite-bts/|author=Tom Llewellyn|title=Meet David Stewart: The man behind the record-breaking 'Dynamite' song by BTS|publisher=HITC|date=24 August 2020|access-date=3 December 2020}}
Career
Stewart became a session guitarist playing in hundreds of live shows and gigs with Example, an English singer-rapper-producer, in the early 2010s.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bts-dynamite-david-stewart-interview-1049628/|title=BTS' 'Dynamite' Launches a Veteran Songwriter Into the Spotlight – This breakthrough moment "is 12 years in the making," says David Stewart, who produced and co-wrote the record-breaking "Dynamite"|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=August 26, 2020|first=Elias|last=Leight|access-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922013659/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bts-dynamite-david-stewart-interview-1049628/|archive-date=September 22, 2020|url-status=live}}
Moving to Atlanta for two years, he wrote hundreds of songs and performed as a session musicians many times. He returned to England writing and producing for young or up-and-coming artists. He ended up getting attention from major-label A&Rs and landed a cut with the UK rapper Tinie Tempah in his 2017 album track "Cameras". Stewart co-wrote the song and was featured in the track appearing in Tinie Tempah 2017 album Youth. Discovering and working closely with the singer Claudia Valentina was another break. He also worked with Charlie Christie, managing artists like Rex Orange County. He became an A&R at Interscope Records, and with Neil Jacobson who runs Hallwood Media. Jacobson had been a former president of Geffen Records. Very soon, Stewart ended up writing and producing cuts for Hailee Steinfeld and the Jonas Brothers. The song "What a Man Gotta Do" co-wrote by Stewart became a hit for the Jonas Brothers in January 2020. Stewart was also associated with Tim Blacksmith and Danny D, founders of Stellar Songs, a publishing company that signed him.
=BTS and "Dynamite"=
In 2020, BTS's management was on the hunt for a songwriter and producer for an all-English song, a first for the band. Their choice fell on English songwriter/producer David Stewart and on songwriter Jessica Agombar.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/bts-dynamite-jessica-agombar-writer-interview-9448606/|title=Jessica Agombar, Co-Writer of BTS' 'Dynamite,' Says Goal for the Song Was 'A Positive, Huge Ball of Energy'|magazine=Billboard|author=Gil Kaufmann|date=September 17, 2020|access-date=September 22, 2020}} Stewart had collaborated many times with Agombar who worked for Atlantic Records and wrote for the girl band Parade. Neil Jacobson, David's Manager, sent the track to Columbia Records' CEO Ron Perry and Big Hit, BTS' record label in early July 2020. The creation process of the song "happened within a couple of months". On July 26, 2020, the band confirmed during a livestream on V Live that they would be releasing an English-language song on August 21, 2020, as the first single for their upcoming album Be with "Dynamite" becoming their most heavily promoted release thus far. Stewart said about his engagement process in an interview with Rolling Stone: "It was a bit of a holy grail cut. I had quite a few conversations with big producers and writers in America who were trying to get it.". In addition to co-writing the song, instrumentation was provided by Stewart, who played drums, percussion, bass guitar, synth bass, synthesizers, pads, piano, electric guitars, programmed horns and programmed strings. David Stewart and Jessica Agombar tied at No. 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 Songwriters chart on the chart dated September 5, 2020 staying at the top for 3 consecutive weeks.{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/bts-launches-two-names-atop-hot-100-songwriters-chart/|author=Xander Zelner|title=BTS' 'Dynamite' Brings David Stewart & Jessica Agombar Back to No. 1 on Hot 100 Songwriters Chart|publisher=Billboard|date=1 October 2020|access-date=3 December 2020}}