01x03 - Making Magic

[bunniefuu]

[ classical music playing ]

I don't pay you to eat.

- I know.
- I don't pay you
to stand around here,

painting your toes,
drinking IPAs.

What do you think this is,
a vacation?

- [ laughs ]
- We're making
a damn album here.

I got this documented.
You're over here lounging.

I'm lounging.

[ song playing on speakers ]

♪ ...mañana ya ya ♪

♪ Ay, loca la caramba,
ramba ♪

♪ Say she wanna dance
to La Bamba, Bamba ♪

♪ Hasta de la noche,
de la, de la ♪

♪ Sigame, bonita baby, ay ay ♪

Yeah.
♪ Sigame, bonita baby, ay ay ♪

Justin's work ethic is random,
but is very strong.

It's Sunday, hanging out
with the family, pool party.

I'll get a text from Justin.
It'll be like, "Studio?"

And I'm here having a barbecue,
cooking food and like...

I'm like, "Oh, damn."

And I'm like, "How long?"
He's like, "20 minutes."

Hailey: Just seeing the drive

and the work that goes into it,
it's a lot.

It takes a lot of hard work.

♪ Hasta de la noche
de mañana ♪

♪ Ya ya ♪ Is it noche?

- Si, noche.
- Noche.

Hasta.
You don't pronounce the H?

- Hasta.
- Hasta de la noche.

I don't speak Spanish.

Singers are good at imitating.

Um, so I guess
I'm just good at imitating?

I can hear it
and then just repeat it.

Hasta de la noche
de mañana, ya ya.

Hasta de la noche
de mañana, ya ya.

- Yeah.
- Hasta de la noche. Okay.

De la. De la.

- Yeah, I'm just... bro.
It's okay.
- Sorry, sorry.

- Sorry.
- I know you're excited.

[ song continues ]

♪ Sigame, bonita baby, ay ay ♪

♪ I'm off tequila,
she sipping mai tai ♪

♪ Arriba, la vida,
we live the high life ♪

- Put that hot sauce on it.
- ♪ I give you anything
that you want ♪

Ryan Good: Watching somebody
work and live in their purpose

is extremely gratifying,
especially for me.

And, like, seeing him
sink his teeth

and finding joy
in doing what he loves

in doing what
he's like purposed to do...

He just kind of writes
and writes and writes.

And we kind of narrow it down

to what he wants
the body of work to be.

We're able to get all this...
This bed of ideas and songs

and really cherry-pick
the ones that are tight

and put that
on the board of songs.

Poo Bear is gonna get back
in the lab again this week.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Cut over to Poo Bear.

Throw it up.

Allison: Poo Bear is Justin's
main collaborator

in terms of writing,
who knows Justin so well.

♪ Need you permanent
in my life ♪

♪ Always ♪

When Justin calls and gives him
the outline of an idea,

Poo really knows
what to do with it
and where to go with it.

Hey.

[ vocalizing ]

Yeah.

Justin's great at
challenging me creatively.

His work ethics are so amazing.

Him and Poo have
an amazing chemistry,

a lot these verses
that they write together.

Can't nobody want nobody.

- Can't.
- Can't.

♪ Ain't nobody ever gonna
take your place ♪

Hey.

He's one of the most prolific
songwriters of our generation.

He writes three songs a day
sometimes every day.

Hundreds of songs, literally.

Justin: Yeah,
Poo Bear has been someone

who has just been in my life
for a very long time.

And I love him and I respect him

and I think
he's a tremendous human being.

Poo Bear: Or is it...
no, you'll be permanent
in my life, right?

Yeah.

♪ You'll be permanent
in my life ♪

- ♪ Always ♪
- Ain't nobody ever gonna take.

Yeah, okay.

♪ Ain't nobody ever gonna
take your place ♪

I think he knows me, you know?

And he knows
what I'm going through

and he kind of sees my journey.

He's got a mind like no other.

He's so talented,
and he helps me articulate

what I wanna say better than,
I think, anybody.

- What'd you say? Take...
- Yeah, get... gon'.

- Just gon' and...
- ♪ Ain't nobody ever
gon' take ♪

- Yeah, instead of "gonna."
- No, that's way cooler.

- Gon'. It's gon'.
It's country.
- Yeah.

Both: ♪ Ain't nobody ever
gon' take your place ♪

- ♪ Your place ♪
- You see that?

I think we're each other's
spirit animals.

We've got a rhythm down,
we figured each other out,

and we're able to... to deliver.

Which is one of the harder parts
to do in the music business
is to deliver.

- He's freakishly talent...
you're freakishly talented.
- Thanks, man. Thank you.

I don't know,
I'm waiting to run out of,
you know,

words and melodies and stuff.

So this producer named Tiny,
I have him send me beats

just in case Justin wants
to write to something.

And I happened to be
at the record playing
with Poo Bear,

and Poo Bear asked
if I had any beats,

so I played a couple tiny ones.
He loved "Habitual."

And then Justin asked
if Poo Bear had sent
any new songs over.

And I was like,
"Well, we just did this one

together a couple weeks ago
at Record Plant."

- [ song playing on speakers ]
- Whatever you want to do.

Got a new Poo Bear record
that he just sent.

- [ song continues ]
- Fire.

♪ Just to think that we've been
out here this whole time ♪

♪ Working through the seasons ♪

♪ Never crossed paths ♪

♪ Till we had a reason ♪

- Hey!
- ♪ See no repercussions ♪

- Yeah.
- ♪ What you want,
what you want ♪

[ laughing ]

♪ No, it's not so traditional ♪

Fire! Oh!

♪ Never ungrateful for it ♪

- Yeah.
- ♪ Habitual ♪

- Whoo!
- ♪ There ain't nobody
treat me like you do ♪

Justin: Okay, you ready?

So, Poo Bear basically
partnered with me

on every song on this album.

He wrote this song with the help
of this guy over here.

"Habitual,"
it's one of my favorite songs.

I'm gonna go cut it.
I just heard it
for the first time.

It's not often where
I hear something right away

and I'm like,
"This is so tight."

Let's get in the booth now
and cut it.

He cut it that night.

There's only been a couple songs
he's done that with.

Most songs he has to live with,
make sure it's, you know,

worth him putting
all his energy into it.

It's like a first date.

Not every first date
you score, right?

You know, you wanna take
your time with it

and make sure you're
doing the right thing.

It's the same thing with a song.

I'm not saying scoring
in a creepy way.

I'm like, you know,
chemistry matches score.

Thing about coming back
to the studio

and jumping in this music thing,
it's habit forming.

His love for it is habitual.

♪ My love for you's
habitual, yeah ♪

Justin always in his process

has not wanted a lot
of people around,

so that hasn't
changed that much.

It usually is
just usually him and Josh

when he's cutting the record.

♪ My love for you's
habitual, yeah ♪

[ bleep ]. Frick.

[ bleeping ]

♪ My love for... ♪ [ bleep ]

Superstars just feel like
whatever they sing is amazing

because of who they are.

And he's able to just completely
push that to the side

and just, you know,
strive for greatness.

♪ Never ungrateful for it ♪

Poo Bear: And at the same time,
he's extremely humble.

And in the past,
the media has kind of, like,

played him out to be something
completely different.

But being around him and being
up and close with him

for seven years now

just lets me see
that he's a sweetheart,

you know,
a big-hearted individual,

and he just wants to be
the best version of himself

that he could possibly be.

- Yeah, can you send me those?
- Yeah.

Like, just literally spend
ten on each or something.

[ song playing on speakers]

Seriously.

[ song continues ]

♪ ...Earth keeps
spinning around ♪

♪ We're breathing ♪

♪ So grateful ♪

♪ I'll be yours habitual,
yeah ♪