Travis Barker is a famous drummer who rose to fame as a founding member of the rock band Blink-182. In 2020, Barker produced the album Tickets to My Downfall for artist Machine Gun Kelly. This album represented a pop punk departure for Machine Gun Kelly and was met with significant commercial success. However, some have questioned how much of the album’s sound should be attributed to Barker’s production. In this article, we will examine Barker’s involvement in the creation of Tickets to My Downfall and determine whether it is accurate to say he “produced” the album.
What does it mean to “produce” an album?
The producer of an album plays a major creative role in bringing the music to life. A producer oversees and manages the entire recording process, including:
- Helping to select and arrange songs
- Recruiting session musicians
- Coaching the vocalist and instrumentalists
- Overseeing technical aspects like microphone placement
- Mixing and editing tracks
- Making creative production choices about instrumentation, effects, etc.
Essentially, the producer is responsible for turning the raw talent and material into a cohesive, polished final product. An album producer may work independently or collaborate closely with the artist and audio engineer. Some producers may contribute instrumentals and even co-write songs. A producer who takes on many responsibilities and has a lot of creative input is often considered integral to shaping the overall sound and direction of an album.
Travis Barker’s official credits
The liner notes for Tickets to My Downfall officially credit Travis Barker as the producer of the album, alongside additional production from Gunna. So from an official standpoint, Barker did serve as the producer. However, the extent of his contributions has been debated.
Some critics downplay Barker’s role, noting that he did not actually craft the melodies, write the lyrics, sing, or play any instruments on the album. Essentially, Barker was not involved in creating any of the core instrumental tracks or vocals. His credit seems to stem mainly from his oversight of the recording process and contributing creative ideas in the studio.
What Barker says he contributed
In interviews, Barker has been open about his role in encouraging and shaping MGK’s pop punk direction. Barker says he helped arrange songs, provided creative direction for reshaping tracks in a pop punk style, and served as a mentor for MGK in approaching the new genre.
However, Barker also notes that MGK wrote the bulk of the material beforehand. In an interview with Forbes Barker stated: “He [MGK] would just send me stuff he had been working on, and I would rearrange some tracks or auto-tune stuff.”
So while Barker seems to have contributed creatively, much of the raw songwriting and composition was done independently by MGK before reaching Barker’s desk.
Opinions from other musicians
Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, another pop punk veteran, downplayed Barker’s contributions after working on a remix of the song “forget me too” with MGK and Barker. Wentz stated:
“I feel like Travis is an incredible– like to take someone who had a vision and help them get there and stuff. But I don’t necessarily know if this is a Travis Barker record, you know?”
Wentz’s impression was that the material was creatively driven by MGK himself, with Barker providing guidance in shaping the pop punk sound. Other artists have made similar observations.
But some defend Barker’s important role, like producer John Feldmann who said:
“A lot of people are saying Travis doesn’t deserve production credit on the MGK album. I completely disagree. That’s exactly what a producer does, helps an artist bring the best out of themselves creatively.”
Breakdown of Barker’s hands-on production
From interviews, we know some specifics of how Barker helped reshape and enhance MGK’s songs in the studio:
- He added live drums to many tracks, contributing his signature percussion style
- Barker collaborated on restructuring some song arrangements and transitions
- He helped tweak vocal takes and provided editing suggestions
- Barker consulted on overall mixing levels and effects
- He guided MGK in incorporating more punk grittiness and edge into re-recorded tracks
So while not involved in the initial songwriting, Barker’s hands-on production work did have an impact in evolving the songs toward a more polished, cohesive pop punk sound.
Influence as a pop punk guru
Perhaps Barker’s most significant contribution was as an influential mentor and guide for MGK in making the genre pivot. As an established pop punk veteran, Barker offered invaluable expertise for how to authentically adopt and update the pop punk sound.
MGK has frequently praised how indispensable Barker’s guidance was, saying:
“I was able to soak up a lot of advice and wisdom [from Barker]; he was able to finesse me into understanding how I could match my lyrical patterns with his drum patterns.”
Barker also likely helped connect MGK with other pop punk artists to feature on the album, like blackbear and Trippie Redd. So while not the primary musician, Barker’s oversight and mentorship were crucial.
The verdict
Evaluating all the available evidence, it seems fair to say Travis Barker did genuinely “produce” Tickets to My Downfall, though his production role was lighter compared to albums where he contributes direct instrumentation and songwriting.
The key factors supporting Barker’s official producer credit:
- He provided hands-on production work re-shaping arrangements, sounds, and vocals in the studio
- Barker creatively guided MGK toward a pop punk direction and aesthetic
- He helped assemble the right team of collaborators and musicians
- Barker oversaw technical studio aspects like mixing and editing
Without Barker’s guidance shaping the overall sound and spirit of the album, the final product would undoubtedly have sounded much different, despite MGK providing most of the raw song ideas himself.
The album represented the creative vision of both MGK and Barker. Some may argue Barker’s limited direct musical/songwriting involvement means he doesn’t fully deserve the “producer” label. However, in the modern music industry, executive producers who mainly provide general guidance are common. Travis Barker played that key guiding role for MGK in crafting Tickets to My Downfall.
MGK brought the vision, Barker made it a reality
MGK first presented the initial song concepts. This included writing the lyrics, developing the melodies, and creating early demo versions. These elements came solely from MGK’s personal creativity and vision for a pop punk project.
In comes Travis Barker to mentor MGK in taking those initial ideas and shaping them into a major label pop punk album. Barker used his expertise to coach MGK both musically and aesthetically. He helped add percussive firepower, re-work arrangements, sharpen the vocals, and introduce a polished punk attitude.
Barker’s guidance and contributions were essential in evolving MGK’s vision into the rockstar record it became. While the core musical ideas came from MGK, Travis Barker played an invaluable role as producer in bringing them to life.
Conclusions
In summary:
- Travis Barker is officially credited as the producer of Tickets to My Downfall.
- He provided creative guidance and hands-on production work, though did not make core instrumental tracks.
- Barker helped re-shape songs and evolve MGK’s sound into polished pop punk.
- His mentorship was crucial in guiding MGK’s punk pivot.
- Machine Gun Kelly supplied most of the raw songwriting and composition.
- Together their talents combined to create the album’s signature sound.
- So Travis Barker did genuinely serve a key producer role.
Barker helped bring MGK’s artistic vision to life. His oversight and contributions warrant the producer credit, even if his hands-on musicianship was limited. Tickets to My Downfall was truly a collaborative effort that relied on both MGK’s songcraft and Barker’s production guidance. Together they produced a landmark pop punk album.