At this point, if you get the call from Taylor Swift asking if you’d be willing to remix her new single, you’re pretty much obliged to say yes.
That was certainly the attitude of British producer and DJ Chris Lake, who admits that, when he was offered the chance to put his own stamp on Opalite, the latest track to be lifted from Swift’s The Life Of A Showgirl album, he accepted “before I even got the stems.”
The revelation came in a behind-the-scenes video that Lake has posted that takes you through the process of how his remix was created. In it, we learn that the request for his services didn’t just come from Swift’s management, but from the artist herself.
Sitting in a studio as he prepares to start work, Lake says: “Apparently Taylor and Travis Kelce [Swift’s fiancé] have been listening to my music loads together and have requested that I remix Opalite.”
Referring to Swift as “The Queen of Pop” - with all due respect to Madonna, the original bearer of that crown, that’s probably a fair description - Lake says: “I'm having a lot of fun with it, but I'm just trying to figure out if I've got it right just now.”
Alas, he hadn’t: after putting in quite a bit of work, we cut to Lake telling us that he got cold feet on his original idea, and decided to go in a completely different direction.
“I want to nail this so badly,” he says, by way of explanation. “I want this to, like, blow people's socks off, you know?”
That ambition comes with a note of frustration, though: “I can't believe I'm remixing this again,” Lake chunters.
Second time’s a charm, though - after committing to a fresh start, Lake gets the bones of his next, harder-edged attempt together in no time at all (about an hour, apparently), and you can see the pleasure on his face as he realises that he’s cracked it.
Later, we find Lake in a mastering studio: “We're at the tail end now of this remixing process,” he explains. “I've sent it to Taylor and Travis Kelce. They both love it. That's really exciting. And Travis has been sending me some amazing messages about the mixes. So anyway, I'm here getting it mastered.”
It’s not just one mix that Lake needs to prepare, though. “I've got the streaming
version, the club version. I've done a dub version. Then we've got to get all the files prepped for Dolby Atmos mixes. There's loads of work to be done.”
We then get a glimpse of some of that work, as Lake discusses the application of final touches with his mastering engineer. This has been a quick turnaround - Lake only got the call from Swift’s management in January - and, in order to meet the deadline, he’s had to put some serious hours in.
“I realised I've essentially not been away from Ableton up on a screen for like two weeks,” he admits.
Was it worth it, though? Lake describes the opportunity as “what dreams are made of,” so we’re guessing the answer is yes. His remix was released as a digital download earlier this week, and will be available on an Opalite CD single – alongside remixes from Bunt, Skream and Ely Oaks - on 23 February.
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