Grammy-nominated producer Dan Nigro, has played an integral role in the careers of two of pop's brightest stars to emerge over the past couple of years: Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan – and their masterfully crafted albums, Sour (2021) and Guts (2023), and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023).
With Rodrigo heralding the new vanguard of pop-punk and Chappell Roan bringing the queer experience to the forefront with cleverly crafted, '80s-tinged pop, Nigro – who was formerly a guitarist in ’00s indie band As Tall As Lions – has established himself as a producer capturing the zeitgeist, and doesn't shy away from a guitar solo – even if it's counter to his own instincts.
“My brain is like, ‘Guitar solos are dated because I listen to Metallica and Metallica's guitar solos are from the ’80s’,” Nigro tells Rolling Stone’s Brian Hiatt.
“It's always great as a producer and a guy in his 40s to work with the younger artists and have the fresh perspective that's not dated to me.
“That's why I love working with Chappell and love working with Olivia, because their reference points are always current because of their age. And so I'm always learning.”
Solos appear across Nigro's productions – most notably the octave fuzz rager on Olivia Rodrigo's bad idea right? and the '80s-indebted lead on Roan's sleeper hit, Pink Pony Club.
“I was listening back to earlier versions of the song when it was just her and I riffing on ideas,” recalls Nigro of making Pink Pony Club. “I was like, ‘What was it before?’ Because I would work on the production, and then I'd send her a bounce and be like, ‘Here's where I'm at with the song.’
“I remember when she heard the part after the bridge, she was like, ‘No, I want a guitar solo.’ So I was like, ‘Wait, what did I have before the guitars? I don't even remember what was before the guitars.’ Because even in my head, the guitar solo has always been there, which wasn't the case. It was like a synth solo.”
Nigro explains that even though the song does have guitars in it – “the chorus hits with big, dirty guitars” – Roan was the one who pointed out that it was begging for a full-blown solo.
“I remember I went in, worked on it, and sent her a version. She was like, ‘It needs to be more melodic.’ So me and Sam [Stewart, guitarist of the band Lo Moon, who also played on Roan's debut], workshopped what you hear now. I think it was a second pass that we made it super-melodic, and she loved it.”
Speaking of Chappell Roan collaborators, guitarist Devon Eisenbarger recently revealed she was out doing a show with Katy Perry in Italy when she got the call to join the Good Luck, Babe! hitmaker's band.
