How Aaron Dessner became pop music's authenticity whisperer

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento

Dessner, best known as a member of the rock band The National, has become a sought-after producer for pop stars and singer-songwriters, including Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams and Noah Kahan.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Grammy nominations are coming soon. Albums by Brandi Carlile, Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams are expected to get nods.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HIT THE WALL")

GRACIE ABRAMS: (Singing) I hit the wall. I hit the wall.

SUMMERS: All three albums were at least partially written and recorded at the Hudson Valley studio of producer Aaron Dessner. He could receive his first ever nomination for nonclassical producer of the year. NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento paid him a visit.

(SOUNDBITE OF PIANO PLAYING)

ISABELLA GOMEZ SARMIENTO, BYLINE: Aaron Dessner is sitting at his piano in a light-filled room with tall, vaulted ceilings and cedar-lined walls. He's explaining how the wooden paneling helps the notes linger in the space.

AARON DESSNER: That's kind of the sound of Long Pond, I think, is these, like, close notes hovering in the air.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Long Pond Studio is a converted horse barn surrounded by farms and willow trees. From the windows, you can see a small body of water.

DESSNER: And there's this long pond here that runs along it. And the whole idea was to build a studio where you would always see water no matter where you are.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dessner built this space after his family moved to upstate New York. The 50-year-old is perhaps best known as co-founder of the indie rock band The National.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS")

THE NATIONAL: (Singing) You have to do it running, but you do everything that they ask you to.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: But over the last few years, Dessner has taken on a different role - pop producer. It all started in 2020, when he and Taylor Swift collaborated on her album "Folklore." It was a huge departure from her synth pop sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEVEN")

TAYLOR SWIFT: (Singing) Feet in the swing over the creek. I was too scared to jump in. But I...

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Since then, Dessner has become a mentor for a rising class of singer-songwriters. He says artists are often in a fragile place when starting a new project. So he tries to be mindful of that.

DESSNER: I try not to come in with some big notion already, like, let's make this kind of record. I know that a lot of producers do that, but it's just not my interest. I'd rather see where someone is and what chemistry or alchemy there might be between us and the room.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: When folk artist Noah Kahan came to Long Pond at the end of 2024, he was burnt out from touring his breakout album, "Stick Season." He told Dessner he wasn't sure he was ready to make anything.

DESSNER: He just came in, and we sat down and wrote "Porch Light" almost instantaneously.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PORCH LIGHT")

NOAH KAHAN: (Singing) I hope you tell me that you're winding down, that you lost the taste to face the crowd, that whatever made you famous made you sick.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dessner tends to bring out a vulnerable approach to music in his collaborators that reflects his own relationship with it.

DESSNER: I think I make music for emotional reasons, primarily. Like, it was - when I was a kid, it was a way of calming myself.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dessner is relaxed but soft-spoken. He has the quiet sensibility of someone who doesn't spend much time in the spotlight.

DESSNER: I still relate to it primarily that way, and I really don't think that much about, like, music in a commercial way or music in a commodified way. It's more just it's a beautiful, healing, cathartic thing to make songs and make sound.

(SOUNDBITE OF BRANDI CARLILE SONG, "A WAR WITH TIME")

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: In 2024, Americana superstar Brandi Carlile flew to Long Pond. She was reeling from the end of high-profile collaborations with Joni Mitchell and Elton John. She was reaching new heights of success, but she wasn't sure where to go next. So she confided in Dessner.

BRANDI CARLILE: The conversation wound up being like a little bit of a therapy session for me.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: She decided to post up at the studio, and Dessner largely left her to her own devices.

CARLILE: He leaves, and then you're [expletive] alone in that barn, dude. And at first, I found it really uncomfortable, and then I found it, like, really liberating.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Together, they began working on Carlile's first solo album in years, "Returning To Myself."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A WAR WITH TIME")

CARLILE: (Singing) I'm living in a war with time. I could still reach out and touch you. And I wish I didn't know the things I know.

GOMEZ SARMIENTO: Dessner says producing for other artists sometimes makes him miss the early days of being in a band and hitting the road. But for now, he's not slowing down. As we wrap up our interview, another artist pulls into the studio, ready to get to work.

Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "A WAR WITH TIME")

CARLILE: (Singing) Don't even ask me. Just go. I don't remember the faces. Just the anger and the haunted places. So alive I could taste it on the rain

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