Old school New England 92 - Scanorama

THE TRAVELER
Words by MARCUS JOONS
Nadir ‘RedOne’ Khayat:
Nadir “RedOne” Khayat is hard to pin
down. The Moroccan-Swedish music
producer has been on seemingly neverending
world tours since writing hits
such as Poker Face for Lady Gaga and On
the Floor for Jennifer Lopez, and was the
last person to record with Michael Jackson.
And there’s no sign the travel will
ease up now that he’s building a giant
studio in Marrakech and launching his
own fashion line. Khayat, 39, is even considering
opening a restaurant in Madrid
with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos.
You’re in Stockholm now. How long will
you stay?
“I am only here today. Tomorrow I’m off
THE GEAR: WHAT TO PACK
‘REAL MADRID PC’
“I’ve loved Real Madrid ever since I
was a boy. I always have an extra Mac-
Book Pro with me so I can watch their
matches if I’m in the studio. I rarely miss
a game and sometimes, if I’m in Europe,
I fl y to Madrid just to see them and hang
out with my buddy, Sergio [pictured].”
NAPRAPATH
“Traveling and being in the studio takes
its toll. I have a lot of back and neck
pain. I wish I could pack a naprapath.”
PORTABLE STUDIO
“I always have my computer with me –
a MacBook Pro – and my external hard
drives. I also need my headphones.
Unfortunately I can’t say what brand
they are. I use the Logic Studio program
suite when I work, I can tell you that.”
CLOTHES
“I always fl y in comfortable clothes. I
like the Swedish label Chadburry and
its polo shirts, chinos, loose-fi tting suits
and dress shirts. I never travel without
my sunglasses either. These faded ones
I have on today are from Prada.”
BAG
“I used to have two big Tumi bags, but
not anymore: I’m also designing my own
baggage line.”
to Holland for the weekend. Then London,
and back to Sweden again. That’s
my life these days. Before I came here, I
was in Madrid and Morocco. Before that,
it was Los Angeles. All in the past two
weeks. I have a team of 15 people who
arrange everything for me, like keeping
track of all these trips.”
So sometimes you don’t even know
what next week will look like?
“Exactly. And sometimes I don’t even
want to know if it involves long-haul
fl ights. Sometimes I have to get somewhere
quickly to record extra tracks for
a singer. Sometimes it might be straightforward
business, everything from music
to my new fashion label. But I don’t want
to complain because it’s exciting, like one
great big dream.”
Where’s home?
“I usually say I’m a ‘citizen of the world.’
Everywhere is home. Right now, it’s the
Nobis Hotel. I can walk to the recording
studio from the hotel. It’s perfect.”
How do you keep yourself entertained
when you fl y?
“I usually listen to all the material I have
recorded but not yet used. I listen again
and again, and think, ‘Oh, this would
work well for that performer, or that one.’
An airplane is one of the few places I
can relax. There are no phone calls,
38 DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012 SCANORAMA