Walter the Producer — Little Lies / Bad Bad Man

Indie pop

Independent

2024

Walter the Producer’s music is eclectic and charming indie pop. It took me a while to connect with it, but now I’m all in.

Instagram | TIKTOK | Youtube

Sometimes an artist or song takes the scenic path to the blog — I hear it, don’t care for it, move on…then hours or days later I’m drawn back to it. It happened with Hinds, it happened with Superstar Crush, and it happened with Walter the Producer.

The song is called “Little Lies”, and once it got its claws in me it hasn’t let go:

There’s something so honest and kind of timeless about the production of that song. The lyrics are simple and charmingly rushed in certain spots (he makes ‘understand’ into a two-syllable word more than once).

The lyric video feels like something from the 90s. I can’t get enough of it.

Subscribe Form

“Little Lies” was released in October, and a month prior to that he released “Bad Bad Man”, a kind of nu-disco cowboy track with an equally silly video:

Walter The Producer is actually named Reid. The name was inspired by Mac Miller’s alter-ego “Larry Fisherman”, and his music is as eclectic as it is engaging. This summer he released the album PLEASE HELP ME I’M SCARED, which, like everything else he’s released, has slowly grown on me and become a record I put on regularly.

But he more than compensates for any qualms with his falsetto with solid grooves and immaculate production. Here’s “Now We’re Getting There” which sounds inspired by Foster the People via Steve Lacy. It’s another absurdly charming video:

The sense of silliness isn’t limited to the music videos. His YouTube channel also has a few shorts that land somewhere between Nathan Fielder and Please Don’t Destroy, including an Architectural Digest spoof and a kind of Behind the Music mockumentary.

In various interviews, Reid lists artists such as Kanye West, Tame Impala and Steve Lacy as touchstones, and the music on PLEASE HELP ME I’M SCARED suggests more: “I’M SCARED” channes the lead track on the Drive soundtrack effectively, while “THEY TOOK THE NIGHT” which veers a bit close to a Daft Punk song.

“Bad Bad Man” and “Little Lies” feel like the next step forward after PLEASE HELP ME I’M SCARED. They’re part of a new EP set for release in the new year, and I’m sure we’ll see a couple surprises between now and then.