Jack Antonoff Says Taylor Swift Was the First Person to Recognize Him as a Producer

Working with Taylor Swift has been good "karma" for Jack Antonoff.

The Bleachers musician, 35, opened up about how he has Swift, 33, to thank for helping launch his career as a producer. 

“She’s the first person who recognized me as a producer," he told TIME's "Person of the Week" podcast, referring to his work on Swift's 2014 single "Out of the Woods." "A lot of people are afraid to sign off on something that isn’t done by a proven person."

He continued, "I had written lots of songs and produced them, but they would always sort of go somewhere else. So the label or whoever could say, oh, we had this person produce it. And, you know, I put my heart and soul into that song and she said, ‘I love it.'"

In the episode, Antonoff also touched on recreating the magic of "Out of the Woods" with Swift's Midnights single "Anti-Hero."

“I had played her that track, and I remember, we were at my apartment in New York. And sometimes she gets this look in her eye where she’s like, ‘Oh, I’m going in.’ You know, she goes in in many different ways and is just the greatest writer and vocalist ever. But on that one, I just remember watching her and being like, ‘Uh oh. We’ve got a live one,'" he explained.

In the interview, the "Don't Take the Money" singer also discussed his home state of New Jersey and why so many creatives have emerged.

"Because of its proximity to New York City, it has to be self-deprecating. And in my opinion—and this is no knock on the Parisians or anyone from big cities. But in my experience, it’s not necessarily the recipe for the kind of work that I gravitate to," he explains.

Antonoff adds, "The kinda work that I gravitate to — and it’s probably from being New Jersey — is hearing someone dream, and struggle, and get there in a backward way."

Since meeting in 2012, Swift and Antonoff have become regular collaborators and close friends, who often praise one another in interviews and support each other on social media.

Antonoff is most well-known for working with Swift on her Grammy-winning albums 1989 and Folklore, as well as the pop singer's 10th studio LP Midnights.

"I've seen her change the music industry first-hand," Antonoff said of Swift. "She's amazing for being a champion, and making things better for the generations to come. She has a long history of rightly exposing some real darkness in the music industry. And I'm personally thankful for it, outside of our friendship and working relationship, just as an artist."