London-based producer, PATCH, was fortunate enough to work on Simon Cowell’s new Netflix show, The Next Act, which launched the career of boyband December 10
December 10 are becoming one of Britain’s top boy bands at the moment, and producer PATCH – also known as Patch Boshell – was heavily involved in their formation. The seven-piece boyband was formed on Simon Cowell’s Netflix series, The Next Act, last year.
Auditions were held for applicants from the UK, Europe, and the United States, targeting teens aged 16 to 19. And following Simon’s success after One Direction were formed on The X Factor by Nicole Scherzinger, it’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about bands, having previously managed the likes of CNCO and Westlife.
But for PATCH, who has worked with some of the biggest names in music, he says working on The Next Act is one of his favourite jobs. “It was one of my favourite opportunities ever, to be honest,” he told the Mirror.
He went on to explain that he had previously met a member of Simon’s team from Syco, before working on both Britain’s and America’s Got Talent. He said: “They seemed to like what I was doing, so they invited me to lend my expertise to their new show.
“They’re launching a boyband and it was fantastic, very fast-paced, working in a team of lots of people. I managed to get into the studio with them [December 10] afterwards to polish off some bits.”
Speaking of the seven-piece band consisting of Cruz Lee-Ojo, Danny Bretherton, Hendrik Christoffersen, John Fadare, Josh Olliver, Nicolas Alves and Sean Hayden, PATCH added: “They’re such high energy – there’s seven of them and they bring a team of people around everywhere.
“It was really, really exciting – a vibrant environment to be in. I hope they smash it!” And December 10 have amassed a huge following on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok since their launch. PATCH admits that TikTok is a “powerful” force for the music industry, with even major labels using the platform to promote artists.
But while shows such as The Voice and X Factor have dwindled in popularity, PATCH admits that talent shows on platforms including Netflix are the right avenue for show bosses, including Simon, to go down. “It’s going with the times,” he said, adding: “I can speak from experience, I consume most of my TV through streaming platforms – I don’t watch live TV, ever.
“So maybe that’s also true for the demographic that December 10 are being pitched for, it makes sense to put them on a platform that people are going to watch.” Airing on a streaming platform allows consumers to be flexible with how and when they view the shows, rather than sitting down at a set time each week to watch the talent show.
PATCH says that working on Britain’s Got Talent and its American counterpart will always be a highlight for him. “Some of the acts that come through are just ridiculous,” he laughed, before explaining one act sang about Scotch Eggs. “You get the email through from the execs, and they’re like ‘Got another one for you,'” he said, adding the email often says: “‘We have a guy singing about a Scotch Egg – we need you to do a mix on the track and add additional production to make it larger than life, fun and exciting.'”
Speaking of the shows, PATCH said: “I always love when jobs come through from that, they have this incredible reach, even after all these years, it’s nice to see work that you’ve done, enjoyed by lots of people. When you’re working with independent pop, sometimes you put a lot of effort into a song, it goes out, and it doesn’t really get appreciated or heard by anybody.
“So it’s nice to be on the other side of that, where you’re getting hundreds of millions of streams, and you’re like ‘Ah, that was me!'” Although PATCH has worked with huge names, including Simon, Rita Ora, Jonas Blue and shows such as BGT, he says it’s “great” to be behind the scenes and admire his success without being in the limelight.
However, PATCH says that there is no difference between working with unsigned acts and major labels, other than seeing some of his tracks racking up 110 million views in a week. He does acknowledge that most musicians now have to be the face of a social media campaign, creating TikTok videos to market their material. “It’s quite nice to you know just contribute to things and then have somebody else do the marketing,” he laughed.
A huge show PATCH found himself amazed by was The Traitors, creating sync music for the promotional clips of the hit BBC show. This included remixes of Ghost Town by The Specials, as well as Bad Guy by Billie Eilish. “They were placed in the latest season which was fantastic,” he said, adding: “I worked on composition for that, and that was just amazing because we didn’t get told, so me and the missus are just sat watching traitors and then I’m like, ‘Oh, hang on a second, that sounds oddly familiar.’ And I say, ‘Oh sh*t, I composed that!'”
PATCH has recently been working with December 10 again, on their live productions, as well as helping develop pop artists and continuing to support independent talent with their material, allowing him to “reveal some hidden gems”. During his time working with the Official Charts Show on BBC Radio 1, PATCH met Jonas Blue and worked on the BBC Live Lounge, but says he rarely sees any difference between major and unsigned acts, apart from the lack of backing from a major label or a social media following.
Most recently, he teamed up with viagogo on its new Heartbreak Sessions, giving music fans the chance to turn their own heartbreak into professional tracks, inspired by the likes of Lily Allen, Adele and Beyoncé. Statistics stated that most people have enough heartbreak to fill a full song.
“I could probably write a handful of songs about my own experience,” he laughed. But as a music professional, PATCH explained that the research stated that the material had to be born from “genuine heartache,” around three minutes and two seconds long. “They preferred female-fronted vocals, and vocals that centre on empowerment and moving on, rather than being sad,” he said.
Speaking of social media, he said: “Songs are getting shorter because there’s less time for you to sit on the song, it’s all about getting your attention, trimming fat in songs and getting to the point quickly. Maybe it’s because people want to sit in a song that’s slightly longer.”
His own favourite heartbreak song is I Miss You by Clean Bandit, released in 2017. “I remember I listened to that during the only major break-up in my life and was like ‘Wow, this is really hitting all the feels,’ but you’ve got bangers like Someone Like You by Adele, Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi and then the Lily Allen stuff is a whole different take, which I love, it’s so unfiltered and great.”
Patch has teamed up with award-winning British songwriter Conan Mac and London singer-songwriter GLOWE for the project.
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