Music

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-U-S-I-C

Deep inside the Disney castle, a group of chart-busting elves is cranking out the tunes that are guaranteed to have you humming—or drive you crazy—this fall.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Like predicting the outcomes of presidential elections and Project Runway, writing pop hits isn’t an exact science. Motley ingredients have to come together just so in order to create a hit—and in a way, the performer isn’t necessarily the most important element. Indeed, you could argue that these days, the real stars of American pop aren’t on the cover of Us Weekly; rather, they lurk behind sound boards in darkened studios, writing and producing the tunes we karaoke to.

Hit makers Antonina Armato and Matthew Gerrard are two of those behind-the-scenes Merlins. The former cowrote several songs on the upcoming special edition of Miley Cyrus’s hit album Breakout, while the latter teamed up with Robbie Nevil to create six tunes in the eagerly awaited High School Musical 3, making them some of the hottest—if least well-known—artists of the fall.

Though they don’t limit themselves to the Mouse empire, Gerrard and Nevil are Disney vets who have written songs for Hannah Montana and seem to specialize in the ensemble numbers in which the entire HSM cast whips itself into a hormonal (but clean-cut!) frenzy: “We’re All in This Together” in the first film, “All for One” in HSM2 and “Now or Never” in HSM3. “We interpret everything [director] Kenny Ortega says and sort of turn it into music and a rhythmic feel,” Gerrard explains. “If Kenny wants something bigger, we’ll throw in a hundred drummers or something! Or in the new movie they talk about the Rockettes kicking their legs, and we’re in the middle of a pop song, so Robbie and I have to figure out how to do that.”

Having reached the Top 20 when she was 18 with her first song, Brenda K. Starr’s “I Still Believe” (1988), and then working with everybody from Barbra Streisand to Sheena Easton, Armato was drawn into the Disney orbit three years ago. She and writing-producing partner Tim James penned “Bet on It” for HSM2 and gave Vanessa Hudgens a Top 40 hit with “Come Back to Me,” while also grooming talent (including Sick Puppies, whose song plays on the “free hugs” YouTube phenom) for their own Rock Mafia Records. But what’s really put the pair on the map is its collaboration with Miley Cyrus, who, Armato’s quick to point out, “is one of the few [artists] who really writes songs. She’s supertalented and she brings a lot, and I can’t say that about everybody else we’ve worked with.”

Much in demand, both teams are working with new Interscope signees the Clique Girlz, while Armato and James are also involved with two other new acts: David Archuleta (“We’re doing one song for sure, but it could be four,” Armato reveals. “Hopefully we won’t fuck it up and we’ll deliver”) and the Beach Girlz. Armato’s especially hot about new Rock Mafia signee Fallbrooke, a Florida band that’s already got a high-profile fan: “Miley was texting me as I was speaking to you and she wants the Fallbrooke album!”

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is in theaters Oct 21; Miley Cyrus’s Breakout—Special Edition is out Nov 18; David Archuleta’s debut is out Nov 4; Fallbrooke’s album is out this fall.

NEXT: Opposites attract Are you always at the same old shows, with the same people and the same sound? Stop it. Do something different. Now.»

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