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Diego Andrade
Cirkut
Features
Cirkut Becomes the Second-Ever Canadian to Win Juno and Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year in the Same Year: Interview
The Halifax-born hitmaker behind Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Charli XCX, and the global smash “APT.” reflects on his historic double-win and sitting in the record books next to legend David Foster.
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Cirkut has been one of the most quietly influential sonic architects in the music industry for nearly two decades, and now he's being recognized on both sides of the border.
At this weekend’s 2026 Juno Awards, the Halifax native took home the Jack Richardson producer of the year award, just months after winning producer of the year at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
The producer, born Henry Walter, became just the second producer ever to receive both awards in the same year and first since David Foster in 1985. Cirkut is a big admirer of the Canadian legend, who produced hits like Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love,” Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart” and many more. Now, he gets to sit next to him in the record books.
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“It's mind-blowing,” he tells Billboard Canada. “It’s amazing to be in the same sentence as someone like David Foster, who I look up to and respect so much.”
Since getting his start in electronic trio Let’s Go To War and co-founding Dream House Studios in Toronto in the late 2000s, Cirkut has had one of the most impeccable production resumes in music.
From working on The Weeknd’s House of Balloons to Katy Perry’s “Roar” to several tracks on Charli XCX’s Brat, he’s left his fingerprint on several tracks and records that have redefined the modern pop landscape in the past two decades.
After landing an early placement on Britney Spears’ Circus in 2008, the Canadian producer crafted a handful of chart-topping hits in the 2010s, including Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” and Miley Cyrus’ internet-breaking “Wrecking Ball” in 2013.
Now, he remains a pop mainstay and is being lauded for some of his most prolific work to date, much of which made 2025’s biggest music moments. Along with being one of the main producers on Lady Gaga’s No. 1 album Mayhem (2025), Cirkut produced the viral Bruno Mars and ROSÉ collaboration “APT.,” a chart juggernaut that topped the Canadian Hot 100 for several weeks and bowed at No. 3 on the 2025 Year-End Canadian Hot 100 Songs chart.
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Soft-spoken and modest, Cirkut might not be a household name in the same way as producers like Max Martin or Jack Antonoff, but his impact is undeniable. He’s No. 4 on Billboard’s list of Top Producers of the 21st Century and remains a go-to for artists all over the spectrum, from pop auteurs like Gaga and The Weeknd to K-pop stars like Jung Kook.
Asked to define his signature sound, he demurs, saying it’s more of a quality: “trust.” Artists know they can trust him with their vision, their sounds and their collaboration.
Cirkut took a break from a studio session in Los Angeles to talk about the recognition.
You just won the Juno Award for producer of the year just months after winning the equivalent honour at the Grammys. What does that honour mean to you?
Being recognized by my Canadian peers means a lot. I actually won that same award back in 2014. That would have been around the time I did “Roar” by Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball.” That was 12 years ago and here I am.
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How has your upbringing in Canada and being a producer here in Canada led to your current success?
I'm proud to be Canadian. I think I put a little bit of that into everything I do.
Moving around a bit as a kid — I lived in Montreal and Toronto, then Halifax — I got exposed to a few different music scenes and a variety of music and cultures. I think that definitely made a difference in my musical tastes and what I've been exposed to and the people I've met. It’s absolutely defined me.
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You've worked on a number of projects that have become a blueprint for the sound of pop music during that time. Albums like The Weeknd’s House of Balloons and Charli XCX’s Brat built a template for whole sonic worlds. Are you aiming for that kind of influence?
It’s an honour to be a part of different projects that have been influential. I wish I had some master plan, like I meant to do all this. I strive to excel and make different kinds of music and try not to do the same thing all the time. I try to be somewhat versatile. Things like House of Balloons and Katy Perry are very different stylistically.
I'm only one small part of it. Artists like The Weeknd and Charli XCX, it’s not like you could just insert any other artist and it'd be the same thing. It's very much coming from them.
You work with a lot of artists who have a specific idea for an overarching aesthetic that you’re helping them build, like Lady Gaga. Are you bringing ideas, or are you usually letting them lead?
In the beginning, I had never worked with Lady Gaga before and I was a fan of her work, so I would play backseat a bit more and see, “What does she want to do? How can I fit into her world,” rather than saying “This is what I think you should do and what you should sound like.”
Then, as we get more comfortable and we get to know our ways of working, the chemistry develops and then we're at a point where we can speak freely and say what’s on our minds with less of a filter.
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Everything is definitely a push and pull. They might come up with an idea that sparks a whole song or I might start something that inspires it.
You’re working with a ton of artists all the time. Are you usually in the same room with them collaborating, or is it often more remote?
The experience of making Mayhem with Gaga was definitely very involved. We got to spend a lot of time together and really create a world. I don't always get to do that.
Some songs, I might not have even met the artist or been in the studio. Someone might send me a song and say, “Can you finish the production on this? We want your touch, your sound on this.”
Working remotely feels a bit more like a job, whereas being in the studio with an artist, living and breathing it every day and making an album together is a lot more visceral and intimate. It’s challenging, but also more rewarding. I feel like I have more of a sense of authorship.
How do you define the signature Cirkut sound or touch? What do you think is that touch people are looking for?
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I think it’s more of a trust thing. If an artist is entrusting me with something, they have faith that I'm gonna do my best to deliver the best possible production. It's not necessarily a genre or sound specific thing.
Though you’re working closely with some artists, you’re also very prolific. You’re producing all the time. Do you treat the studio like a day job?
There’s both sides to it. You have to treat it like a job and always go into work, but there's the artistic side where, “No, I don't feel inspired today.”
I’m trying to have more of a balance now, whereas maybe I didn't in my earlier twenties. I know how to switch it off. It’s the music industry, there’s a pressure to keep performing at a certain level and cranking out hits, but it does really have to come from within.
I don't think anyone has this secret formula. Nowadays, I think it's a lot different, there's just so many different factors and you can't really predict it.
When I'm in the studio, I try to go with my gut. Once the song's done and it's out of my hands, I let it fly, see what happens. There are some brilliant marketers, executives and creative people who are great at identifying the analytics and all that, I just don't really have the mind for it.
“Die For You,” one of many songs you did with The Weeknd, became a massive chart hit more than five years after its initial release. What was it like to witness that?
I always thought it was a great song and I was happy to be a part of it. It wasn’t a smash hit initially. It did well and it was on a successful album, but it wasn't a big single out of the gate,
All of a sudden, some clip started to take off on social media and the song started to go viral. At a certain point, people had to recognize that and be like, “Hey, we should capitalize on this moment and make it more of an event.”
That's part of making a hit too, recognizing that moment of something intangible in the culture where this song is becoming popular now. Let's lean into that and let's make it even more of a moment.
Another huge hit for you recently was “APT.” by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars. Where did your involvement start with that?
There were quite a few different phases of the song, but it was a fun one.
It was basically me and Rosie (ROSÉ), in the studio with a few other people. She was showing someone in the studio the drinking game APT. She wasn’t actually drinking, but just showing them how it goes. We were like, “Is that a song?” And she's like, “No, it’s a drinking game.” We were working on some other song and we were like, “this is a lot more exciting.” That was the initial spark.
So we had a first version of it. Then, Rosie got it to Bruno. She played it for him and he liked the song, and that was phase two when he got involved and he brought his magic to it. I got to see it through from the beginning till the end of it.
You've done a lot of work in the K-pop genre. Does your process differ working in that industry?
It’s a bit different every time. Rosie, I've gotten to know personally. We work well together, we've become friends. Jung Kook from BTS, we did “Seven,” we were in the studio together.
In the K-pop world, there is a lot of pitching songs around and not necessarily meeting the members, but I’ve been fortunate to have worked in the room with a lot of them. I like to see what the artist wants to do and feel the energy in the room rather than sending songs around.
Many people in the music industry are focused on the looming spectre of AI. How are you approaching that?
Some people think it's going to be the end of human creativity. I'm a bit more optimistic.
I think we have to be careful about it. Music can lose the soul of the humans behind it. Part of the reason why we love music is because we feel a connection with the performers and with the musicians and the artists, and I don't think that'll ever go away.
I don't find it as interesting if it's purely AI music that's showing up on streaming and people are listening to music 100% made by AI. That’s a little concerning.
Opportunity-wise, I think it's wide open right now. I do genuinely believe that anyone can make an impact nowadays, I think it will take a lot of hard work and effort, but I think the cream can really rise to the top. There's a lot of room for new artists and listeners and fans want something new. I think the door is wide open.
What would be your advice to a young up-and-coming producer?
Start with the craft. There are many years that go into finding out what your thing is. Spend time really getting proficient at that. Then, it's about connecting with like-minded people, meeting the right people and creating music with and building a community, whether it's with a few other artists or producers.
I think some people try to skip a lot of things. “I need a manager, I need a record label, I need to get signed.” I don't know if that's really the way to go anymore. I think those things will come to you if you build it first.
Enjoy the process, love the initial stages of learning to create music: honing your craft, figuring out what is you, what it is you love, what you're passionate about in music. When you feel like it's ready, put it out there. Start small, but get your stuff out there.
Additional reporting by Stefano Rebuli
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