{"id":1236707280,"date":"2026-09-24T18:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/?p=1236707280"},"modified":"2026-09-24T18:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:13:01","slug":"leland-home-studio-interview-troye-sivan-the-shards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/music\/music-features\/leland-home-studio-interview-troye-sivan-the-shards-1236707280\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the Hollywood Home Studio That&#8217;s Birthed Several Pop Hits"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! -->\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"pmc-paywall\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tSituated in the hills of Studio City sits a home studio that&#8217;s birthed a slew of popular songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\t&#8220;The first session I did here was with MUNA in 2019,&#8221; says Leland. The 39-year-old producer owns that home studio. It&#8217;s first iteration was situated inside the main house on his property and has since expanded into its own little oasis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tSteeped in warm colors, with luxurious candles burning away, Leland&#8217;s current studio feels more like a chic getaway spot rather than a workspace. It&#8217;s become a home base for him and other creatives in his circle to collaborate. His dog, Crosby, is a frequent visitor and how he&#8217;s keeping track of the passing time \u2014 the MUNA session had to be in 2019 because he has a photo of one of the band&#8217;s members with the dog as a puppy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tThe actual studio only accounts for, at times, 50 percent of where the creativity&#8217;s happening when artist comes to Leland&#8217;s place. &#8220;The writing doesn&#8217;t have to happen in the studio. The recording can happen in the studio,&#8221; the producer explains. &#8220;I feel like a lot of it is just sitting out here having conversations.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n\t\n\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((2000\/3000)*100%);\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/015A8951.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n<figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Leland in his home studio. <\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tAn artist might be staying in the cottage on the property while they&#8217;re there working. &#8220;They can just walk down to the studio, which has been really nice,&#8221; says Leland. <em>The Shards <\/em>star Hayes Warner, another collaborator of Leland&#8217;s, stayed in his cottage while she was filming the Ryan Murphy show. Leland wrote music for the series, which is set to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-features\/the-shards-tv-serial-killer-explained-1236691369\/\"  data-type=\"post\"  data-id=\"1236691369\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"  >release a soundtrack next month<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tOn a day where he&#8217;s welcoming an artist into the studio, the producer tends to start the day with a hike. He&#8217;ll walk to Fryman \u2014 if you ever see someone dangerously walking down Laurel Canyon Boulevard, it&#8217;s likely Leland. He&#8217;s only had one close call, he points out, and it was actually from a friend. &#8220;One of my best friends happened to be driving down Laurel Canyon, and he was like, &#8216;Girl, did I almost hit you?&#8217; I was like, &#8216;Yes, but I would&#8217;ve wanted it to be a friend,'&#8221; he says cheekily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tAfter his hike, hopefully without any close calls, Leland will get fresh flowers for the studio, along with a candle or incense. His routine tends to change depending on who he&#8217;s working with that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\t&#8220;I love getting the studio ready for a session. I love that part of it,&#8221; the producer says. &#8220;Or cleaning up after a session, which is usually just Goop [Kitchen] bags, water and Coke Zero.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tThe space is meant to be a space of peace and quiet, even if that&#8217;s not always what&#8217;s happening in the studio itself. Leland, who&#8217;s also <em>RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Race<\/em>&#8216;s producer and songwriter, explains that it can range from longtime collaborator Troye Sivan to Charli xcx, who he says recorded some of the <em>Wuthering Heights<\/em> album in the studio, to Demi Lovato. A <em>Drag Race<\/em> executive producer or even RuPaul might be around while Leland&#8217;s tinkering on Sivan&#8217;s work, so they&#8217;ll share it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n\t\n\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((2000\/3000)*100%);\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/015A8999.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n<figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Leland in his home studio.<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tIf Leland&#8217;s working with an artist for the first time, he&#8217;ll listen to their music on his morning hike&nbsp;\u2014 or he&#8217;ll listen to anything he&#8217;s anticipating will be a good reference point for the work that&#8217;ll happen later that day. No matter how familiar with the project or the artist, he wants to be prepared and have something in his back pocket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tSome artists, however, have a good idea coming into their sessions with Leland. &#8220;When Rebecca Black came in, I was so excited to work with her and she had such a clear vision for what she wanted to make, and it was just so fun,&#8221; he says. The pair wrote the track &#8220;Corsetry&#8221; from her latest album in the space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\t&#8220;I have the same feeling about [Black] that I had when Ad\u00e9la first walked into the room,&#8221; Leland says of the pop princess of the moment. The 22-year-old has been blowing up this summer. Leland and the pop star \u2014 who broke out as a contestant on the audition project <em>Dream Academy<\/em> that formed the girl group KATSEYE \u2014 worked together on songs from her first EP, &#8220;SexOnTheBeat&#8221; and &#8220;DeathbyDevotion.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tLeland, by his on admission, loves working with women. &#8220;I love a pop girl,&#8221; he says. But by far, the producer&#8217;s most impactful collaboration, both professionally and creatively, remains Sivan. Getting to be part of a gay pop star&#8217;s career is something he&#8217;ll never take for granted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\t&#8220;So many songs that you love that are by the female pop stars that we love, a lot of the times there&#8217;s a queer person as one of the collaborators when you look up the credits,&#8221; Leland says. &#8220;I think now my ear is trained to where I can tell if a gay person was in the room or not.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tHe adds, &#8220;I really think for songs, you can tell. And not that every song needs to have a gay person in the room, obviously, but I think depending on what you&#8217;re going for, you can really hear if there was some queer energy in the room or not. I feel like it&#8217;s been so fun to sometimes be that person with the different artists that come through.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-content-image \/\/  \">\n\t\n\n<figure class=\"o-figure   size-large alignnone lrv-u-max-width-100p\" style=\"width:3000px\">\n\n\t\t\t\n<div class=\"c-lazy-image  \">\n\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"lrv-a-crop-16x9\" style=\"padding-bottom:calc((2000\/3000)*100%);\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img class=\"c-lazy-image__img lrv-u-background-color-grey-lightest lrv-u-width-100p lrv-u-display-block lrv-u-height-auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/015A9023.jpg?w=3000\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-srcset=\"\" data-lazy-sizes=\"\" height=\"2000\" width=\"3000\" decoding=\"async\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n<figcaption class=\"c-figcaption  lrv-u-padding-tb-025\">\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"a-font-secondary-s lrv-u-margin-r-025\">Leland in his home studio.<\/span>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"a-font-accent-uppercase-xs lrv-u-color-grey-dark\">Courtesy<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t<\/figcaption>\n\n\t\t\t\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tLeland and Sivan collaborated once again for the pop star&#8217;s upcoming album <em>She&#8217;s the Best<\/em>, set to be released next month. Many of the great pop stars of the past weren&#8217;t publicly out, so watching Sivan&#8217;s career get to the point it&#8217;s at now has been almost surreal for Leland. &#8220;People like Troye are allowed to be pop stars, and you&#8217;re allowed to have that experience, and maybe not allowed, you&#8217;re demanding it,&#8221; the producer says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\t&#8220;I always want the music to speak for itself. I don&#8217;t want opportunities because I&#8217;m queer. I want opportunities because I&#8217;m good. I don&#8217;t want opportunities for Troy because he&#8217;s a gay pop star,&#8221; says Leland. &#8220;I want opportunities for him and for our music because the music is good and the music videos are good and the team&#8217;s good and the energy is good.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p\n\t\tclass=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \"\n>\n\tHe adds, &#8220;I want that support from the queer community because the music is great and the art is great. I want that support from the straight community because the music is great and the art is great, not just because any of us happen to be queer.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Music producer Leland speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about his Hollywood home studio, his collaborator Troye Sivan&#8217;s new album and making queer art. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1223638,"featured_media":1236708133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"override_post_title":"","override_post_excerpt":"","authors":[],"contributors":[],"styled_by":[],"_image_credit":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","pmc_selected_wwd_video_media":"","pmc_top_video_source":"","pmc_top_video_duration":"","wwd_top_video_source":"","wwd_top_video_duration":"","pmc_selected_featured_media":"","pmc_selected_video_media":"","pmc_selected_variety_video_media":"","variety_top_video_source":"","variety_top_video_duration":"","pmc_featured_media_has_alt_text":true,"_pmc_featured_animated_media_id":0,"_pmc_featured_video_override_data":"","_pmc_featured_video_override_url":"","_pmc_featured_video_response_data":"","pmc-gallery-linked-gallery":{},"pmc_list_item_description":"","primary_category":"","primary_vertical":"","_mt_pmc_exclude_from_seo":"","_pmc_opengraph_title":"","_pmc_opengraph_description":"","categories":91287,"subcategories":91290,"thr-review-summary-credits":"","thr-full-credit":"","thr-review-mpaa-rating":"","thr-review-running-time":"","_synopsis":"","_air_date":"00-00-00","pmc-imdb-id":"","pmc-review-type":"","pmc-review-rating":"","pmc-review-rating-out-of":"","pmc-review-snippet":"","pmc-review-title":"","pmc-review-canonical-link":"","pmc-theatrical-release-date":0,"pmc-director":"","pmc-review-image_attachment_id":0,"thr_post_headlines":"Music producer Leland speaks with The Hollywood Reporter about his Hollywood home studio, his collaborator Troye Sivan's new album and making queer art. 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