Episode
Ep. 237: Philip Lawrence | How a $5 Bus Pass Created Bruno Mars
- Published
- Jan 28, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 7125
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Summary
Today's guest is a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and performer, best known as one-third of The Smeezingtons and a foundational creative force behind Bruno Mars’ career. He has co-written and helped shape some of the most influential pop songs of the last two decades, including Just the Way You Are, Billionaire, Locked Out of Heaven, When I Was Your Man, 24K Magic, Nothin’ on You, and many more... And The Writer Is... Bruno Mars! In this episode of And The Writer Is…, Philip Lawrence tells his story in full—for the first time - How a $5 bus pass led to Bruno Mars - The hidden cost of early success - Real stories behind pop’s biggest records - The pivot that made everything 'click' - A breakdown at the peak—and the call that brought him back and much more... A special thank you to our sponsors… Our lead Sponsor, NMPA— the National Music Publishing Association. Your support means the world to us. And @splice — the best sample library on the market. Period. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 4:00 “I Just Might” and Bruno Mars 10:31 Childhood and Not Feeling Good Enough 14:00 Early Career 20:00 Leaving School and Auditioning for Disney 26:00 The Disney Break Room: The Beginning of His Journey 27:00 His First Session 30:00 Meeting Steven Seagal 34:00 Moving to LA 37:09 Losing Everything He Had So Far 39:00 Finding His Manager 43:00 Finding His Way Through the Industry 44:42 His Ego Death 45:50 The Pivot That Really Started His Career 46:50 Be Friends With All the Assistants 47:20 NMPA and Splice 48:45 How to Write for Radio 49:30 Developing His Songwriting Ethos 50:29 Spending His Last $5 to Meet Bruno Mars (Before He Was Bruno Mars) 1:05:09 How Bruno Stayed on His Early Hook Placements 1:07:28 The Story of Nothin’ on You 1:09:20 Billionaire 1:11:50 Just the Way You Are 1:19:15 Tal…