{"podcast":{"title":"And The Writer Is...with Ross Golan","slug":"and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813","podcast_index_feed_id":221813,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/05db9598-9baf-443a-ab69-21a77284c034","website_url":"http://www.andthewriteris.com","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/61b76666169562d85de9508f/show-cover.jpg","author":"And The Writer Is","episode_count":296,"summary":"Every week, we sit down with an acclaimed and venerable songwriter to intimately discuss what happens behind closed doors in the music industry. There are millions of singers, thousands of artists, and only 40 top songs per genre at a time... this podcast is about the people who make them. Produced by Joe London & Ross Golan in association with Big Deal Music & Mega House Music. And The Writer Is... ™ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813"},"episode":{"title":"Ep. 237: Philip Lawrence | How a $5 Bus Pass Created Bruno Mars","slug":"ep-237-philip-lawrence-how-a-5-bus-pass-created-bruno-mars","published_at":"2026-01-28T21:40:37+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813/ep-237-philip-lawrence-how-a-5-bus-pass-created-bruno-mars","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813","url":"https://shows.acast.com/andthewriteris/episodes/philip-lawrenceatwi","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/andthewriteris/e/697a825a010b94331fb09a74/media.mp3","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…","meta_description":"Today's guest is a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and performer, best known as one-third of The Smeezingtons and a foundational creative force behin…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":7125,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813/episodes/ep-237-philip-lawrence-how-a-5-bus-pass-created-bruno-mars/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/and-the-writer-is-with-ross-golan-221813/ep-237-philip-lawrence-how-a-5-bus-pass-created-bruno-mars.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}