Lorde Manager Opens Up

He was working in A&R at Universal Music in 2008 and was immediately knocked out by what he saw, he told the New Zealand Herald.

“What stood out was her voice, incredible texture, incredible interpretation of the covers she was singing,” Maclachlan said. “For someone that young to be able to interpret songs like that and make them her own, that’s very, very rare.”

Maclachlan, a one-time club DJ who spent most of his 45 years in the United Kingdom, moved to Auckland in 2008 with his NZ-born wife Sandhya and two children.

He signed Lorde to a development deal. He teamed her up with various songwriters but none worked. It was when he put Lorde together with former Goodnight Nurse frontman/producer Joel Little that sparks flew.

Within a week in the studio, they cut three tracks. The global hit “Royals” was one of them.

“While I never thought that ‘Royals’ would ever become as big as it was, it was definitely magic,” he told the Herald. “What you hear now is what was played to me then. I realised then that we had the perfect partnership.”

Maclachlan, who was named manager of the year at last month’s Music Managers Awards in Auckland, now runs Saiko Management.

His clients include top-selling Samoan classical trio Sol3 Mio and rising local acts dubstep production duo Mt Eden and singer-songwriter Thomston.