Pop star Charlie Puth will create songs on the spot at Minneapolis concert

Pop star Charlie Puth is determined to pull back the curtain on the magic of his hit recordings.

While many artists use studio effects like compression, pitch shifting and wet reverb, Puth wants to be transparent about his tricks and techniques. He illustrates them in TikTok videos.

"I don't want [people] to just know the song on a surface level. I want them to know where every high hat and snare drum comes from because these are the ingredients that make up, at least for me, an emotional piece of music," said Puth, who will perform Sunday at the Armory in Minneapolis. "A single snare drum can change an entire song. It's hard to do a spoken interview and explain that, but it'd very easy to give an example through sound [on TikTok]."

Puth wants to deconstruct his recordings because sometimes he takes an eccentric approach.

"I do not sit in front of a piano and just write a song. I need to hear a sound that wasn't initially intended to be an instrument. It just has some sort of pitch to it," he said. "I get inspired by hearing sounds I haven't heard before that are unusual and then putting conventional instrumentation under or on top of those sounds."

Take his 2022 hit "Light Switch" from his third and current album, "Charlie." He recorded an actual light switch in action to create a sound. Click. Then he added that percussive sound to the track.

Puth will demonstrate this approach in concert Sunday by sampling, say, a fan's scream or audience hand claps and then creating a song with it on the spot.

"Everything I convey online about the construction of a record you'll see in a live setting this time," he said.

The singer also promises to include his hits, like "We Don't Talk Anymore" and "Attention," and some covers, as well.

Puth is aware he's performing in Minneapolis after two nights of Taylor Swift during Pride weekend.

"I hope everyone going to Pride comes to my show afterward," he said. "As much as Pride is a party, I'd like to think mine is a party, too. Double party."

As for Swift, he's "probably watched clips of her show more than anyone's this year. I hope I can play to that many people one day, as well. She makes me remember there are even more goals to reach."

Puth, 31, a New Jersey native, honed his studio skills while earning a degree in engineering and production at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. After a false start on Ellen DeGeneres' record label, he had a breakthrough as featured artist on Wiz Khalifa's 2015 smash, "See You Again," which was used in the film "Furious 7" and dedicated to actor Paul Walker, who died before the film was released. Puth has since scored several hits under his own name, including "Marvin Gaye" and "One Call Away."

In his first Twin Cities headline appearance at the Varsity Theater in 2016, Puth seemed stuck behind his piano. Concertgoers not close to the stage didn't really get to see what he looked like.

"I'm so scared to stand up," he recalled of his early touring. "I'm happy to say I do [stand up] with multiple pianos and I'm standing on top of the piano and the drum set, even though the drummer doesn't want me to do that."

Puth co-wrote his latest piano-propelled single, "That's Not How This Works," with the country duo Dan + Shay, who join him on the song in a marriage of high tenors.

"That was the first song I wrote completely over Zoom. March 2020. And I just couldn't let that song sit on the hard drive for years," he said even though he didn't include it on his latest album.

However, for the video of the song, he eschewed Dan + Shay and enlisted his friend, singer/actress Sabrina Carpenter.

"We were talking one night," Puth said. " 'I had this music video and I need someone who actually knows how to act to portray this situation that happened to me.' "

It not only worked as a music video but the footage was edited into a 10-minute film. And, of course, Carpenter released her own (Sabrina's Version.)

Since Puth is all about exposing his musical secrets, how does he manage to sing in a high voice while he speaks with such a deep voice?

"I've wondered [that] myself," he said. "I'm thankful for my range. I can sing low and I can sing really high. I've been told I'm a nasally singer. And if you place your voice in a frontal lobe, as my vocal coach refers to it, you can be a little more flexible with your notes."

One of Puth's other musical habits is using unexpected contrasts such as pairing a sunny melody with sad lyrics, as in "That's Not How This Works."

"I love that juxtaposition," he said. "I think I first did that on 'We Don't Talk Anymore' [featuring Selena Gomez]. It's a very hippity-hoppity, almost nursery rhyme-like melody but with some of the saddest lyrics I ever put to music.

"I think the reason why I do that is if you're hearing a song for the first time, I certainly don't listen to the lyrics; I'm listening to the music. Maybe there are other people who are listening to the music first and foremost. Then they go back and their subconscious or brain picks up on something. 'Did he say this? I need to go back and listen to it again.' In my mind, it makes me think someone is going to listen to it multiple times. A happy melody with sad lyrics or vice versa."

Charlie Puth

Opening: Alexander Stewart.

When: 7:30 p.m. Sun.

Where: The Armory, 500 S. 6th St., Mpls.

Tickets: $47 and up, ticketmaster.com.