While mostly known for their work with hip-hop and R&B acts, hitmaking duo Tricky Stewart and The-Dream are branching out into pop/rock territory with Katy Perry’s sophomore album, the follow-up to 2008’s One of the Boys. The Grammy-winning Stewart took time out from his holiday vacation to speak with staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud about one of the projects he’s most excited about for 2010.

How far along are you on Katy Perry’s album?
Right now we’re at the very beginning stages. I’m the first producer that she’s gone in with. There’s gonna be two other producers on the album. We feel really great about the stuff that we’re creating so far. We’ve been just writing and writing and writing, so we have really, really good stuff, but we don’t know what stuff is going on the album yet.

What direction is she headed in?
We haven’t really locked in on the songs or even the direction for that matter. We’re trying to write great songs, just really making sure that we have real interesting records that are smashes.

Will the album have an urban sound at all?
She’s doing what she did the last time. It’s pop/rock. It’s a different gear for me. This is a very important project for me ’cause people are waiting to see what I’m gonna do.

What is she like to work with?
Katy’s very, very cool. She reminds me of the type of people that I hang out with in my everyday life. She’s a very fun person to be around. Her energy is great, her spirit is great. We’ve spent a lot of time together in a short period, so I would definitely consider her to be a friend at this point.

What have your studio sessions been like so far?
We’re putting it in. We’re there from 1 p.m. to 5 a.m. That’s pretty much the schedule that I keep in the studio with all the artists that I work with. If they’re not ready to go hard, they don’t usually go in with me.

–D.L.