Nick Fowler, also known as FWLR, is a canadian producer who debuted on Monstercat with his New Beat single, "Numb" featuring Che'Nelle. FWLR joined on Monstercat family in July 2018. His Monstercat discography includes also "How We Win", an Electro song with elements of Breaks , "Anyway", an emotional and extraordinary chill Trap collab with David Spekter and, "Deck The Halls (Time To Die)", a Christmas-themed Electro and Trance banger. Also Anyway had an amazing remix package that consisted of a Twistex Remix and a Whales Remix that made listeners detach from the emotional feeling of the original that the original gives to the listeners and embraces them in a world of bangers. His passion for cars let Nick to include his own car in all his releases (except Numb).
Below, Monstercat Wikia presents you an interview with Nick Fowler:
- 1. Who is FWLR?
- I have been writing music for television fulltime since around 2013. It’s amazing and I am always super thankful that I get to do something that I love. At the end of the day however, I am writing music in order to support someone else’s vision. I started FWLR as a place for me to express my own creativity without worrying about what other people think. Not concerning myself with writing music that can generate income has allowed me to do anything I want with FWLR and that’s the project’s true reason for existing
- 2. Can you tell us that how your musical career started?
- I have played in bands since I was 12 years old. I started playing lead guitar in heavy metal bands and even played in a Rage Against The Machine cover band during high school. When we began to gain some traction, I invested in a small recording set up. Eventually my desire to make music 24/7 led me away from the band and more towards doing everything myself. After producing IDM and experimental stuff through college, I started a band with my friend called The Arka Teks. We did pretty good on the internet and had some impressive stats for the time. This led us to meet people in the television world who were looking to license our stuff. I then started a band with my girlfriend at the time called In Dreams and continued to make progress in the TV world. After I saw the potential career in writing for shows I focused all my attention on that and now I am able to pay my bills because of it.
- 3. How do you feel as artist?
- As an artist I try not to take myself too seriously. I don’t want to discount the serious aspects of my music, but I think being able to have fun is really important to my creative process.
- 4. How and when did you discover Monstercat?
- I can’t quite remember when I first discovered Monstercat. It kind of feels like they’ve been around forever at this point. I discovered them on YouTube while looking for new music, and have been a fan ever since.
- 5. Do you have any artists that inspire you?
- I listen to a LOT of Nine Inch Nails. Like a lot. But I also really love The Aphex Twin, BT, The Crystal Method, Savant, Noisia, Matroda, and non-electronic bands like Cake, Reel Big Fish, Muse, Louis Cole, DFA1979 and The Rare Occasions . Honestly finding new music is challenging for me and I find myself going back to the same records over and over. Which is why I love Monstercat – four times per week I get to hear new stuff which inspires me.
- 6. What is your favorite track that you have released on Monstercat so far?
- I think so far my favorite track on the label is How We Win. It uses an old discarded guitar riff from back in 2009 that I was trying to turn into a song for The Arka Teks. That song, combined with the album art is just badass and I am really proud of it.
- 7. How was your experience with Che'Nelle on producing "Numb"? How about David Spekter?
- Numb was supposed to be a remix, but when the original didn’t happen it turned into the original! It was a fun track to make and Che’Nelle’s vocals are incredible. David was another unbelievable musician and singer. Writing Anyway happened in a writer’s camp and we did the whole song in 1 day. Obviously, there was a lot of polishing and edits after that, but the fact that the whole song was written and mostly produced in one day still blows me away.
- 8. As we all know, the tracklist of the album that included your song "Deck The Halls" was revealed by leaks before it was officially announced. What was your reaction when the fans found out? Did you try to pretend that wasn't true?
- Ya I love messing with people! I was trying to play into the rumor that it was going to be the Numb VIP that was coming out before the end of the year because I wanted Deck The Halls to really just slap people in the face. At the end of the day I still think that it was a nice slap in the face even considering the leaked titles.
- 9. How was 2018 for you? Can you tell us what is in store for FWLR in 2019?
- 2018 was definitely a game changer. I’ve been working away and hustling my FWLR project for years and getting released on Monstercat finally made all that hard work pay off in an amazing way. I feel like it was perfect timing since I developed a core fanbase and solidified my brand over the past few years. I don’t think that I would have been ready for a big label until pretty much 2018. This year is going to be a continuation of what I’ve been doing since I started FWLR; experimenting with sounds and styles,a lot of which will likely come out on Monstercat.
- 10. Can you tell us about your famous car? Where did you buy it? What was your first contact with the car?
- I bought my 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD in May of 2012 for $700 CAD from a guy in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. It was kind of a turd but had no rust and wasn’t modified at all. Every year I’d tear it down in my garage and fix more and more problems. I want to say that pretty much every single bolt on that car has been in my hand at one point. The thing with the Talon is that it’s more than just a cool 90’s car to me. I’ve put countless hours crawling around in the freezing cold busting my knuckles apart on that car. I’ve spent weeks trying to fix problems that reduced me to tears. I’ve spent thousands of dollars, and broken tons of parts. But when I take it to the track and use launch control and feel my eye balls being pressed into my brain from the acceleration there’s a massive feeling of pride. That car has taught me a lot, and not just a lot about cars. It’s given me a massive boost in patience and showed me how important it is to see something through despite all the speedbumps you encounter. I couldn’t be happier that it is so closely associated with my FWLR brand because it means a lot to me.
Here’s a list of some of the current mods: 4G63 with ARP headstuds and 7 layer metal headgasket, 20G turbo (~30psi boost), 3" turbo-back exhaust, VRSF Intercooler, ECMtuning Speed Density Kit, Walbro 255 Fuel Pump, Aeromotive AFPR, FIC 1050cc Injectors, Greddy BOV, Snow Performance Stage 2 methanol injection, Innovate LC-1 Wideband, ECMtuning ECU (tuned by yours truly for the past 4 years), Southbend Stage 3 clutch kit, Tein lowering springs, KYB AGX dampers.
- 11. What are your hobbies? As I have seen, you like to create different technical things.
- Obviously carsh. During the summer my life really is about music and carsh. But I also love mountain biking and try to sneak in a race now and then. I also have an electronics workbench in my house that I use to fix and build devices. I love building little gadgets and whatnot. But ya, mostly writing music and hanging out with my car friends. I just got into autocross racing this past year and I absolutely love it so that’s something I am going to be spending more time doing.
- 12. How difficult is it to stand out as artists now versus when you first started?
- When I first started in The Arka Teks the social media thing was still relatively new. We saw the opportunities associated with fan interaction and that really gave us an edge. These days I think the real challenge is to cut through the noise. It’s so easy these days for people to grab some sample packs and some presets and crank out bangers. I think the way you stick out is by keeping an ear to what’s hot in todays trends, but kind of disregarding it and doing whatever unique ideas you have. There are so many people that want to be successful and allow that desire to trump their creative voice. Be creative FIRST and then be successful second. Do weird stuff, take risks, and try not to chase a trend. At the end of the day if you’re chasing a trend you are (by definition) behind the trend. Do your own thing and try to get people to press play.
- 13. Favorite movie and TV show?
- Favorite movies: K-PAX, The Matrix, A Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly
Favorite TV Shows: The X-Files, Breaking Bad, Black Mirror, Better Call Saul, Californication, The Office
- 14. Do you ever think that you could have sort of single for any Rocket League album?
- I HOPE SO!!! That’d be so hot.
- 15. Can you tell us something about the latest release, Cave Me In?
- The third drop in Cave Me In was originally a hardstyle drop. I’ve never done anything in that style, so I wanted to try it. It kind of ruined the flow of the song so I changed it to what it is now. You can still hear the hardstyle kick though since I kept it in.
- 16. In general, what skills are you interested in when you looking for a collab?
- When someone wants to collab I’m not as concerned about the technical skills. I’m more concerned about the ideas, the concepts and the chemistry between them and I. Obviously there needs to be a certain level of skill involved so that the process is smooth, but I would take someone who could come up with cool ideas with me over a sound design master any day.