After being immersed in writing music for television and film for the last two years, including having penned the theme music for shows including The Daily Planet and The Social, Hampton resident Nick Fowler, decided it was as good of time as any to set about creating and releasing his debut solo effort, Outsider.
Released under the name FWLR on New Year’s Day, the five tracks found on the electro-inspired EP are expansive, and boast an exquisite and diverse use of samples, set to infectious beats.
Like many others, Fowler’s musical journey began as a student in middle school and then continued through high school, albeit in a very different genre.
“I had been interested in music from the time I was fairly young and set about playing guitar in hard rock and heavy metal bands while in school,” Fowler says.
Even though those bands didn’t end up working out in the long term, Fowler notes that breaking out on his own was, in essence, the perfect situation.
“To make a band work, you need to have everyone on the same page, which includes putting in the necessary rehearsal time. That commitment wasn’t always there from others, so it was only natural that I would look towards my computer as a potential band mate.”
As the musician began experimenting with the capabilities of various music programs, he stumbled onto what he deems was a “crazy sound” that arose from his fiddling with the tempo of one of his songs. The result was something completely unique, which in turn inspired Fowler to see what other sounds he could create.
“I began making music that had no natural equivalent – intelligent dance music,” he shares.
Ironically, Fowler’s lack of an electronic background has failed to impede him in the least. He says diving head-first into the genre has afforded him the opportunity to make music without needing to worry about whether the music he is creating is in step with what is happening in the bigger world of electronic music.
“I admittedly still don’t know a lot about the genre. I feel I am pretty isolated from the electronic music culture. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but I do think it has helped shaped my sound,” he says.
Not long after Folwer began work on Outsider last year, he received a helping hand from DJ Jelo, a Toronto-based musician with more than two decades of experience under his belt. As far as Fowler was concerned, DJ Jelo’s guidance and direction helped shape the EP in ways that he could not have dreamed.
“Before Outsider, I had released some material, but really wasn’t taking things all that seriously, mainly because I didn’t have the confidence to finish anything on my own. DJ Jelo heard some of the tracks I had been working on and must have heard some potential in them. We connected and he helped guide me in completing the tracks, but even more importantly, he gave me the confidence that I had been lacking. I was the kind of artist that would typically, I write 10 songs and be happy with one of them in the end. Jelo has changed that for me. It’s made an immeasurable difference in terms of my productivity.”
Although it might have taken awhile for Outsider to see the light of day, Fowler insists he will not be wasting time moving forward. He says that the increase in his creative productivity has led to the creation of a handful of other singles that he intends to release in the near future.
“I’m very happy with the way that Outsider turned out, but I am also rather anxious to get new stuff out there. I don’t want to sit longer than I have to with these new songs, and hope to have another EP released before long,” he says.
To get a taste of FWLR’s Outsider EP, visit www.soundcloud.com/fwlrmusic.