NOSAM is known for his lush, pop-oriented EDM, Future Pop, future bass, and trap. He broke through in 2016, winning Borgeous and tyDi’s remix competition with his version of their track ‘Wanna Lose You’, which was then officially released on Armada Music and further more of his own releases. We caught up with him around his new single ‘By Your Side’, living in LA, his artist inspirations and what we can expect in the coming months..
Tell us about your new single ‘By Your Side’, how did the song idea come together for this?
I started producing the instrumental for “By Your Side” earlier this year (2021), I really wanted it to have that 90’s, early 2000’s alternative rock sound on the verses that I grew up on. I produced the entire song on my laptop, even the electric guitar you hear in the verses I made on my favorite plugin “Nexus” and processed it through some guitar pedals and amps. It took months to find the right singer that could really portray the story I wanted to tell. I worked with so many singers and nothing was working.. Finally I met “Chris Jobe” who ended up living in Venice beach only 20 mins from me. We made a demo with his vocal hook and I immediately loved it, I knew it would be the perfect fit. After going back and forth on lyric ideas and melodies for over a month, there was still something missing to this story that we wanted to tell. Chris introduced me to “Casey Cook” who is an amazing songwriter and we all sat down in the studio and wrote the final lyrics for “By Your Side”. After we finished all the vocals, I still felt like I wanted to give something really special to the instrumental, so I got in touch with “Ruben Wijga” who is a very talented orchestral composer and we wrote an orchestra score on the bridge before the last drop. I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out!
What’s your typical process when it comes to songwriting?
My typical process when it comes to songwriting is to be in the studio with a singer and a songwriter (or two) and all of us just really feeling the song and making the story up as we go. I normally will have a story in mind but I don’t like to make the story to detailed as it can limit some aspects of the writing process.
You originally won a remix competition to release on Armada, how was this feeling for you when first starting out? Tell us more about it.
So the remix contest I won with Armada was for the song “Wanna Lose You” by Borgeous & Tydi. I had heard the original version before and really liked it. When I found out there was a remix contest I was really excited because even if I didn’t win I was still allowed to release the remix without it getting taken down for copyright, this was really important to me because before that I kind of gave up on remixes, there was no where I could post them without it being taken down for copyright. So I made the remix and this was my first time being able to be create an official remix. I think my favorite thing I did on that song is the first two drops I made everything in 1/8th notes and on the 3rd drop I changed it to 1/6th notes which slowed it down and gave it a unique vibe. After I found out I won the contest, I really couldn’t believe it because I was in the top 3 and they picked mine out of the hundreds of submissions! A couple weeks later “Tydi” hit me up on Twitter and said he really liked my remix, we both got in the studio and worked on serval songs together which lead to one of my best friendships, We both are huge fans of Blink-182 and would get drunk and listen to entire albums all night shouting the lyrics!
As a DJ and producer, what inspires you?
What really inspires me is a good melody and chords. 90% of my songs I start with piano chords and then add a melody on top, then go threw and add drums, bass and FX. Once I have heard the song over 1000 times and get over it, I start the vocals and it makes the song brand new and exciting to me again.
You have a few collaboration releases with other artists, what is something important that makes you decide to work with another artist?
What I look for when working with other artists is that we share some similarities in common, not just in music but in life. I have found that when we share similar experiences or hardships, we really write something that is deep and meaningful.
What most important lessons have you learned since starting in music?
Never sign a record deal unless you know entertainment law very well or have a lawyer to guide you. Also don’t be in a rush to make a “hit” or try to make an income from music right away, it’s ok to do free work. Everyone is different but no one is an “overnight success” it takes years of hard work and dedication. I didn’t start making an income from music until 2016 when I got my songs placed on multiple Tv shows. Before that I had to do a lot of free work in the industry and I worked everywhere, literally everywhere. I worked at restaurants, juice bars, grocery stores, freelance graphic design, worked as a PA on movie sets and even worked the night shift cleaning at Petco!
What are you looking forward to coming out of lockdown, with the world opening up again?
I’m really looking forward to traveling outside the USA and playing festivals! During Covid-19 lockdowns I used that time to work on improving myself not just in my music but my overall physical and mental health. I feel like just in that short time of almost 2 years I have changed my life 100x more for the better.
Being from LA, has being based in the area inspired you?
Living in LA is great, there’s always something happening here and it never gets old. I’m constantly meeting new talented people in the industry, even when I’m not going out to a party or the studio. I’ll go to grab dinner and the server will end up being a touring guitarist that is off tour and I’ll end up connecting with them, its crazy!
Are there any local artists that you particularly like at the moment?
An artist I really like right now is probably “Trippie Redd” his new album “Trip at Night” I really like, the style brings me back to when 8-bit synths and Gameboys were big but he put a modern twist on it, it gets me really hyped!
What else can we expect in the comings months for NOSAM?
So I’m actually in the final stages of finishing the acoustic version of “By Your Side” in this version my goal was to really make it sound like a live band. I think a lot of people are going to love this version. I also have some collabs in the works right now and will announce more soon!
Lastly, what are the big 5 tunes you can share with our readers for this weekend…
That’s a hard one because I’m always finding so many new good songs, but as of now my top 5 song picks are:
1. “Space Time by Trippie Redd”
2. “Used to by Juice WRLD”
3. “Losing Patience by Illenium, nothing,nowhere”
4. “After You (feat Calle Lehmann) by Gryffin, Jason Ross”
5. “Only One I Need by William Black, HALIENE, Thomas Laurent”
