Only 18 years old, Filous, a producer from Vienna, Austria, has recently released his first EP DAWN. His first original music ever, the EP features five new tracks featuring James Hersey, ROBB, Jordan Léser. With a positive attitude towards his music and supporting others, this outgoing artist makes his own opportunities to collaborate with different singers and songwriters from around the world to continue doing what he loves and making music. The artist has also made many bootleg remixes with artists like RAC, Jose Gonzalez, and Damien Jurado, just to name a few.

Having recently graduated from high school and made his first single and now his EP, filous has been up to a lot of exciting stuff and seems to want to keep it going. We were able to have an awesome chat with filous to hear about his experience in the music industry as an emerging new artist.

NT: Hey how are you

Filous: I’m doing great and you?

NT: I’m good! Where are you right now?

Filous: I’m in my home in Vienna

NT: Can you describe your experience with this being your first album and what it took to get here?

Filous: The whole progress in working on the ep was really exciting for me. It was a whole different thing than releasing remixes. It was kinda more frightening. I was just nervous to be to be putting an album out of original material and showing the stuff that only I was working on or at least that I was a bigger part of. So on that side it was really nerve wrecking but at the same time I’m really excited that this was a whole new thing. From beginning to work on the EP to being able now to finally release it, it’s a really cool cool learning experience because there are so many new things I learned at the time that I never thought could happen. Also, finally releasing the first single and getting all the great feedback on it was the most exciting part so far.

NT: You’ve been working with different artists from all over the world.

F: Yeah exactly! I think that was the whole collaboration part. That was the thing that made it the most fun for me because when I’m producing, I am always sitting alone in front of the computer and just doing what I think would be cool to do. When there’s input and there’s the feedback and there is a new creative component in the music it’s something that’s very brilliant. Having the opportunity to work with someone that is on the other side of the world from you and making songs with them without actually meeting them, it’s just crazy!

NT: Who is someone you’d like to work with?

F: It would probably be Bobby McFerrin. There’s just something about him that’s really captivating for me, seeing his performances and listening to his music it’s just really makes a strange feeling with me but I think it would be the most incredible thing to make music with him. I think it would be a really interesting experience.

NT: When did you start playing music and what was the first instrument you learned to play?

F: Playing music I learned my first instrument when I was 10 years old and that was on the bass, the electric bass. Thats when I first started out to really do music. But, I kind of was doing music always. Even if it was just playing with the flute or something but music’s always something I really enjoy doing. But I started to get really and more serious on that first instrument.

NT: Do you think it comes easily for you?

F: I don’t know I just put a really big amount of time into it. I don’t know if it comes easier to me than to anybody else.

NT: I saw that you recently started learning drums too.

F: Oh ya you saw that? It’s cool. ya exactly! Actually a good friend of mine is teaching me how to play drums with whom I actually started to produce this when I first started producing. I was just talking to him about trying to play drums and stuff and he was like “yeah I can teach it to you” and now we are meeting twice a week and just jamming together. Just had a lesson yesterday too. It’s really cool and a really awesome instrument.

NT: Earlier you mentioned how it was to manage both your last year of highschool and music and trying to write your EP.

F: Yeah. It was hard. It took a lot of effort to get the time management right, to be able to focus on school while not neglecting everything music wise. The only thing that really suffered from me was sleeping. I just never slept I was alway either doing homework or just making music it took a lot of energy I had great support from my family and friends so they helped me a lot. Thanks to them it all worked out.

NT: A lot of the artists you remix are more independent rock or folk artists, how do you choose what to remix?

F: Remixing for me was always very different. There is always different stuff I was looking for. For one, I was looking for stuff that’s rather unknown because I think remixing someone that everyone knows isn’t as exciting and I can help that act that isn’t as known to reach more people. So more people can listen to someone that really deserves the attention. I also felt that doing remixes was a great medium to show other people great music and to direct the way to the original too. It’s a cool gate way for that. Other than that, I just look for something that’s caught me or has caught my attention whether it’s a cool melody or a cool voice, yeah.

NT: filous, the name, where does it come from and what does it mean?

F: Yeah thats right. filous is a word that actually exists in a lot of different languages. It exists in arabic, greek and it’s also an old viennese word and the meanings of it differ. I think in the greek translation it means friend. In Vienna it typically means something like, to say it in English, like rascal or someone cheeky. Something like that.

NT: I noticed you don’t show your face in any photos, do you have concept behind that?

F: As I said already with putting out all the remixes, it’s always been about putting the attention on someone different or to the music. I always thought to put me in the foreground too much would be kind of weird and maybe would get the attention going to things that I don’t really want to go to. But not showing me at all would feel kind of disconnected from people. So I just try to find something that’s in the middle of it.

NT: Very cool! What else are you working on any new projects?

F: I’m actually collaborating a lot with other producers and I’ve never really done that. When I collaborate, it was mostly with singers or singer/ songwriters and I felt like I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and try to make music with people that don’t really make anything like my music. So I am collaborating with a lot of Viennese producers right now doing all sorts of stuff. That is mostly what I have been up to at the moment, making music and working on new material.

NT: So in your music you play most of the instruments yourself?

F: Yeah thats always something that was really important to me. Also I always like to do things by myself because I feel like, if something goes wrong it’s my fault and the only person I can blame for it is myself. That is something that always has felt more comfortable to me. and it makes things a lot of fun. I get to play a lot of instruments. getting the opportunity to work on the ep and finally being able to play all the instruments I want to is just a lot of fun.

NT: 5 records you are inspired by or are currently listening to?

F: I am actually listening to a really funny mix. I listen to a few artists at the moment and they are all making so much different music.

1. Soko My Dreams Dictate My Reality its just so honest and real. I love it. it’s one of the most unique and cool albums that I’ve been listening to lately.
2. Tycho Dive – I’m listening to them a lot too, in the morning chilling and closing my eyes and just listening to their music is the best.
3. Mount
4. Air Moon Safari
5. Palastic

Mount and Palastic haven’t released an album yet. I think mixing up the music that you’re listening to and trying to get a lot of inspiration from different perspectives and different artists can make, hopefully, my own music a bit more interesting and gain some depth.

Written by Nova Olson