Interview with NFX, Creator of Warbeats.com

Find out how NFX got into creating music, and how he started a community of over 45,000 FL Studio users.

How long have you been making music?

Longer than I care to remember! I’ve always wanted to do thing musically, but I think I started consciously trying to make songs back in the early 1990′s.

What equipment are using?

FL Studio as my main DAW. Loaded with various plug-ins . I have some outboard gear too but I rarely use it, other than my mic which I use for my tutorials.

Do you have a preference with hardware or software?

My preference is with software for two reasons.. 1) it’s usually more affordable and 2) It’s usually more portable. Things like an MPC are portable too but a loaded laptop can pretty much replace an entire studio full of gear to some extent.

Are you pursuing music full time or is it just a hobby?

Strictly a hobby for me. I have had dreams of doing it big but my reality is that I’m not as highly motivated as the guys out there hustling.

How much time to you spend making music.

Not as much as I want. My website (www.warbeats.com) eats up a lot of my free time. On average I spend about 4 hours a week on just music. I respect what you are doing by the way. I think it will be a great resource.

Do you just produce or do you rap or sing too?

I have rapped on some of my own productions but it was strictly as an exercise to get a new perspective on making music from a rappers view. it was a fun experience but I’m not sure I learned much. I am a lousy rapper and a worse singer. Even Auto-Tune can’t help me there.

Do you sell beats?

Not really. I have put my beats up for free non commercial use (with credit) so I have had a lot of people using my beats. Despite the offers I have received for buying my beats, I guess I’m asking too much because no one has taken me up on that yet. I do submit beats privately to various projects but as of today, none have been picked up.

Can you please tell me about your Warbeats community and why did you start the site?

Warbeats.com is a place I started back in July of 2005. I had purchased the domain with the intent to be a strictly beat battle site on par with a site like rocbattles.

Some time before that I recorded a tutorial on how to make the basic Reggaeton beat and posted it on another of my domains. The big problem was that it was a 90meg video and so many people viewed it, my account got shut down. So I used my Warbeats account as a backup.

It has been growing ever since. We currently have about 45,000 members and it features files (over 900 FL Projects, sound kits, drum kits, etc). It has articles and interviews. It also has forums. And while my forums do have a beat battle area, I never got around to making it the beat battle site I had planned on. Of course the main focus of the site now is the video tutorials I post there. Right now I am at about 60+ of my own tutorials, and many more from other people.

Why did you pick FL studio as you main focus?

FL was a software that I just connected with when I first tried it back at version 3. It never bothered me that it had a funny name or looked different than everything else. I recognized that this little application could do some serious things that nothing else could do – if you took the time to look under the hood. And to me the price was reasonable (plus lifetime free updates). As you and your readers know, music gear is expensive! Finding something affordable and powerful is rare and appreciated in my world of audio production.

What tips do you have for new producers?

Don’t be afraid to try and fail. You will learn a lot through your failures and those lessons will stay with you the longest. You might lose at your first 10 beat battles but don’t get discouraged. You will get a lot of feedback in those losses. If you are humble enough to take the feedback without thinking its hate, you can grow faster.

What do have coming up in the future?

My music production is going slow at the moment. I have been in contact with various projects and management companies but nothing concrete.

As for Warbeats, I plan to just keep doing my thing – making tutorials. A lot of people appreciate the free videos and the helpful community at Warbeats. I hope it stays around as a valuable resource and stepping stone for everyone out there.

How can people get in contact with you?

You can hit me up at http://myspace.com/warbeatsmusic or via email nfx[at]warbeats.com