Unstoppable - Lois Powell + Night Wolf

Unstoppable - Lois Powell + Night Wolf     INTERVIEW

Lois Powell, an artist based in Norfolk, and Night Wolf, a producer originally from Luton, chatted with AFX London about their latest release, “Unstoppable.”

First, can you take us behind the inspiration for the song?

L.P: Finally feeling good after many years of pain. Now all that pain is proof and fuel for this feeling of being unstoppable. And excited for new fun things!

N.W: So we first met at an open mic night in Bedford, I had already completed mostly the song Lost My Way Home and wrote the lyrics, I reminded myself how much I do not like my own voice and all I could hear was a female artist singing it. I wanted to try and find someone new with an interesting voice, that night I was seeking exactly what Lois brought to the show! I approached her after performing and asked her if she would be interested in coming to record with me as I have some ideas I need help with. She agreed and we ended up recording Lost My Way Home. I was in the process of waiting for my home studio to be sound treated and had most of my things still packed up so we grabbed a cheap mic and set up with a laptop and keyboard to record it. The next song Death Of The Wolf I had written lyrics up to the first verse and lost my way with the song as it was during a very bad period in my life after losing someone close. This song was completed with Lois adding in her own lyrics to finish off the song and we built out the rest together. Unstoppable was our first song together where Lois has free reign and more creative freedom. Lois has sent me some voice notes of her playing the guitar and singing and there was this riff that stood out to me where I was already building the scene in my head upon listening, the drums and the strings, so I asked her to come to mine to record it, we did not really know or discuss what we were going to do that day other than record her playing guitar, everything was then built around this after processing it and looping it, I built it out enough to allow Lois to have her full runs on vocals and we then built bit by bit around each other, the song was nearly done after an afternoon of recording and Lois is very good at laying multiple vocals down for me to play with, the song was completed the next day or so as it all flowed very easily! Lois has her own feelings towards the finished song and it was all out of feeling and vibe that day with how the final song came about, it also holds a type of slow burn with a climax towards the end which follows the way we recorded the song, each time pushing to go a little further and allow Lois to let loose. We created 4 songs together so far in total and I know our best work is still yet to come, our next song The Laws of Life is released on EscaVolt Records on 21st March 2026 and we hope you enjoy it.

And now tell us about the day you wrote it? How did the song come about?

L.P: I had written the lyrics on my phone probably within that week it was recorded and we just did a bunch of takes.

N.W: Ah I think I answered this already previously but yes it was all from me hearing a guitar riff Lois has played that made me start to build out in my head what I was hearing. Lois’s lyrics and tone for the song set up the continued vibe and we worked around each other building it as we went. We sectioned out a bit for the chorus as it made sense with how it flowed and for the verses to lead to it and after, but we knew that It most likely needed a final push towards the end to escalate the song , bring everything together and have a feeling of resolution like the questions being asked the whole song are finally answered. Lois wrote the lyrics and played the guitar for this song, I created everything else and then mixed and mastered the track. However I have said in other interviews as well, I actually view my music or try to, like a painting, once an artist applies the final brushstrokes and patches up what they will , they will not keep coming back to this piece , in fact the flaws and imperfections then become part of the song, this is not me making excuses that it could of been better, but.. I went against my own advice and ended up going back to the songs to remaster one last time before submitting them for release, I checked all the files and it seemed all good, a week before the release I listened back to the audio file I had submitted and it was actually the original mix before that I submitted, It is not a huge difference but I can hear it, I can live with it and it is not bad so to say , I just am a little annoyed I did not submit the best version there was. So I do not know what that says for my little motto there, but I do tend to try and leave stuff alone after I'm happy unless of course there is something the artist I am working with does not like! It is what it is, a valuable lesson to make sure you check your files like 5 times before submitting!

Did you have an ah-ha moment when writing where it all clicked?

L.P: Yes when we formed the first chorus, But I heard the finished product once Night Wolf had finished editing it. Although I did enjoy the feeling of singing some of those lines.

N.W: I would say when we sectioned out , I wanna be with you, this chorus part allowed us to have something to work towards and after and allowed Lois to gauge where she was being more soft and where she would let loose more and open up, as mentioned before, the recording process is really reflected in the final song, as we did multiple takes over and over , each time pushing for Lois to open her lungs more and more to get that final climax in the song, it just flowed naturally and was great fun to work on and put together, some ideas just flow very easily and this was one of them. Lois left me that night with a lot of vocal takes and I ended up putting it together the way it is, but we were both happy with the final result. It was a good moment to learn about each other and how we work when building a song from scratch and showed that not only can Lois come in and perform my lyrics on pre-made work and make it her own, but also that we are good to work on her ideas from nothing too. We will continue to work together and keep putting out more and more music that is inspired from both of us.

When it comes to the production - what did that look like? Where did you produce and did any aspects of the song change when in the studio?

N.W: We produced the song at my home studio where I asked Lois to play the guitar part I had heard before. I am not sure what we ended up with was exactly the same as I heard but it had its own vibe and worked just as well. I just produce music how I am feeling and this song was allowing Lois to show me how she was feeling before I then put my own touch on it. We made and recorded this song in an afternoon at my home studio. Lois laid out lots of vocal takes and I was left to piece it all together, but we were already somewhat on the right track and had a shared vision before she left. Some projects take me going back and forth to complete, this song was not the case and was completed quite quickly. It was our first song working this way round and building from the ground up so we were able to learn a lot more about each other whilst in creative mode and showed us how to allow the other to work and build whilst working with another creative mind. I am sure we will look back at Unstoppable as the song that allowed us to become more creative together and was the gateway song to working on more projects together in the future like this.

Now can you tell us how your background has inspired your music? And in what ways?

L.P: My mum listened to folk music when I was growing up which probably influenced me. And then going through sickness I used music as a way to cope, so it inflicted my voice with honesty and maybe sadness. And mesmerisation as I try to soothe myself.

N.W: I have been making and creating music my whole life as soon as I was able to do so! I have had my music used in major sporting brands like the MLB and NFL , Netflix's El Club, Hollyoaks, The Red Cross and many others which you can find in my bio or website. I have continuously pushed for my music to be used in this way for a long time and have always enjoyed creating moody music with orchestral textures, I was lucky for the publishers to just allow me to create what I liked and then submit it, not everything I have done was accepted, you just need to keep pushing, no one is going to help you other than yourself so you need to get music into the right hands. Rub shoulders with people in the industry at networking events and find music supervisors in areas you would like to see your music being used.

I started creating music from a young age , had my first drumkit at the age of 3 and destroyed it like a true rockstar, then learnt piano up till around grade 3 or 4 and stopped to create my own music, my first workstation was a Roland Fantom X6 and I learnt how to create music on this without a computer in sight, I only started using a DAW when I was 19-20 years old, I was always in rock bands growing up and would jam a lot with my best friends who were always guitar players, but I have always wanted to create my own music and would create many songs on our upright piano in at home when younger and write lyrics, I have books and books of lyrics. I then was first signed to a start up record label in Swansea I believe called Fly Productionz , after a somewhat lackluster start and still more heavily in my electronic/dubstep phase I then was approached by a music library called The Music Jar, they landed me my first film trailer The Essex Boys Retribution where they used 2 of my songs, one co created with Centrist , a producer I have worked with remotely. I then went travelling and shifted my focus on other areas of my life, after this in around 2018 I was then approached by another library called Flipper Music and I sold my first album to them that year, I then sold another 8 so I have 9 albums in total available for use in Film/Tv/Game project via them on their website, but this can also now be accessed via my website to be directed too. After being in the background all this time and with how times have changed and the need to be on social media, I decided recently to establish my own label EscaVolt Records and self release as well as take control over my own image and releases and boom , here we are today with our 3rd release out now! If you are looking to get into this yourself I would suggest doing a solid search on music libraries and what they could offer you, otherwise, network and promote and keep creating! You can now lease from me or contact me directly for quotes for use in Film/TV/Game projects and browse my back catalog as well as my previous 9 albums here - www.nightwolfuk.com

What artists as an artist yourself are you most inspired by and why?

L.P: I like artists that allow me to feel an emotion! I get inspiration from my feelings and thoughts. Oh no someone died, I can’t cope. I know, I’ll write about how I feel. Ah okay, now I’m gonna pick some chords on guitar and sing it until my lungs feel tired. Ah, I feel slightly better now. And so on.

N.W: I have a very wide and eclectic taste when it comes to music I listen to myself, from Hip Hop to Classical , Heavy metal to World music, and many genres in between with a love of Electronic sounds and Orchestral elements in story telling. I would say some of the artists that have certainly left an impression on me would be Jefferson Airplane, Cypress Hill, Wu Tang Clan, Cannibal Ox, David Arnold, Akira Yamaoka, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Slipknot, Pantera, Big Pun, Clint Mansell, Leftfield, Mobb Deep, Massive Attack, Wiley, DJ Shadow, Beastie Boys, Dr.Dre, Fatboy Slim, Frank Sinatra, Orbit, Aphex Twin, Lana Del Ray, Mike Oldfield, Nirvana and Portishead to Ray Charles and The Platters, Primal Scream. I could go on for a long time here !

I am will admit I am not so up to date with what is going on in the mainstream music world today, I feel I am a little stuck in my past as maybe we all are in some way as the music we listen to growing up will always hold sentimental value and bring back memories when you hear it in your later years. But I do have a few newer artists on my playlists, I honestly do not know what an earth happened to Hip Hop or the Rap scene and honestly have next to no interest for mumble crap and another song with the same drum patterns or everything sounding exactly like the other person before, maybe that's me getting old and bitter, I think every generation will say, the music was better in my day, but I honestly feel its all a bit .. samey now, everyone looks and sounds like each other! With people seemingly wanting to just be famous for the sake of it and are more content creators on live all the time rather than just making music. Times have changed and I am not sure I am quite up to speed yet!

How has your music evolved over the years?

L.P: It’s probably gotten better. I think I've become happier in the recent year. My first songs were quite dire/depressing.

N.W: My music has changed majorly from my first album on Flipper Music in 2018, some of the music I had released with Flipper Music were songs before 2018 as well so there is certainly a progression and a steady descent across albums into where I started to really find this genre I enjoy to make is. I am happy with my progression and happy to say that I am still learning as I go , you never stop learning and if you think you have the answer for everything, you lost the passion in experimentation and have pigeonholed a genre to be able to apply that same knowledge on each song, just wont work, each song is its own beast and needs to be tamed, or not! I am very thankful for people that have been sticking around with me since my early days in music and I have gone from Dubstep and mainly electronic music to this style I create currently, most likely as well I know have in the very far back of my mind when creating that it could potentially be used for a visual project where its telling a story to the music, but I do not let it dictate what the final result would be. I will continue to experiment and continue to learn and I know that my best works are still yet to come. I have been in the back office for a while now as I have a lot of pieces of the puzzle to put together, but everything is nearly ready to start linking up, for my new business and taking control of my own music now. Being with Flipper music for 9 albums, I had no control over the name of the album or how it was presented, artwork or even knew what date it would get released, it was never me trying to find fame but trying to earn an income from the music to allow me to then start really doing my own thing again, I never promoted myself properly and only close people around me really knew what I was doing , so this is not only a rebrand and rebirth but its the birth of a new creation in EscaVolt Records and No Paw Audio of what I am about and what I have to offer the world, I also know that I need to get with the times and start opening up more on social media , I am currently creating content for my YouTube channels and we are set to start filming the music videos for our latest songs on EscaVolt Records. So lots has changed since my first album, where as I was not interested in people listening before only the right people listening in the areas that would allow it to maybe get used in synch or placed in productions, but now I am very much independent and reaching out to the people out there that enjoy something a little different and follow along for the ride. The best is yet to come!

What aspect of your music - including your latest release - are you most proud of?

L.P: I love the layered vocalisations in “Death of the Wolf.” And the harmonies in “laws of life.” As well as the chorus on unstoppable because it’s got some cool rhythm/sound.

N.W: I am quite proud of my CV in the music world so far where my music has been used, placed or been approached to create music for , right now the bigger clients have so far been major sporting brands such as the NFL and MLB , Netflix show El Club, Hollyoaks and being used in a Red Cross advert, I also created the music for the film trailer to The Essex Boys Retribution, my other placements so far include : Channel 4, Sky Atlantic, UK Environment Agency, Canal+, Grip, France 5, NHK, Net5, TF1 Series Film, XEE, I Sydafrika Går Det Godt, TVN, Echappées belles, Hartz und Herzlich, RTL2, DR2, Kooth, Anonymous, TV Puls/Puls 2, Joe Network, Fox Network, Au nom de la vérité, In The Blood, Klimaets NYE Superstjerne, DRP2, Vodafone TV, BBT, RTE One, and the 2018 European Athletics Championships and many more!

I have also appeared several times on BBC Introducing and we have been told that our next single The Laws Of Life which is released on 21st March 2026 has been selected as a featured track on BBC Introducing and are currently awaiting to know what that means exactly. It is also a proud achievement to have worked with so many talented artists so far, I was also approached to remix Mark Morrison officially. I am very happy and lucky to have been able to meet Lois as It does not seem even possible now for those songs to have been anyone else but her.

I am looking forward to the future now being fully independent and I know as said before that our best works, and my best works are still yet to come. Please feel welcome to check my website out and have a browse and to follow me on my journey if you enjoy what I create. @NightWolfUK or my website - www.nightwolfuk.com

And how do you think this release fits into what you plan to release in the future in terms of theme and sound?

L.P: Probably in keeping with honest and emotional songs, I was feeling unstoppable, in a new place in life. From what seemed like the end of years of suffering. Stepping into new shoes. I wrote this song like Yay! I can’t wait. Hoping people vibe to this song and get to share that excitement and acknowledge their imperfect past. We hope to get the song placed in a spy show or film that would be amazing!

N.W: This song as well as my other recent collaborations are pointing in the right direction, I would like to complete an album with Lois at least and then release that, where I would like to see the music is being used in a major film/TV show or Game and will be pushing myself for this to happen, we keep getting told that our songs between me and Lois fits well in the James Bond world and I will push to have it used in something such as the likes. I am trying to have a consistent theme for the first 12 songs released on the label, I will then switch things up and create another one for the next 12 and so on, I want to try and be recognised when we are releasing new music so am trying to make something in my promotions that is recognisable as a brand or what you might expect to hear, but saying that , you never really know what you are going to hear from me, I enjoy to just make music based on how I feel and I switch back and forth into genres, so hopefully people who listen to me have an eclectic taste such as I ! But overall these songs with Lois are a fantastic starting point for the first releases to feature on my label EscaVolt Records, and are the start of a new journey for me , more learning and figuring it out on the way. But I will be trying my hardest moving forward to get our names out there and show the people what we are about, and hopefully , in turn we will find our people out there in the wild. I look forward very much to seeing what we will create in the near future and hope you enjoy what we are doing so far!

Are there any crazy goals you have for the year ahead we should be looking forward to?

L.P: Not particularly, I have some plans to gig which feels crazy to me, but I am open to coming out of my shell more and making this a career!

N.W: So lots going on this year and thankfully so, We have our next release on EscaVolt records , The Laws Of Life being our 4th collaboration between me and Lois releasing on 21st March 2026, this song has also been selected as a featured track of the month with BBC Introducing and we are currently awaiting to hear from them to find out what that means exactly but its great news, they are also playing 3 of our 4 songs on their shows, we have our other songs debuting on over 100 radio stations elsewhere and are set to start filming for the music videos for our songs next so do keep following us if you are interested to see what we come up with for these songs. We have also been approached by a big news publication for our next song so lots happening. I then have my next single which is another collaboration but this time between The Fods and me Night Wolf called Kickback which will again be released on EscaVolt Records on 26th April 2026. On top of this I am as mentioned mid process of establishing my new sound effect and foley company called No Paw Audio and am aiming to start releasing content and packs later in this year. Other than this a lot of back office effort to push and promote the new music as far as I can , radio plugging and pushing our music as well as my other unreleased works to specific music libraries and music supervisors for potential placement and sync use. More content for my socials in regards to promoting my back catalog and just learning along the way as I go on the road to being truly self independent and doing things myself this time round and coming out of my shell more this year. I hope people enjoy what we do together and enjoy discovering our previous works. If you would like to keep up to date on what we are doing and see behind the madness of creating everything at once but taking the time to make it worthwhile, then please follow me on my socials. We really appreciate people taking the time to read about us and hope that you are interested to come and have a listen. Thank you for listening already if you do and for taking the time to read about us, please follow me if you're interested (@NightWolfUK) and keep an eye or ear out for us appearing on BBC Introducing.