Meet Fermz and Renz – the versatile duo super producers popularly known as FNR Beats. The talented 22 year-old duo who met at the age of 12 at secondary school were both born and raised in South London. From meeting at secondary school, they have since formed a close bond which makes them inseparable. In their spare time, they enjoy gaming, playing football and just having a relaxing moment. We sat with them to find out about their journey and talked about some of their aspirations.
PWR: How did you start your music production journey?
FNR: Well, Renz is a drummer, so he’s been around music from when he could walk but for me on the other hand, I only started getting into music at school. We both attended college with each other where we studied music and I can say that’s when we truly first started to develop the love for music.
PWR: How did the formation of your group come about?
FNR: It’s funny because we both started out our music journey as solo producers. One day Renz came over to my house with a drill beat he made and it was soo good; I was shocked because at that time I couldn’t make drill but I really wanted to. I was more into the rap side of things. I remember saying instead of us just staying solo, I think we should become a duo and teach each other instead of being against each other, and that’s how FNR was formed.
PWR: Given your versatility, how have you managed to develop your craft?
FNR: I think what helped us develop our craft the most was working with artist one to one. Normally in this day and age, people just email over beats and hope for the best. However with us, we really enjoy having sessions one to one and working with a different variety of artistes. We also worked with a few upcoming artistes who we managed alongside our manager Rhino, this definitely allowed us to understand how different artistes work.
PWR: Who are your main influences and why?
FNR: Our main influences for music from the UK has to be Fermz’s uncle who goes by the name of Team Salut; also Quiet Pack, La Beats, Sykes Beats, MkThePlug; and from the US, it’s Young Chop, Metro Boomin, the list can go on. We came up of the Chicago drill sound which is how we fell in love with drill, everyone mentioned are so talented and unique which helped us mould our sound today.
PWR: What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?
FNR: The biggest highlight of our career so far has to be us getting our dream placement with Chief Keef, we use to run around school rapping his songs word by word, even to the point we started to dress like him and talk like him, so to finally have a song with the GOAT of drill is crazy.
PWR: What talent are you yet to work with but would like to work with?
FNR: It has to be J Hus! The guy is too talented. I feel like we would create something crazy with him, whether it would be drill, afro , trap, anything! I think it would be legendary.
PWR: What can we expect to come in the new year?
FNR: Bangers on top of bangers! We never stop working. We’re always trying to improve on our sound and learn how to get better at what we’re doing.
Interview by: Deola Onigbanjo