Musician teamed up with ‘Idol’ contestant and ‘Kidd Kraddick’ contributor Tim Halperin
By Rachel Ambelang
Staff Writer
There is a stereotype that most freshmen come to Baylor, choose the default pre-med degree and then change it at least twice before figuring out what that they want to do with their life; however, there are a few that seem to have it figured out who displace that stereotype. Fort Worth freshman Clark Nowlin is one of those rarities.
At 19, Nowlin has already performed with different bands and artists all across the state. Now, on Nov. 11, he will release his first self-produced album “Recycled”.
Nowlin said, “I started playing guitar in elementary school just as something to do. It wasn’t a passion of mine or anything.”
As he aged, Nowlin continued to play with small bands and for his church, gradually becoming serious about his music career. During his junior year in high school, Nowlin met Tim Halperin, who led worship at Christ Chapel at the time, which was Nowlins home church in Fort Worth.
Soon after their introduction, Nowlin began playing bass in Halperin’s shows around Fort Worth. Unfortunately, the band got put on hold last year when Halperin tried out for “American Idol.”
Halperin made it all the way through to the top 24 of season ten before being eliminated. However, Halperin’s disappointment lasted only momentarily.
Kidd Kraddick picked up Halperin and made him a weekly part of his radio show, “Kidd Kraddick in the Morning.”
Halperin did a live bit during the show called “Idol Got It Wrong” where he remixes a song one of the “Idol” contestants sang the night before. Nowlin rejoined Halperin as his bass player during these live performances at the studio. He went on to record the bass tracks in Halperin’s first album, “Rise and Fall.”
It was during Halperin’s time away for “American Idol” that Nowlin began producing his own music.
“Right before he went, [the band] was starting to play a lot and actually starting to get some popularity in Texas and then it stopped cold turkey when he got onto ‘Idol,’ and I was like ‘What do I do? I’m on this music high and I can’t do anything,” Nowlin said.
The result of Nowlins’ restlessness, combined with the sudden overload of free time, was The Cosmos Project. The Cosmos Project is the name of Nowlin’s band. Whether or not The Cosmos Project can be considered “a band” is debatable since Nowlin is the one playing all of the instruments, as well as providing vocals.
It started as an accident, as Nowlins was mix a cover of Coldplay’s song “See You Soon” as a gift for Halperin when he got back from “American Idol.”
“I had just started singing and wasn’t really comfortable with my voice,” Nowlin said. “I was just using it as a reference.”
After hearing the recording several times, Nowlin decided that he liked the way he sounded and kept the song for himself. Halperin even agreed to sing backup vocals on the track after hearing it.
Nowlin liked producing the cover so much that he made two more, “I’ll Be Your Breeze,” originally by Andrew Belle, and “Who Knows Who Cares,” originally by the band Local Natives. Now, Nowlin is releasing the three songs together as his first solo EP.
Nowlin talked about his unique plan for the EP and said, “When I decided to make the EP, I was initially just going to release it for free…I realized that it could make some money, and that’s what so many people need globally.”
Nowlin decided to charge $3 for a copy of the EP. Since he said that he did not expect to make anything from the EP, so anything he did make from selling it he would give away to the organization From Hunger to Hope.
Nowlin said in America, citizens have so much that they do not need, so we are all capable of making small changes for the improvement of others less fortunate than us.
Nowlin explained his motivation for selling “Recycled,” is the money being raised for charity.
“Over 800 million people will go without food today. That’s something I believe we can change,” he said.
Further information on Nowlin and his EP can be found on the band’s Facebook page.
