Journal 16 (November 13th, 2025)

BACK TO MY ROOTS PART 2

Hey (Insert Name)!

David here, and this is part 2 of our recurring series where I share the story of how I found my way into music. In part 1 I talked about how my childhood shaped everything I do now, from singing Bollywood songs in the car with my mom 🎶 to discovering American pop on the radio, to joining choir and every school musical I could get into. If you missed that one, you can go back a few journals and read it! If you already caught up, welcome to part 2.

First Love and Heartbreak 💔

I always wanted to write songs, even back in high school, but I was terrified of trying and never satisfied with anything I made. It felt like my skills never matched my taste and I had no idea where to begin. That all changed during my first year of college.

About three weeks into my first semester, I went through my first heartbreak. I was living with two people I had never met, surviving on a suitcase with twelve outfits that were all a little too old, and sleeping under a comforter I accidentally burned in the dryer during week one 😅. One night, I came home from a party, still a little buzzed, and could not handle the empty silence in the room. I picked up my guitar, started strumming, and wrote what became my first song ever. Looking back, it was terrible, but it was the first time I had ever taken my pain and put it into music.

Music got me through that heartbreak, and heartbreak gave me the push to finally start writing. Funny how pain has a way of forcing growth if you know how to channel it. After that night, I kept writing and playing guitar after class. I downloaded a pirated copy of Ableton Live 9 onto my laptop, bought a cheap interface, and started experimenting with recording. I even began going to open mics, and that is how I ended up joining my first band.

My First Band 🎸

I remember exactly how I met my first bandmate. It was a Sunday in early 2016. I had just turned 19 and was heading to an open mic at The Bitter End in NYC. I was sitting on the Staten Island bus wearing a blue leather jacket, a flannel button down, skinny jeans, vans, and holding my guitar case.

(A Selfie from around that time)

The bus stopped, and a guy my age got on with his own guitar. He sat across from me. Our eyes met.

“Nice guitar,” I said.

“Thanks, same to you,” he replied.

We laughed and started talking. He had gone to a music high school in the city and grew up playing in bands with his twin brother. We showed each other songs we were working on and really clicked. Up until then, I had met people at open mics but had never really worked with other musicians. He invited me to a jam session because he was building a new band after his old bandmates left for college. I showed up, we jammed, and a few days later I officially joined as the vocalist.

Looking back at old recordings, I am honestly amazed at how talented everyone was. They had insanely good musicianship and I grew so much working with them. They introduced me to rock, alt rock, and punk. This point in my life is when I discovered Nirvana, The Foo Fighters, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, and more 🎧. Those jam sessions built my songwriting chops and sharpened my sense of melody. I am really grateful I got to be in that band, even though we eventually went our separate ways.

Here’s a photo of our practice space (in my bandmates house basement)

We used to jam every Saturday together.

You can listen to some of the songs from that band down below.

I do not want to make this too long, so I will stop here for now.

Thanks so much for being here 🙌

David

PS: Next time, we will talk about the second band I joined right before meeting Hunter 👀

Journal 15 (October 21st, 2025)

Hey!

It’s David, and we’re back with some updates on what we’ve been up to!

🎵 Music:
Hunter and I had some killer sessions recently. I’m so grateful we still get to work on music together even though we’re an ocean away. We’re putting the finishing touches on one of our new songs. Here’s a little sneak peek from our Muse sessions.

✈️ Travel:
I took a solo trip to Dubai recently, my first ever, and it was honestly amazing.

I went out to dinner with strangers using an app called Timeleft (super cool experience), visited the aquarium, Dubai Museum, the fountains, went zip lining, and caught up with old friends. One of them is performing in Once Upon A Time in Dubai this December, so I’m planning to go back to see her on stage! Super excited for her.

I also met some local producers while I was there, and wow, the creative energy in Dubai is next level.

Oh, and after three years of wanting one, I finally got myself an iPad. I used to think it would be a waste of money, but it’s been a game changer for note taking and productivity.

Next up, Nashville in November to visit Hunter and reunite with my cats. I’m bringing two of them back to Riyadh with me cause I miss them a lot.

🎬 Artist Projects:
I recently worked on another video for John Gatta. He has so many bangers lined up that I’m super hyped for. You can check it out below.

🏊 Personal:
I finally learned how to swim after a lifetime of being really good at sinking 😂. After about two and a half weeks, I’m starting to get comfortable in the water and even learned to tread.

I also signed up for a meal plan service here in Riyadh. It’s made staying on track way easier, and it’s only about four dollars a meal.

🧠 Mental Health:
Therapy has been helping a ton. My therapist even said I’m a completely different person from three months ago, and I feel it too.

Sleep is still a work in progress, but I got a weighted blanket, and that’s helping. I also started listening to music again, something I stopped doing for a while because of burnout. It feels so good to fall in love with songs again. Lately I’ve been vibing to Keshi, INJI, IVOXYGEN, Jon Bellion, Meovv, Linkin Park, Zara Larsson, Young the Giant, and Flawed Mangoes.

Overall, things are looking up. We’re gearing up to start making content for our new releases and working on even more new music. I also made a new friend who’ll be helping us out with content soon.

Last but most importantly, thanks for being here, It means the world to Hunt & I. Seriously. 💙

– David

PS: I’m adding a photo of Hunter signing some more CD’s we’ll be shipping out:

Journal 14 (September 30th, 2025)

3 AM before the drums hit… 🎶

Behind the scenes of DREAMWRLD

Hey!

Picture this: it’s 3 AM the night before our drum tracking session for two songs off our second EP. We’ve just finished writing and arranging the second track. We’re exhausted, but buzzing. The anticipation of finally bringing our vision to life is so real you can almost touch it.

(Think “knees weak, palms sweaty, mom’s spaghetti” vibes 😂).

You close your eyes, crash for a few hours, and then it’s showtime….

👉 Click the video below to watch the BTS of our drum tracking session for “I Want You” and “Wide Awake” from our upcoming DREAMWRLD EP!

As always, thanks for being here with us,

David 🙌🏽

Journal 13 (September 23rd, 2025

Your turn, (Insert name)! What’s your thing?

Let’s make this a two-way conversation 🤗

Hey!

I’d love to get to know you more, so I’m leaving a little open ended question down below for ya:

What are some of your hobbies, and how’d you get into it/them?

I promise, it’s me responding and writing all these emails… not some bot.

And as always, thanks for being here,

David

Journal 12 (September 16, 2025

Back to My Roots Part 1

Looking Back in Appreciation ☺️

Hey,

David here. As someone who has been chronically good at forgetting how far I have come, I figured I would start a little series to look back in appreciation at my roots. Along the way, you will get to know a little more about what No Fltr is about and why we do what we do.

🎭 Early Pull Toward the Arts

I have always felt a pull toward the arts as a kid, whether it was dancing, singing, or acting. In elementary school, I joined an afterschool program where a dance teacher who had toured with major recording artists taught us choreography.

Growing up in a Pakistani American household, I was surrounded by Bollywood movies, and I think that is what really drew me in. I loved watching actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Hrithik Roshan. Movies like Dhoom, Krish, Koi Mil Gaya, and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham were everything to me.

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Bollywood Actors I grew up with

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🚗 Singing with Mom

A core memory of mine is singing along to Bollywood songs in the car with my mom, using the CDs she would burn off the internet. Up until the 8th grade, I mostly knew Indian and Desi music, and honestly, that is what first got me singing.

Around age 10 or 12, I realized I wanted to do music after watching a Desi version of American Idol Kids Edition on TV. Seeing kids my age performing on stage made me fall in love with the idea of being there too.

📻 Discovering the Radio

8th grade is when I discovered the radio. Stations like 103.5 and 102.7 FM in New York introduced me to Eminem, early Drake, Jay Z, and Kanye.

Songs like Mercy, Cinderella Man, Love the Way You Lie, Power, and Runaway carried me through my most formative years. I was dealing with puberty, my parents separating, and struggling to make friends.

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Some Albums & Covers with Songs I Grew up on

Music became my lifeline. It got me through the day and gave me comfort when the world felt too big and overwhelming.

🎶 High School & Beyond

By late middle school and throughout high school, I joined every play and theater production I could. In my senior year, I even took an intro to guitar class that taught me the basics.

Looking back now, it was heartbreak during my freshman year of college that really pushed me into writing songs. Even though I was terrible when I started, I stuck with it long enough to get good.

But more on that next time.

As always, thanks for reading,

Dave

PS: Next time, I’ll share how heartbreak in college pushed me to start writing songs (and why I stuck with it even when I was terrible at first). Stay tuned for Part 2.

Journal 11 (September 9th, 2025)

I Literally Almost Gave Up…

Hey,

It’s been a minute since you’ve heard from Hunter or me, and maybe you were wondering where we’ve been. Well… I self sabotaged so hard, I ended up in another country. 😭😅🤣

It’s crazy, cause just a few months ago, we were on a livestream with Timbaland. He was hyping our music, saying “Your songs are dope. Just build your fanbase and you got it.” And right after that high point, I crashed. Hard. I spent nearly 12 weeks bedridden, paralyzed by fear, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and this heavy sense of unworthiness. I wasn’t answering calls or texts, just curling up in a ball and numbing myself with TV shows and anime. Eventually, it got so bad I ended up in the ER.

I was diagnosed with acute depression, started therapy, and decided to make a drastic change. I packed my life into suitcases and moved overseas to live with my dad and brother in Saudi Arabia. It was impulsive, sure, but I felt like I needed to shock my environment to shake myself out of that rut. (I think I read in Atomic Habits that changing your environment can change your state, so I took it to the extreme 😅)

Looking back, I realized I’ve been living in extremes for a while. I set unrealistic goals, then beat myself up for not meeting them. It was my way of convincing myself that:

• I’m not good enough

• I’m not doing enough

• I can’t do it

• It’s not possible for me

• I should give up

None of that is true, but it’s wild how old wounds and fears can twist the way you see yourself. I almost gave up on music… and on life. (Sorry if that’s heavy 😭).

But here’s the good news. I’m doing much better now. I’ve been moving again, creating again, and finally working on No Fltr stuff. I’m a little scared, but more excited than anything to be back. I even attached some new photos I edited, along with our shirt designs for the upcoming DREAMWRLD EP. 🥳

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Updates on Hunter

Hunter has been down in Florida working on tons of music. He’s been producing and mixing records for other artists, and he’s heading to Nashville soon to connect with more producers before making the big move there.

Songs Hunter Worked On - Snippets

We also just had our first remote session together using this software called Muse! I attached a screenshot of that too.

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Our First Remote Session! 🥳

All that to say, things are moving again. And before I wrap this up, I just want to say thanks. It’s been a wild few months, and the fact that you opened this email means a lot.

Talk soon,
David

Journal 10 (April 15th, 2025)

Hey!

It’s David with our journal for the week! As always, we post these updates a few times a month with insights about the band, our lives, and everything we’ve been working on. If you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journals on this page!

Here’s what’s new:

I’m super excited because we just dropped our newest single, “I Want You.”

It’s a hopelessly romantic track about confessing your feelings to someone you can’t stop thinking about. This one’s special—not just because of the story behind it, but because it officially kicks off a brand new era of music for us. We’ve been working on this release since last June, and it sounds totally different from our first EP.

You can stream or download the song below—I’d love to know what you think. 🎧

I Want You

No Fltr

Download

Behind the Scenes

Hunter was staying with me in New York for the past month, and we got a ton done while he was here—from music planning to prepping the EP rollout. We even got into a solid gym routine together, and honestly, having a training partner helped me push way harder than I would’ve solo.

He just left for Florida today, but there’s a chance I’ll head down there in the next few weeks so we can keep building.

I’m attaching some photos we took while he was here—check them out below! 📸

Personal Updates

I’m finally getting the hang of the weight training diet and starting to see some real progress on the scale. Mentally I’ve been feeling a little fried lately, but also genuinely excited about everything we have coming. I’ve been taking voice lessons the last few weeks and I’m already seeing improvement, which feels really encouraging.

I fell off a bit with the vlog series I started for the training journey, but I’ll pick it back up soon. For now, just trying to stay focused, stay positive, and take it one step at a time.

I can’t wait to share what else we’ve got lined up—there’s so much more on the way.

Talk soon,
– Dave

Journal 9 (March 11th, 2025)

Hey!

It’s David with our journal for the week! As always, we post these updates a few times a month with cool insights about the band, our lives, and what we’ve been up to. If you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page linked below. The password to access it is 1110.

Here’s what’s new ⭐️ :

It’s crazy to think we’re already 11 days into March—this year is flying by. Hunter officially moved to Florida, but he’ll be back in New York after March 15th so we can work on music and create more content for our upcoming release, which should drop in the next 4-6 weeks.

This past week, I’ve been focused on finalizing the album cover for our new EP, ‘DREAMWRLD’, and we also had a single cover shoot for our upcoming track, ‘I WANT YOU.’ I’m including some cool shots from the shoot, as well as the ‘DREAMWRLD’ EP cover, below. 👇🏼

🎵 Music Updates

A little while back, we were on mega-producer Timbaland’s live stream, and he listened to some of our new songs—he said they were dope! If you don’t know, he’s produced for Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott, Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, and even Beyoncé, just to name a few. He also followed us on social media, which is surreal. You can watch the live stream of us with him down below. 👇🏼

I’m beyond excited to release these songs and see how we grow over the next few months. We’ve been working on an exclusive experience where fans can get early access to the full EP over 5-6 days, with tons of exclusive content before it’s out publicly.

Publicly, we’ll be releasing one song every month until the entire EP is out, so only those who sign up for the experience will get all the music early. It’s been a ton of work, but we’re almost there!

💭 Personal Updates

I’ve been feeling a little low, but I’m still pushing forward. Still working out, meal prepping, and eating decently(minus some pizza last night 😅). I’m trying not to self-sabotage—I tend to isolate when I’m stressed, which can derail things. But we’re keeping it moving, and I’m proud of that.

🙏🏽 Shoutout & Thank You!

I want to take a moment to shout out everyone who got our LOML EP before it dropped. There are 369 of you on the list below, which is mind-blowing.

If you’re one of the people who bought something, just know your support means the world to us. Thank you for believing in us and helping bring this vision to life. 😭🙌🏽🖤

- David

Shoutout to:

Adam Blackstock

Adam Hamrick

Adolfo Garcia-Torres

Adrian De Anda

Aileen White

Aisa Mann

Alan Wu

Alberto De La Cruz

Aleks Talaro

Alex Herrera

Alex Poitra

Alex Truong

Alexa Falkner

Alexa Hagan

Alexander Singleton

Alexandra Carlton

Alexandria Hogan

Alicia Buttermore

Alize Brookshire

allison kennedy

Allivia Campbell

Alyssa McCrory

Alyssa Odell

Alyssa Parrott

Amanda Tangorra

Ambar Garo

Amber Poulin

Amelia Flora

Amielia Lauritano

Andon Parascando

Andrew Dubon

Andrew Sanchez

Angel Farias Hidalgo

Angel Herrera

Angel Toscano

Angelina Pasquella

Anna Peterson

AnnMarie Bauchou

Anthoni Dvorkin

Anthony Garcia

Anthony Ortiz

Anthony Umphlett

Anthony Villalobos

Antonio Mercado

Antony Ponnaiya

Arturo Valenzuela

Ashley Kelly

Ashley Vinson

Ashton Priest

aubrey Gonzalez

Autumn Mizer

Aviry Chandler

Bailey Lopez

Beau Hurst

Benjamin Kramer

Bounleua Srilasak

Braden Brown

Brady Walker

Brady Wampler

Brecken Lossing

Breonna Burns

Brett Chiapuzio

Brian Ebare

Brian Wolf

Briana Cardozo

Brooke Wheeler

Brooklyn Harris

Bryan McMahon

Buddy Hicks-Gomez

Cade Camp

Caleb Wallace

Cambree Michelson

Cameron Taylor

Carmen Jacob

Carson VanWinkle

Cassandra Adsitt

Cayden Schmidt

Celest Carballo

Cesar Garcia

Cesar Marmolejo

Chase Farinelli

Christina Korth

Christopher Dolly

Christopher Durbin

Christopher Gilley

Christopher Lopez Hernandez

Christopher Ploof

Christopher Ristau

Christopher Wolfe

Christopher Zimmerman

Claudia Munoz

Cody Tarpley

Cody Thomas

Coleton Rodriguez

Colin Kisby

Corey Setzer

Courtney Baribeault

Crystal Delacruz

Crystal Schrader

Daniel Kudrik

Daniel Sanchez

Daniela Obispo

Danielle Reed

Darien Esposito

Darien Sarabia

David Brines

David Mumford

David S

Deanna Bernal

Destiny Broyles

DESTINY SCHANZ

Diego Burciaga

Diego Cintrón Santiago

Dimitrus Richardson

Donald Law

Drew Orth

Drizzly Bello

Eddie Estrello

Elizabeth Martinez

Elizabeth Ngo

Emily Crook

Emily Fisher

Emily Hemenway

Emily Jordan

Emily McCormick

Emily Proulx

Emma Camp

Eric Speed

Erick Garcia

Erick Loyo

Erick Rosas

erik rodriguez

Ethan Shelton

Evan Rodriguez

Gabriel Castrellon

GABRIELA ALVARADO

Gage Koenemanm

Garrett Douglas

Gaspar Larrain

Gavin Cox

Genova Marll

Grace Neil

Graham Bunn

Greg Walker

Griselda Rodriguez Villegas

Hanna Brisson

Hanna Phillips

Hannah Cole

Har Sedies

Harold Willson

Hector Anaya

Hieu Nguyen

Hiram Berenger III

Howard George

Hugo Zamarripa

Hunter Yang

Iliana Zaldivar

Isabell Villegas

Isabella Henry

Israel Manrique

Issak Montoya

izzy cunningham

Jackie Mcbride

Jacob Barker

Jacob Clark

Jacob Ramos

Jacob Sanchez

Jakob Watral

Jamarcus Robinson

James Ehrich

James Picanco James Picanco

Janice Dutram

Jarely Moreno Suarez

Jasmine Shore

Jayson Jayson

Jayson Miller

jeffrey waddell

Jelisa C

Jenna Solimine

Jenni Sauer

Jennifer Moscoso

Jennifer Muth

Jeremiah Cohen

Jeremy Comtois

Jerome Razo

Jesse Esqueda

Jesse Salazar

Jessenia Solorzano

Jessica Joyce Gonzales

Jessiqua Underwood

Jesus Hernandez

Jesus Loya

Joel Bota

John Fagundes

Johnny Martinez

Jon Oliver

Jonathan Campos

Jonathan Maser

Jonathan Otero

Jonathan Schellin

Jordan Grimsrud

Jose Jesus Cervantes

Joseph colone

Joshua Laroya

Juan Rosario

Juana Flores

Julian Alanis

Julian Rivera

Julian Williams

Justin Atkinson

Justin Beeles

Justin Samuel

Justin Zelaya

Kacee Kearney

kaden zhao

Kailee Warren

Kaitlyn Hilsee

Kaleb Gatewood

Kalob Cleaver

Kareem Ayyash

Katelynn Thompson

Katelynn Thompson

Kathryn Creameans

katie bullock

Katie Meade

Keith Neidig

Keith Swalley

Keka Lurendez

Ketsna Niphol

Khalil Deichman

Kiera Woodman

Kris Golay

Kristina McBee

Krystal Kleiin

kurtis Wells

Kyana Esquiaqui

kyle nute

Lando Mendez

Larkyn Lowery

Laura Holden

Laura joelle Mcknight

Leandro Pereira

Lee Watkins

LeeAnn Lyninger

Leroy aaliyah Harris

Levinya Doupnik

Lily Albert

Lily Asensio

Linda Ellis

Lindy Anderson

Logan Morales

Lucas French

Luis Mendoza

Luiza Valle

Maddie Foss

Madelynn Helms

Madelynn Rivera

Madison Brooks

Magno Mateo

Mallory Tucker

Marco Ventura

Marcus Labuga

Marie Cordalis

Mary Kingsley

Maryanna Montes

Matthew Maris

Maurilio Baca

mckenzie thrasher

McKinley Doll

Megan Cline

Michael Balcombe

Michael Baze

michael bazille

Michael Chu

Michael R

Michale Hurstrom

Michelle Lane

Miguel Mejia

Mikey Rinehart

Milena Lee

Miley Kim

Miranda Santana

Monserrat Moguel Lopez

Morgan Cividanes

Morgan Conlan

Natalie Temple

Natasha Mullet

Nathan Webster

Nathaniel Allen

Nathaniel Pierce

Nicholas Russo

Nicole Sparks

Nikita Lobo

Nikki Wilson

Noah Abramson

Noah Bloedel

Noah Richter

Noah Schenck

Okini Hernandez

Onyx Crofts

Owen Rummage

Paige Barnum

PAIGE RODRIGUEZ

PAUL CRAWFORD

paul hanscom

Racheal Slayback

Rachel Handley

Reagan Marrs

Ritchie Cotter

Robert Glasgow

Rodolfo Marin

Roger Reeves

Rosa Cardenas

Rowdy Burke

Rut Webb

Ryan Fry

Ryan Lilley

Ryan Macapagal

Ryan Price

Rylee Ozaki

Samantha Nuber

Samuel Ruiz Vega

Santiago Archunde

Sara Altaffer

Sarah Englund

sarah wiessel

Sarah Williams

Scott Stewart

Sean Matthews

Sean McDonald

Shane DuBois

Shawn Mckinley

ShawnaRae Bruch

Shay Kenway

Shelby Mullis

Shelbylyn Walker

Star Fitchpatrick

Starling Gonzalez

Steve Miles

Steven Bailey

Steven Benjamin

Sunshine Capone

Sunti Moua

Sydney Hamilton

Tatiana Carpenter

Taylor Kandel

Tenzin Chodon

Theodora Dabrowski

Thomas Korn

Tiffany Amaro

Timothy Twa

Tina Moore

Tony Jackson

trace kitzmann

Travis Daniel

Trevor Martinez

Tyler Haskell

Tyler T

Vanessa Murillo

Vincent Herrera

William Brauneis

William West

Wyletta Cowie

Yobani Barajas

Zachariah Ross

Zachery Ringgold

Zander Oberschelp

Zayra Martinez

Zoie Myler

Journal 8 (February 27th, 2025

Hey!

It’s Dave, and we’re back with our first journal of 2025! As always, we post these updates a few times a month with cool insights about the band, our lives, and what we’ve been up to. If you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page linked below. The password to access it is 1110.

Here’s what’s new:

First & foremost—Happy New Year! I know we’re already approaching March, but this year has been packed for both Hunter and me. Thank you for sticking around and still opening our emails—it means a lot.

I’ve been on the road for work since early January and just got back to NY. Hunter’s been swamped too, finishing up a bunch of his backlogged projects before his big move to Florida with his family (he’s moving this Friday 😭).

Traveling has been a wild ride. I ended up getting sick twice (food poisoning and a cold), bringing my total to four timesbetween December and January—crazy, right? All the work travel really took a toll on me. Thankfully, I’m getting a bit of a break in March (and hopefully April) before things pick up again.

🎵 Music Updates:

Our LOML EP officially dropped on January 14th on all streaming platforms, which is super exciting for both of us! Huge thank you to everyone who streamed it, listened to it early, and showed us love. We’ll be giving a shout-out to everyone who got a signed copy in our next journal!

Speaking of EPs, we just wrapped up all the songs for our second EP, “DREAMWRLD,” and we’re planning to release the first single in late March.

“DREAMWRLD” takes listeners on a wild, fantastical, love-themed escape from reality—where all dreams and desires come true. We wanted to capture that over-the-top, sappy, romanticized version of love you often see in pop culture through the lens of a character we created called the “Lover Boy” or “Hopeless Romantic.”

This is the first time I’ll be stepping into a character in front of the camera, and I’m super excited. It feels like another step toward our mission to show others they can do anything and become anyone they want to be.

We’ve even started building out a wardrobe to match the vibe of the music and bring this dreamlike world to life. I’m attaching a little clip of us in the studio while we were tracking drums for one of the songs off the EP. The song is called “Wide Awake,” and it’s one of my favorites:

💪 Personal Updates:

I’m kicking off a vlog series about getting back in shape, which I’ll share on YouTube once I have a few more videos (and after we release a few songs from “DREAMWRLD”).

During my travels, I put together a 4-day workout routine and a meal plan to help with my fitness goals—lose a bit of weight, build some muscle, and overall feel better. It’s been challenging but fun.

I used to work out a lot a few years ago but stopped because of a back and elbow injury. I even had to get surgery on my elbow and never really made it back to the gym—until now. My goal is simple: show up, stick to the routine and nutrition plan, stay injury-free, and maybe look good while doing it 😂. I’ll keep you updated!

🧠 Mentally:

I’ve been a bit anxious about Hunter moving to Florida. I’m working through it, and we’re committed to making music together no matter what. We’ll likely be going back and forth between New York and Florida until we eventually land in Nashville or LA. I know we’ll figure it out.

As always, thank you so much for reading through. Let me know how things are going on your end—I’d love to hear from you!

- Dave

Journal 7 (December 25th, 2024)

Hey!

It’s David again with our last journal of the year! As always, we post these updates weekly/bi-weekly with cool insights about the band, our lives, and what we’ve been up to. If you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page linked below. The password to access it is 1110.

Here’s what’s new:

These past three weeks have been super hectic. I spent the second week of December traveling for work, and I was on planes so much that I wished I wouldn’t have to fly again anytime soon. On the way back home, I missed two flights and ended up spending a night in Memphis, Tennessee—but honestly, I think it was meant to happen.

As you may or may not know, I’m from Staten Island. Whenever I fly, I usually go through Newark Airport in New Jersey. While standing in line at the TSA checkpoint (missing my flight because I overslept from travel fatigue), I struck up a conversation with the couple behind me. Turns out, they were both artists from upstate New York. What’s even crazier is that the girl happened to be someone I was supposed to write a song for with a buddy of mine! My friend had sent me her demos about a month ago, and we were planning to get into a session after the New Year. And there we were, meeting in an airport while traveling to separate destinations. What are the chances?!

We’re planning to get a session in after the New Year and work on some music together. Her boyfriend is also a super talented artist—he’s only been making music for two years, but he’s already amazing.

Updates on Music:
We’re still wrapping up songs for our second EP. We’ve booked studio time next Thursday on Staten Island to record some live drums. I’m super hyped to finish these two tracks and get the EP sent out for mixing and mastering.

For those who don’t know:

• Mixing is the process of balancing all the different elements in a song, making sure they don’t clash and that everything works together sonically.

• Mastering adjusts the overall volume, balances sound frequencies (like bass and treble), and adds finishing touches to make the track cohesive and ready for release.

Without mixing and mastering, it’s hard to create music that sounds great on all speakers and fits well on playlists with other songs. While we can handle this process ourselves, it’s usually best to leave it to a mixing and mastering engineer—it’s what they do best.

Last week, we also had a writing session with our friend John Gatta, an insanely talented rapper. I shot a bunch of his music videos this past year. We worked on some new hip-hop and R&B-influenced songs. I’ll attach a clip of one of his songs on our blog page—check it out if you’re interested!

SWAG (Go)

JOHN GATTA

Earlier that week, we attended a producer networking event in NYC and met some amazing artist-producers. We’ll probably set up sessions with a few of them after the New Year. I’ve been in serious networking mode lately, meeting tons of new people, which is a big part of my work. It’s been interesting to see how my networking experience translates to building connections in the music industry.

Personal Updates:
Last week, I felt super burnt out from all the travel, the networking event, and the session with Gatta, and I ended up catching a cold. I’ve been taking it easy at home, which has been a blessing in disguise since I really needed a break. Yesterday was the first time I took a real breather and just sat down to watch some TV. I caught a few more episodes of the anime Dandadan, and it brought me so much joy.

I don’t know how to explain it, but lately, I’ve been feeling this aura of joy and gratitude.
This year brought a lot of change, and not all of it was easy. Some moments really rocked the boat. But I learned a lot and feel like I’ve taken a few steps in the right direction—even if I did backtrack here and there. I’m just incredibly grateful to have another day on this earth and the opportunity to connect with others. Writing these journal emails has become one of my favorite things to do (other than making music 😂). It’s something I genuinely look forward to, so I just want to say thank you.

Thank you so much for being here, for opening these emails, and for following our journey.

I’m so excited to head into the New Year and share all the amazing things Hunter and I have been working on for 2025.

- David

Journal 6 (December 8th, 2024

Hey! 👋🏽

David here with this week’s journal! As always, we post these updates weekly/bi-weekly with cool insights about the band, our lives, and what we’ve been up to. If you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page linked below. The password to access it is 1110.

Here’s what’s new:

This past week has been super fun. Yesterday, I was at a music expo where David Guetta gave a talk on some of his production techniques. It was fascinating to see his workflow and philosophy—especially since he’s such a huge electronic DJ and producer with decades in the game. It was also validating to see how much our own music creation process aligns with his.

Updates on our music creation process:
We ended up mapping out the production for our song Wide Awake. It starts as a super simple piano ballad with just my voice, piano, and some ambient elements. After the second chorus, drums, guitar, and bass kick in, and the song gets huge from the bridge onwards. The last chorus starts with this awesome three-part harmony that (in my opinion) ties a perfect bow on the track. I’m so hyped to show it to you, but it’s not done yet—we decided we want a real drummer to play on it. We’ll be bringing in a friend of ours to add some cool fills and arrangements. 🤩

Hunter and I are also considering working on a little rap EP with a friend after the New Year, which I’m super excited about.

A little fun fact about me:
I actually didn’t know any American music until around 8th grade. Growing up, I mostly listened to Bollywood music in the car with my mom. Spotify wasn’t a thing back then, so I remember ripping a bunch of rap songs off the internet (😅 don’t judge me—I was 12 😭). I got really into Lil Wayne, Drake, Kanye, and J. Cole, especially their early projects in the 2010s. Rap became a huge part of my life; it got me through high school when I felt like I didn’t fit in. They even played rap during warmups for high school basketball games.

I wasn’t great at basketball, but I loved playing. Allen Iverson was one of my biggest inspirations—he went against all odds and still dominated despite being smaller than other players. Watching him made me believe I could achieve great things too, no matter the setbacks.

Honestly, I never know what I’m going to write when I start these journals, but somehow, things just flow, and I even surprise myself. Like…how did we go from David Guetta to basketball?! 🤯

But enough about me—what about you?

Is there someone who really inspires you or inspired you when you were younger?

No pressure to respond, of course.

Just sending good energy your way!

- Dave

Journal 5 (December 1st, 2024

Hey there, David here!

Welcome to this week’s journal! I know it’s been a bit since we didn’t send one last weekend, but we’re back and lots of things have been cooking 🥘 As always, we post these updates weekly/bi-weekly, and if you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page!

Here’s what we’ve been up to these past two weeks!

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in the US. For those who don’t know, we celebrate it here on the last Thursday of November to give thanks for the blessings of the past year. Last year, my family and I had friends over, but this holiday season, my mom and I ended up going to my friend Josh’s house to celebrate. It was a lot of fun just hanging out with him and his family. Josh was instrumental in helping us shoot our first two music videos—he coordinated everything and stayed with us the whole time during the shoots. He was also the only friend I made in high school. But yeah, he’s dope.

Some good news about the CDs: We’ve given away over 100 so far—124 to be exact 🤯—so I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s gotten one and shown their support. We even added a cool little card with QR codes to our digital downloads page and members' site so people can easily access the pages we made. I’m attaching it below.

Last week, Hunter and I went to a Jeremy Zucker concert in Brooklyn. It was really nice to get out of the house and relax for a bit since it feels like we’re always working. Hunter’s actually working with a musician from Jeremy’s band on an artist project. His name is Todd, and he’s dope—he plays like five instruments!

We also finished another song for our second EP called Irresistible, and honestly, it’s one of my favorite songs we’ve made so far. I’m thinking that once all the songs are completed, we’ll do a live stream with everyone on our email list so you can hear them before the rest of the world does. Let me know if you’d want to join the live stream—I’m so excited about these songs and can’t wait to share them with you!

As you may or may not know, Hunter’s family is moving to Florida. Recently, Hunter and I have been talking about moving to Nashville. I’ve been traveling a lot for work, and Nashville has a much stronger live music scene compared to NYC. We also considered LA, but it’s so expensive 😭, so Nashville it is. We’ll keep you updated on what we decide.

Our LOML EP is still set for release on January 7th, and I’m hyped about that! Towards the end of the month, we’re going to start creating more content for the first EP after we finish the songs for our second EP. I’ll share some of it with you before it goes out to the rest of the world, so let me know what you think when I do.

On the mental health front, I’ve been doing much better. I started running and stretching at the gym again, which has been helping with my sleep issues. Since my body is more tired, I don’t have the energy to overthink before bed, you know? Honestly, I’m feeling really grateful to be able to talk to you and keep doing this. This year brought a lot of changes in my life, and I felt like everything got turned upside down. I almost gave up on music, but I’m so glad I didn’t.

Thank you again for opening these emails, following our journey, and even emailing us back. You’re literally the fuel that keeps Hunter and me going. I’m logging off now since it’s already 6 p.m. here in NY, and I need to drive to Hunter’s house to record vocals for another song tonight for the second EP. It’s called Wide Awake, and it’s a special one—it’s been almost six years in the making.

Oh, and I just celebrated my aunt’s birthday at her house. We had red velvet cake, and it was delicious. 🎂

- David

Journal 4 (November 16th 2024)

Hello out there,

This is Hunter. I’m the other half of No Fltr. This week, I’m taking over our journal from David. I want to share some thoughts I’ve had while reflecting on myself this week.

Act I - Escapism

The first thing about me is that I’ve always liked being alone. Not "lonely," but more self-isolating and private, focusing on myself and my goals. A lot of my friends go out often and party. I’m not against it, but I don’t go out like that. I prefer having a few best friends who are “ride or dies,” people I can build something special with. I’m lucky to have found friends who challenge me to grow. This, to me, is far more important than just living for the weekend. I surround myself with creative people—musicians, artists, fashion designers, writers—and I feed off their energy for creation. We push each other to be better.

I’ve always been drawn to art and the mystery behind creating it. I started playing guitar when I was 5, began writing songs at 13, and joined bands when I was 16. I’ve always seen musicians as magicians, blurring reality and forcing every listener to escape within a song. I get asked a lot why I like music, and the answer is simple: I want to escape from reality. I have a deep connection to art because it provides something I’ve always felt was missing. I searched for it in people, movies, working out, video games, and other things but never quite found it. I’ve met many people who do the 9-to-5 corporate grind but come to me to create music and escape. Music gives me purpose.

Act II - Fear

I never really knew how to cope with failure. I was raised to give my best and then some. No matter what my mental state was, I was pushed to perform and succeed. “All or nothing.” This mindset crippled me growing up and pushed people away because I was too intense. My fear of failure even kept me from showing up for things sometimes because I was too scared. I’ve always been controlling of the things around me—not out of ego, but because I feared not doing my absolute best. I’m very self-conscious. However, I’m learning that I can’t give 100% of my time and energy to everything I do, even though I still tend to sometimes. I now realize that my fear of not being good enough is rooted in self-doubt. I’m getting better at loving myself and pushing myself out of my comfort zone to grow. Fear will not stop me from becoming a better version of myself.

Act III - Love

I never really knew what love was. I saw it in movies and heard about it from others, but I never truly figured it out. I think I’ve fallen in love a few times, but I can’t really be sure what it was. Was it just having someone there to cure my deep loneliness and depression? Or was it something new and exciting? Regardless, it was something, and it felt special—whatever it was. Now that I’m a little older, I’m still just as confused about what love really means. I’ve recently come to the realization that we are alone for most of our lives. People come and go. It takes a lifetime to learn how to love yourself.

Thanks for reading my journal this week. What resonated with you the most? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Best,

Hunter from No Fltr

Journal 3 (November 8th 2024)

Hey, David here!

Welcome to this week’s journal! As always, we post these updates weekly, and if you ever miss one, you can catch up on our journal page linked in the button below. Here’s what’s new:

This week, we had an awesome session with an artist from LA named CHRISTIAN ALLAIN, who has some dope tunes on his Spotify. He reached out to us back in April for a writing session, and I’m glad we finally got to make it happen over FaceTime.

Songwriting with someone new can feel a bit like a first date—you go in with a general idea but not much else and just feel things out. It’s even trickier when you’re not in the same room, like Chris and us (since we’re in NY).

What I love about songwriting is how therapeutic it can be when it’s done right. Sometimes, we talk about everything going on in our lives—the pain points, issues, adventures, anything—and connect through the shared human experience. You end up bonding quickly because great songwriting calls for openness and a desire to connect.

The goal then becomes putting that shared experience into a song, which can take so many cool shapes. Sometimes you just click and everything flows; other times, it takes a few sessions to really get into it.

In our session this week, we all clicked right away. Chris is super cool, talented, and hardworking. Definitely check out his music when you get a chance. The song we wrote together is called Miss Novocaine, and though it’s not finished yet, I’m really excited to complete it. We’re likely to release it as a collaboration after our first EP drops. I attached a little early demo for you to listen to below. 👇🏼

Miss Novocaine (Early Demo)

No Fltr X Christian Allain -

Speaking of our first EP, LOML, I want to thank everyone who snagged a free signed copy. So far, we’ve shipped packages to 24 people across the US, and more people are jumping in every day, so thank you! 😭🤗

We’re pushing the official release of LOML to January 7th. This gives us time to finish the songs for our second EP and get them mixed and mastered before our engineer, Yianni, heads out for the holidays. It also gives us more time to create some great content for IG and TikTok. Balancing song-finishing mode with content-creating mode can be a lot!

Overall, it’s been a good week, though I’m feeling a bit mentally drained (probably from sleep deprivation—daylight savings really messed with my sleep). But I’m hanging in there. 🙌🏼

- Dave 👋🏼

Journal 2 (November 2nd, 2024)

Hey, David here!

This week has been eventful—in a good way. Last Saturday, my brother came back home to New York, and I picked him up from the airport. He lives a bit farther from me now, so I don’t see him as often as I used to. Getting to JFK from Staten Island is always a hassle, and I got stuck in traffic, but it was worth it to see him and spend some time together. I even brought him a little flower box that he really liked. 😊

Hunter and I also had a writing session with an amazing writer/artist who was signed to Eminem’s label and has written for some big names. Lately, we’ve been exploring a lot of different music styles, and Hunter is always experimenting with different genres. So, we tried something new for this session—a dark, moody pop track with a Jersey beat rhythm, inspired by Bad Bunny, called “Will You Be There?” I think it turned out amazing, and I hope we can share it with you soon.

We also worked on songs for our second EP this week and planned out our content strategy for the official release of our first EP, LOML. (Thanks to everyone who got a signed CD! 🤗) It’s been a busy week, but things are moving in a really good way.

Oh, and I watched an episode of this super cool anime called Dandadan (did I mention it’s super cool?). If you don’t know, I’m a huge anime nerd and have been since I was a kid. Anime was my escape when I felt lonely or beaten down, and it got me through tough times. I’ve been so busy with No Fltr, work, and family stuff that I haven’t had much time to watch like I used to, but this new show made me swoon. It’s really well-written and hilarious.

There’s so much more I could say, but I’ll leave it here for now. Thanks for caring about lil’ old me 🤠 and No Fltr, and for reading all the way to the end.

How are you? How was your week? No pressure to respond, but I’m always just an email or DM away.

- David

Our First Journal

Saturday October 26, 2024,


Hey,

David here. This is our first journal entry and I'm super excited, and a little scared about it. 😅 Hunter and I have been really busy these past few weeks. Between preparing to release our first EP out in November, to getting into sessions with more songwriters, artists, and producers to working on our label that we started, things have started moving a lot.

I got a remote job that allows me to work from home, but I have to travel from time to time (once per month for about a week). On top or our first EP that should be released officially in November, we’ve been working on our second EP  (3 out of 6 songs are about done). We are also working on an album for 2025 (15 songs) on top of that so it’s been hectic but in a good kind of way.


Honestly though, I'm scared. Scared of the change to come. I don’t know how to describe it, but I can feel reality changing around me as I'm walking towards the person I know I’m supposed to become. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to measure up to my own standards. I feel like a crab that's outgrown its shell but now needs to find a new one to reside in.

I’m trying my best to respond to all this with excitement and open energy and I’m learning to do that day by day, but there is this fear of the unknown. I guess I’ve grown so comfortable in the unhealthy way I’ve been living life, that this new way feels foreign and I’m afraid I’ll sabotage myself. But I’m gonna keep going.



What about you? How’s your week going? How’ve you been?



- David