| Nicholas "RAS" Furlong | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Nicholas Furlong |
| Also known as | RAS |
| Born | September 16, 1986 |
| Origin | Minden, Nevada, United States |
| Genres | Pop, pop rock, R&B, alternative rock, hip-hop, adult contemporary |
| Occupations | Songwriter, record producer, engineer, vocal producer |
| Associated acts | Ryan Tedder, OneRepublic, Big Time Rush, Stan Walker, Justice Crew |
| Website | RAS |
Nicholas Michael Furlong (born September 16, 1986) is an American songwriter, record producer, vocal producer, and engineer.[1][2] He has worked with many high-profile artists, including Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, Big Time Rush, Far East Movement, Colbie Caillat, Mario, JC Chasez, Leon Thomas, Guy Sebastian, Stan Walker, and Jessica Mauboy. Furlong has also worked with many notable producers such as Ryan Tedder, Brian Kennedy, J.R. Rotem, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, DJ Frank E, Dada Life, and Ammo.
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In 2005, still only a senior in high school, Nicholas was recognized by Midway Games as a songwriter. He began writing original songs for video game soundtracks. Furlong contributed songs to the video games NBA Ballers, Blitz: The League, and NBA Ballers: Phenom,[3] which featured his song as the title track for one of the game's trailers.
Furlong caught his first break in Germany, when he wrote the song "Derailed" with Nasri Atweh and Aaron Pearce for the 2009 No Angels album, Welcome To The Dance. The song was scheduled to be the second single and to release 27 November 2009 but was scrapped due to a controversy with the band.
Furlong is the writer of the Big Time Rush and Jordin Sparks duet "Count On You". The song aired on the show Big Time Rush on Nickelodeon in the episode "Big Time Sparks" on July 18, 2010.[4] It was the only episode that was featured as a special throughout their season on the network. The song is on their debut album, which released on 11 October 2010. In its first day, the album was the number 1 selling album on iTunes and "Count On You" broke top 200 songs without even being a single.[5] The album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 67,000 units in its first week of release. To date, Big Time Rush has sold over 1,000,000 albums worldwide and more than 3,100,000 singles collectively worldwide as well. They are also considered nickelodeon's most successful act of all time.
He worked with the 2010 winners of Australia's Got Talent, hip hop dance troupe Justice Crew. Their debut single "And Then We Dance", which was written by Furlong, was released digitally on 27 August 2010[6] and physically on 3 September 2010.[7] And Then We Dance" reached number 26 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and is certified Platinum by the ARIA.[8] On other Australian charts, it peaked at number 5 on the Australian Singles Chart (chart only for Australian origin),[9] and number 1 on the ARIA Physical Singles Chart.[10] Furlong began working closely with Ryan Tedder and his company, Patriot Publishing. One of their first collaborations was "Automatic", a single by the group, Burnham. The song "Automatic" was later featured in the major motion picture, "Crazy Stupid Love".
In 2011, Furlong worked with Ryan Tedder on The World I Knew, a song recorded by Jordin Sparks for the Disney Nature film, "African Cats". He later worked with Sparks again, vocal producing and engineering her single "I Am Woman", that was released shortly after.[11] Furlong also worked with Tedder on Brighter Than The Sun, a song off of Colbie Caillat's sophomore release, All Of Me. Furlong and Ryan Tedder collaborated yet again writing Ordinary Man, a single from Australian X Factor winner, Altiyan Childs. The song was released digitally on September 23 through Sony Music Australia.
Furlong collaborated again with Nickelodeon group Big Time Rush, writing "Time of Our Life" with band member Logan Henderson for their sophomore release Elevate. The album was released on November 21, 2011 by Columbia Records. Elevate sold 70,000 copies in it's first week, the band's highest first-week album sales. Shortly before Elevate was released, a song titled "Intermission", written by Furlong and Travis Garland, was leaked online. The song wasn't featured on the album, but generated a large buzz with fans.
Furlong has most recently been working on the forthcoming albums of Cody Simpson, Chris Brown, Sean Kingston, Celine Dion, Bruno Mars, Mario, Christina Aguilera, and The Ready Set.[12]
Furlong's successful Justice Crew single, And Then We Dance, which was certified platinum by the ARIA, was the beginning of his relationship with Sony Music Australia. Furlong went on to work further with Sony on Altiyan Childs' single "Ordinary Man", as well as with artists Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, and Stan Walker. Furlong expressed a strong interest in bringing his sound to Australia through working with Australian artists. In late 2011, Sony Australia and Furlong announced that they'd entered into a song deal and would be working together on a guaranteed total of ten releases. Furlong is the writer of "Won't Let You Down", a song included on Stan Walker's sophomore album entitled Let The Music Play, which released November 18, 2011.
| Year | Song | Artist | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Cash That | Murphy Lee | Writer, Vocals |
| Derailed | No Angels | Writer, Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| Dead and Gone (Remix) | Travis Garland | Producer, Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| 2010 | Count On You | Big Time Rush (feat. Jordin Sparks) | Writer |
| Automatic | Burnham | Writer | |
| Glaciers | Her Majesty and the Wolves | Writer, Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| In My Arms | Josiah Bell | Writer, Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| And Then We Dance | Justice Crew | Writer | |
| 2011 | Ordinary Man | Altiyan Childs | Writer, Producer, Vocal Producer, Engineer |
| Time of Our Life | Big Time Rush | Writer, Vocal Producer, Additional Vocals | |
| Brighter Than The Sun | Colbie Caillat | Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| Cut Me Down | Her Majesty and the Wolves | Writer, Vocal Producer, Engineer, Vocoder, Additional Vocals | |
| Emerald Showers | |||
| Goodbye, Goodnight | |||
| Never Come Down | |||
| Our Love | |||
| Shades of Grey | |||
| Spinning Circles | |||
| Walking On The Sun | |||
| Back To Me | Howie D | Writer, Vocal Producer, Additional Vocals, Engineer | |
| Going Going Gone | |||
| I Am Woman | Jordin Sparks | Vocal Producer, Engineer | |
| The World I Knew | |||
| Won't Let You Down | Stan Walker | Writer, Vocal Producer, Engineer |
Other unreleased songs performed and/or written by RAS include: