Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell Reveals How He Found His 'Lost Album': Interview

Drake Bell couldn't wait to share his new music with the world. He toiled away on a follow-up to his 2006 album It's Only Time - sending clips and teasers out to his fans along the way - dedicating everything he had to this passion project 10 years ago.

But then he lost the songs.

The hard drive that they were on went missing. "I thought the songs would never be heard again, " the now 33-year-old says. "Fans actually started to take snippets of the teasers I released at the time and formed them into their own songs with their own titles."

As flattering as it was for the former Nickelodeon star, who starred on The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002 and Drake & Josh from 2004 to 2007, they weren't completely his.

Instead, he focused on releasing Ready Set Go! in 2014 and also found a niche in Latin music, with his 2018 single "Fuego Lento" earning 18 million streams and 18 million views on YouTube. He also voiced Spider-Man/Peter Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012 to 2017) and Avengers Assemble (2013 to 2015) and revisited his Drake & Josh character in a series of #WheresWalter videos, which reunited stars from both the Nickelodeon and Disney Channel universes.

But then one day, in a completely water-damaged box filled with dirt, he found the missing hard drive containing those songs he wrote so long ago. After some technical magic, the time capsule was opened and the original recordings were recovered.

After adding in backgrounds and instrumentals, Bell released the aptly titled The Lost Album on February 21. Here, the singer-songwriter chats about what it was like to finally release those 11 tracks that had been missing in action for a decade.

What was it like the first time you heard the songs from The Lost Album again?

Drake Bell: It was a blast from the past! It put me right back to where I was when I originally wrote and recorded them.

Bell: We took it to a technician, hoping he could bring it back to life. Even after that, we were still unsure what we would actually be able to recover. I didn't try to rewrite or re-record any of the songs because I couldn't remember how they went.

Bell: I would say "Sail On" really represents who I was at the time - I was diving really deep into Brian Wilson and my music was beginning to reflect that. The song "You Want Me" is probably most representative of me now, but really all the tracks are - that's why I was so excited to finally release them.

Bell: This is an album I have always wanted to release and that is the truest follow-up to my album It's Only Time,so I feel like it had to be released before I started any other album to make sense of the musical journey of my life.

Bell: It's Only Time did really well in Latin America, so I have spent a lot of time there and the fans have been so incredible and have become my strongest base. Also, being from southern California, the culture has always been a big influence on me growing up so it just felt natural.

Bell: Vydia has been amazing and incredibly supportive. They have really gotten behind me 100 percent and made it actually possible to pursue and execute my artistic vision which is almost never fully possible.

Bell: Drake Parker would definitely still be living at home with his parents. As for Walter, Drake's stepdad, you should go check out Where's Walter? on Youtube.

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