Save-A-Forest

Waiting - Yung Bambi, Foreign Forest, ℒund, Dre Kiken

Foreign Forest & Jxsh - Hey October (Prod. Arthrn)

BEFORE READING PLEASE LISTEN TO: 

MAX WELLS INTERVIEW

SAF: We're glad to have this opportunity to talk to you Max Wells! Your new album is hard as fuck and we want to get a deeper look into it. So when did you decide you wanted CRITTICAL to executively produce the album?

Max: Thank you fam for real I appreciate that!! Honestly... I met CRITTICAL a few years ago when I still lived in Indiana and pretty much right away we made a project ("Normal") and since then we've been super tight friends. I actually was going thru a huge time of writers block a few months ago, so CRITTICAL sent me a package of like 3-4 beats and that sounded EXACTLY what I've been visioning my next project to sound like... So I just recorded a few rough draft/concept songs, and got the project really started.

SAF: We noticed that your only feature on the album was from TrippyThaKid, another artist we've been watching. What reasoning do you have for this? Obviously the entire album rocked without too many features, but it is pretty astounding when you see somebody release an entire album with little to no help in the material.

Max: Yeah man Trippy is the homie! This project just meant a TON to me with the whole concept and everything. I fuck with so many different ppl and cliques but I didn't want to have too many features because I didn't want to accidentally cloud the motive of what I was trying to get across with this you know? I also did it because I wanted to see if I COULD. We live in a day and age where its easy to rely on others for your glo up, and I wont be having any part in that shit...

SAF: In one of our favorite tracks from the album, Lil Light Beam, I shine on for YOU, I go up for ME, What they want from US, ... Watch them run from WE. Who is part of your influence in this chorus that you would say you are also "shining" for? From our perspective we could read that as you putting on for your team, or maybe for the woman included in your album artwork!?

Max: This is one of my favorite tracks ive made! In that hook/chorus part you explained, I'm talking about everyone close to me so you got it right for the most part! I'm ready to shine for my girl, family, homies, supporters, and anyone else who may need a lil more light in they life.

SAF: Can you give us a little more insight into your intermission track, "18hrs, 32min (How You Feel)"?

Max: Everyones been asking what the point of it is or what it means.... But I haven't asked anyone what they thought it meant..... I like keeping it a mystery because it sort of allows you to create your own meaning you know?... And to  me thats what life is about so... YOU TELL ME lol

SAF: Who are some artists from the current "scene" that you vouch for? This project is sure to grow over time and we are curious as to who you would be willing to fuck with as you grow, as well.

Max: Man I can vouch for anyone doing this music shit organically and HONESTLY. Some ppl i've really been fuckin with are Dank $inatra and the rest of KU$HLORDS, NOXIK, Foreign Forest, JOULE$, Nedarb, LUND.... The list could go on for so long man... These are just a few of the dudes I'm really fuckin with right now

SAF: In the premiere track of your album, RUNNIN, along with overly incredible production we hear you lay your chorus and verses so clean...When writing this track and the others on the album, did you write to the beat, or did you already have the lyrics ready before you heard the production CRITTICAL sent you?

Max: Yo CRITTICAL murked that shit didnt he? Lol but yeah man I wrote this track to the beat! Thats normally what I do because for most my songs come about by whatever vibe the instrumental is giving me. There are only 2 songs on "Now I'm Here" where I wrote the lyrics separately from the beats.

SAF: Personally, this album is one of our blog's favorites yet. Where do you see your music career in a year? Who are some artists you would like to work with in the future?

Max:  I just wanna continue to make the best music possible and reach as many ears as I can you know? I have a lot to say and really feel like the youth could gain some influence by listening... So a year from now I wanna be all over the place. I want my mom to be able to wake up in disbelief everyday because her son went and did the impossible. Eventually I wanna work with Allan Kingdom, Kid Cudi, Bobby Raps, $uicideboy$, Corbin (spooky black), lil aaron, Shakewell, Rozz Dyliams, and so so many more

SAF: Anything new in the works?

Max: I'm working on so much new shit! Music videos for songs off the project are getting shot and finished, so as soon as everything is right I'm gonna be flooding the internet with those and shit. I also have a few designer EP's in the works as well as a few pretty big collaborations so be on the look out for those!

SAF: We noticed you are solely distributing the album on BandCamp. Would you ever be interested in getting your music on other distribution platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, etc?, or is there an exclusivity BandCamp offers that makes your project more unique to buy?

Max: Fuck Bandcamp lowkey. lol.. the only thing I like about them is the fact that my supporters are able to pick the price they pay for my work you know? I like that they can choose $0, or $100... it doesn't force anyone to potentially go broke just to be a supporter of mine. iTunes and Spotify are definitely the move the near future... I'm actually trying to get everything all figured out with that at the moment!

SAF: As we've said before, we are thankful for the chance to be talking to you, Max. We are awaiting your next release! Are there any producers, aside from CRITTICAL, that you are looking to work with?

Rockett - Yeah Yeah ft. Mikey $avage

Foreign Forest - Touch

   In this powerful releases from our friend Foreign Forest, we hear an ultimate arrangement of different sounds. Each track has it’s own feel to it, some may say eclectic, some might say unheard before. We were going to give our review of the project, each tracks meaning and what not, but Forest gave a representation of his experience creating it, which is far more interesting and can be found on his BandCamp site for the album, here.

Forest says, “Thank you for listening to my album, friend. This is the first one that I’ve produced entirely on my own, and though most of it, yes, is production solely, let that not distract you from what the sound of each track portrays. In the time of it’s creation, Touch’s songs were made individually, on different days. It took about 2 weeks to compose, record and prepare it for release. Throughout the 2 weeks, each day was different. The night I made “Upgrades” I was watching Tomorrowland and felt like an inventor building a body suit, and the sound I discovered when producing it gave me the feeling of growing out of my own skin and leaving a worn outer shell warm and in the sun while I crawl into the cool shade beneath the sand, like a crab minding my own business and marking my own personal goals. I made “Summer Camp”, and at the time I was very in love with the cello I put into it, but it wasn’t enough. It faded out and I knew it needed more, because I always feel like I could be doing more, so I added a revival to the end of it because it made it prettier to me, like even when you think something won’t come back it does. “Like The World Isn’t There” was made on a day following a previous night of fighting. “The Chase” was something I made experimentally late night with my heart racing telling me to go to sleep. The tempo races with my heart rate, then towards the end it speeds up only to abruptly halt and be muffled by silence, or sleep. “Wet Leaves” was made after watching Sinister 2 with a single pad bank, which I was lucky enough to have loaded with the ethereal sounds that were included into the track. “Blacklight” was an immediate continuation of my internal feelings in “Wet Leaves”, however every few seconds it jumps from serious to melancholy, similar to my childish attitude. “Tornado” is from a dream I had. In the dream, it’s late at night and I’m in the middle of a field of corn, when suddenly the sky dumps light onto me, and it isn’t until I look up that I realize something is calling my name, and due to my undying fascination it coincidentally is, yes, aliens peering down onto me like a considerable science experiment. In awe and envy, I let them take me. I make it to the top of the beam that lifted me thousands and thousands of feet above the ground, when suddenly the intelligent life realizes it doesn’t need me and drops me to my death. The outro track, “You’ll Stay Too” was made after watching a new favorite movie of mine, American Ultra. I found it pretty how, in the sample, he makes the analogy of the tree and the truck. The truck is always moving, from it’s development to it’s shipment and even it’s use. The tree has always been where it’s been. One powerful force that night, the tree, in the movie, stopped another intriguingly powerful force, which was the truck. I just thought that was beautiful. This album doesn’t have to mean anything to you. You can listen through and find it grossly simplistic or overly complicated, but in the end your understanding of it is your experience listening to it. No matter what, this project will always remind me of those two weeks it took to make this, all the things I was doing then and the people I was with.”

INSIDE THE MIND: KAY P

SAF: What’s up man, tell us a little bit about who you are. Kay P: Well for starters I go by the name of Kay P the King Pin aka Yung Shiva the GXD BODY. Don't nobody need to know mah real name cause every time I say it people ask if it's my real name lol. I am an artist working for the MOST HIGH(S) for the betterment of the human structure set up here on Earth. SAF: Interesting. You also go by the moniker YOUNG VISHNU. What does that name mean/symbolize about yourself? Kay P: Vishnu is one of the three main deities of the trimurti (divine trinity) in Hinduism (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva), often conceived as "the Preserver or the Protector". Throughout my life I have felt myself go through stages or cycles of "death and rebirth" of my inner being or soul. At this stage i feel more connected to being a "Young Vishnu" in character as opposed to Shiva as I am not completely whole in my spirit as of yet. Right now I am working on preserving my own purity and protecting those that I love and care for and helping them along the path towards an enlightened mind and freeing my people from the shackles of this life, or what us like minded refer to as "samsara".  SAF: Where are you originally from? Where are you now? (If not in birth place, how has your life changed since you moved?) Kay P: Well I AM ORIGINALLY from the supreme Light of all creation, as we all are (well, majority of us here). However, in your terms, I was born in New Jersey. From Jersey I moved to Atlanta, GA when I turned 18 to pursue my actual music career. Some things flourished, but for the most part it didn't work out there how i wanted it to. So me and Johnny decided to get up and move to California on a whim. I ended up getting my girlfriend at the time to say fuck college, take her car, and leave her family to drive with us all the way from ATL to Cali in a fucking volkswagen bug. The trip was absolutely terrible and cramped but, NIGGA WE MADE IT!!!! My life has changed drastically from moving city to city, town to town for this music shit, but that's wayyyy way wayy too much detail to type fam.P.S. - my ex got home sick and dipped out...she missed out on all this but I don't give a fuck haha, I done upgraded [; SAF: Damn seems that your ex couldn’t hang, but you got to where you needed to be so you right for shouting her out, haha. Anyways, what are your personal goals as an artist? Do you have any other hobbies/lifestyles that you follow passionately? Kay P: My goals as an artist are a lot deeper than just this rap shit. I only started rapping to get myself in the door to an industry setting to begin with. I really want to be an author, a director, a mangaka, many things I could do if i put my mind to it really. My lifestyle simply put is to ascend the human form while still walking this Earth, I am not sure if it is possible, but I will surely find out. Also, this means I will be disappearing from the scene some day and giving up all material things I have accumulated over my time here on this planet, it is all unnecessary for me and I could care less for these things. SAF: I’ve heard of people taking the rap route before as a start-off technique, and usually I can spot out some that are just straight corny with it, whose names I won’t mention, but you seem like you got your hands on a lot of worthy ideas. I hope to see you break these goals man, we all do. So I gotta ask, what is your best track in your opinion? Kay P: I'm not going to say I have a "best" track. To me all of my music is diverse and touches many different subjects and emotions and each song has it's own original feel to it. They're all fucking the best songs ever in my eye. People seem to really like Holy Shit, Lord Have Mercy, I Got Bitches, Japanese Swag, Hentai Goddess, Monkey D. Luffy and Half Kakuja the most though...I think SAF: Yeah, I remember finding you after hearing “Hentai Goddess” while scrolling my SoundCloud Stream! Awe, good times. Getting on with it though, You've worked with artists like EndyEnds, Lil Soda Boi, Foreign Forest etc., who are some artists that you'd like to work with in the future? Kay P: To be honest fam I done reached out to a lot of underground artist as a lot of them have reached out to me. I've sent collabs out and people not taking shit seriously so I honestly don't even care about working with anyone anymore besides the people I already fucks with. Like the people in BCBC or Hidden Jewels and Retro Mob...I'll work with anyone who is dope and actually wants to work with me because they support me and like my stuff and not just for the clout and numbers that come with it. SAF: I fuck with that statement heavily. Too many people set up collabs solely based on their number gain. It’s not a bad thing to get coverage from a joint project, but it’s not genuine music (and the listeners can tell) if the projects are bullshit based on clout. Well, are you working on anything now? Do you have any goals for 2016? Kay P: What I got coming is my "Legend Of Shiva" tape...after that I planned to release my debut album "Weaboo Trash" but GF Retro be playing so I'm still unsure of what i'm doing after LOS...but I'll figure it out. I have so many songs in the vault bro I can do anything I want once I get myself organized lol, It's all a matter of cover art and correct promotion to yield the results I want out of this work, it's way too special to just keep throwing it out on soundcloud and stuff, I don't want this music to be undermined or unappreciated.  SAF: As they say, timing is key. What are some things you've taken note of being in the music game? Kay P: Well first off this game fake as shit lol. People don't love you 'till they see everybody else loving you. They don't support shit you do until it looks good to everyone else. They just hop on bandwagons and shit, which is all good I really don't care. I been rapping seriously for about 5-6 years now and I'm still nowhere and I could care less, I do this shit for me and for everyone that fucks with me. I could care less about the fame or the money or the cars, clothes and ho's, I'm doing this to spread a message and to balance my own emotions lol. SAF: Good, man. Don’t let your head get too wrapped up in that glamour that comes with plays. You don’t need my advice though, you stand your ground and have solid opinions on what I’ve asked so far. So, who are you influenced by the most? Kay P: Life man, Nature. The trees, the sun, the moon, the grass, the flowers, the mountains, the clouds, the waters, the universe...LIFE and GOOD PEOPLE influence me the most. I LOVE LIFE!!!! SAF: True, there are a lot of reasons to love life, haha. What is your favorite movie(s)/anime(s)? Kay P: To be honest man I haven't been up on my anime at all...I'm way too busy with other things and anime and manga require LOTS of attention to keep up with. Some of my fav anime's include of course Naruto, Yu Yu Hakisho, Samurai Champloo, Hitman Reborn, Neon Genesis, Spirited Away...

Manga's I enjoy Tokyo Ghoul (Season 1,2 and RE), Fairy Tail (fan service, Hiro Mashima draws the sexiest anime girls to me, seriously), Deadman Wonderland...I can't even remember what else I've read and shit. SAF: Okay, I see you. Do you follow any religions? Kay P: Let me put this out there for the people reading this. Majority of the world has a distorted view on religious sects, especially the major ones, i.e Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc. I've studied just about every religion in this world to it's very core and they all are, for the most part, the same thing. Only different in the sense that different cultures of the world follow different rituals or different so called "GODS" when they're all the fucking same when you look at the core of them. I'm really not going to get into this through here though...this is better off in a live interview. SAF: Yeah I agree. A lot of people are touched by subjects like that, better left off in something where they can have more influence heard in more ways than words. Do you have a drug of choice? Kay P: I don't do drugs anymore man, quit cold turkey and back on my spiritual path. When i was in ATL I was living in the trap with some thugs and it had my guiding Light all fucked up inside me so I fell to doing shit I was against from the jump. Being out here in Cali being free of mind, body, and spirit again has helped me remember what the fuck I'm living for. LOVE of THYSELF which ultimately results in the love of others around me. SAF: Good. There’s a lot of self-hate these days, though nobody can say that people don’t have a reason. Sometimes life sucks! Glad to see you made the best of that situation and polished off your guiding light. Now, do you go to school currently or have a job?

Kay P: I graduated from Hightstown High School in Hightstown New Jersey. I spent a year or two in Burlington Township in South Jersey when my moms kicked me out the house to live with my dad because I was fucking up out there. I eventually moved back and bullshitted my way to my diploma, said fuck college, and now i own my own fucking business with my homies out here on the west coast. You can check out thepackboy(dot)com for further information about that. SAF: Nice! I always say entrepreneurship needs more respect these days. People don’t understand how liberating it is to not answer to a boss, but then again some don’t have the guts to make the leap in the first place. Thanks for doing the interview man, hopefully some people got the answers they were looking for when reading this, I know I did. Well, anything you want to say to your fan base/followers before we’re done here?

Arfus - The Velvet Cloak of Darkness

SAF Writer Foreign Forest

   In the end humanity won’t brag about it’s social wars or touch too much on the terrorist activity and worry of the modern world, but instead it will exemplify our success in touching new frontiers. From touching space to inventing the vast field which is the Internet, breaking into new frontiers is truly what drives us as beings. That being said, I believe Arfus created a new frontier of sound not yet discovered by most in this 14-track, independently released album that he describes as “experimental electronic space travel soundscapes or something,” in humor that he really can’t put a definite label on his sound, but I think most musicians creating different sounds than most would agree it’s hard to just give what you make a name when every effort you make changes your sound and who you are as an artist.

   The sound scene drops into a field of jumping synths only to be darkened by bass and an eerie sense of greatness in the project’s first track “Barnacles of Time” featuring another game changing producer TRASH LORD. Transitioning into the next track, “Dagger,” we experience traveling through time and space at light speed with this engaging piece, which notably has one of my favorite climaxes on the project. In track 3 titled “Blood Dust,” I really felt like I was running on a planet of solely metal, cut up but pushing forward as my fate destines, and I really hear a story going on the whole time during this track, no this whole album really. It feels like windows into the life of a space-traveler, to put it simply. 

Foreign Forest - When Things Grow Up (EP)

SAF Writer 7 Oceans Deep

   On Thanksgiving day this year, an EP called When Things Grow Up was released on BandCamp, Spotify, iTunes & Soundcloud by vocalist, producer, designer and all around artist Foreign Forest.

Esther & Frander - LOST IN SUBURBIA

Waterfowl (Anatidae)

   Humans have long depended on waterfowl for food and feathers. The term waterfowl refers to ducks, swans and geese, birds that typically spend their non-flying time on the water. Humans have long depended on waterfowl for food and for feathers.

Dre Kiken - Always

   In this deeply emotional track, Dre Kiken sings his heart out over a beautiful bed of sad 808s and cave-like ambience produced by Trwubblenaut and himself. It’s all over the place with emotions, but it encompasses exactly what he’s singing. Listen closely and you’ll hear the love he had for somebody switch up to become nothing but stress on his mind, always, always. This is a must listen, too beautiful to overlook!

INSIDE THE MIND: ANTONIO

SAF: What's up man, how have you been lately?

Antonio: I’ve been good man. Happiest I've been in a while.

SAF: That’s good to hear dude. So, where are you from? Do you still live there?

Antonio: I’m originally from Biloxi, Mississippi. Right now I live in a disclosed location.

SAF: I feel you. Well, knowing you, I see you've been around for a while... What sparked the persona change from BudhaTheGreat to Antonio? Do you feel like a different person now than you were then?

Antonio: I really wanted to get more personal with my music because I felt like when I was BTG I was limited to being a “beat maker.” Now I feel more like myself as well as an artist.

SAF: That’s a common realization of people I think, realizing that they have talent but they can’t be the best at any one thing, so it’s natural to want to expand naturally as yourself instead of as some title. Anyway, what is music to you?

Antonio: Everything. To me, it’s art and an escape.

SAF: Definitely. So for those that have heard but may not understand, what is the story behind your project épave?

Antonio: I was interested in artists from the romantic era, so one day I found this picture of Calypso that inspired me to make it the project’s main concept. My friend CC Tsuki wrote a very detailed analyzation of it.

SAF: Have you been able to hear your influence in others music since you put out a kit of your own self made sounds?

Antonio: Well, I feel more like I hear a lot of artists who also have the same influences as me, more than anything.

SAF: What hardships have led you to be the person you are?

Antonio: I've been on my own since I was about 17. I’ve had a few mishaps when I was younger like near death car wrecks, jail, being homeless, and of course a few heartbreaks, but it led me to who I am now so I don't regret anything.

SAF: Shit, man. I guess our experiences, good or bad, can have an outcome we might like if we stick around to put up with them. Who are currently your favorite artists, inside and outside of the groups you work with?

Antonio: Yeah man. Well, Glassjaw is an all time favorite of mine. I also get down with Shlohmo, Travis Scott, and everyone on PLAY ;)

SAF: Was 2015 a good year for music?

Antonio: Oh yeah, for sure.

SAF: Haha, alright. So do you have any artists in mind you really want to work with?

Antonio: I’d say Partynextdoor or Future as of right now, but truthfully it’s just whoever else I vibe with.

SAF: Damn, both of those would be legendary collabs! As you know, people are people, and they can be shitty no matter what profession you're in. Do you have any people you simply just do not fuck with?

Antonio: Nah, not really. I speak my mind on things but I don't hold any hate.

SAF: I’ve been wondering, why are you no longer on the TeamSESH website? 

Antonio: I've never been TeamSESH, but I fuck with Elmo and all the members heavy. Some of my closest friends.

SAF: Who are some cool people, musicians or not, that have helped you become who you are today?

Antonio: Bones, Black Kray, and my homie BPace are the first people who wanted to get on my beats. But also, I’m thankful for all of my IRL homies that have held me down for so long. My homie TJ was the first person to put me in the stu. My punk ass brother lol and plenty others have had some type of influence on me.

SAF: Word. It’s cool to have people to lean on, man, & I’m sure most of us can relate to that. Haha, so... are you single or in a relationship?

Antonio: Hehe

SAF: LOL. Well then what can we expect from you in 2016?

Antonio: A lot of music. A lot of progression.

SAF: I can’t wait to interview you next year and see where you’re at! Do you have any interests besides music? 

Antonio: I use to really love skating, but I quit. I’m into adventuring, cheap thrills, and learning new things.

SAF: That’s what’s up! I love to skate and adventure, haha. What's the key to happiness in your life, Antonio?

Antonio: Haha, a constantly changing amount of good drugs, good food, and friends.

SAF: So do you have any changes you'd like to see in the world?

Antonio: I don’t know if I would want any changes that didn't happen naturally. I believe everything that happens helps keep balance in life.

SAF: I’d have to agree. Even the shittiest situations seem to always happen for a reason! Now, what is your ideal goal lifestyle that you want to be living if you don't already have everything you want?

Antonio: Traveling more and working with more artists in person, really. An updated, nice home studio with more gear, good views, endless weed... LOL some Gucci flip flops. Wave!

SAF: Haha, sounds pretty ideal to me! I’d definitely appreciate a full belly and some endless weed. Closing up, do you have any advice for people just starting to make music?

Antonio: Yes. Just never stop, remember than you can learn something new from anybody, and most importantly have fun with it.

Ignatius - The Natural (Prod. Tobias)

   Walking alone, the vibrant green you see surrounding you begins to dull to a grey. Your blue skies become blinding white, and your feet become the medium, stuck on a plane of intimidating black. With all the overwhelming emotions in mind, we are serenaded by singer Ignatius’ song “The Natural,” produced by Tobias. Every step forward strains our legs until we eventually collapse and surrender any unjust thought to the honesty and sadness experienced this beautiful track. We will definitely be keeping an eye on both Ignatius and Tobias from here on out.

Ivy - Long Distance

SAF Writer 7 Oceans Deep

   Have you ever wanted to runaway and start over new? Well, that's how Ivy's classic "Long Distance” way back from 2000 makes me feel.

   With the fall season approaching, I always know around this time of year I find a definitive piece of art to match the time of life I'm experiencing. Matter of fact, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this album once again while listening to Pandora. The track playing was #2 of 13, titled "Disappointed." Personally, I've experienced a lot of disappointment with many things, including personal relationships throughout my life, & it has always seemed as if I give more to others than I normally do for myself. My ear instantly caught the message and soon after that track finished I made sure the rest of the album would follow, I had to experience this again.

   From start to finish, Long Distance is an easy listen and a huge recommendation of mine, being so high in my top favorite projects of all time. It makes me think of moving to a city where it rains everyday, wearing thrift store clothes for the rest of my life in a studio apartment content with life. If you're a fan of calming indie rock, give Ivy a listen.

   Listening to this always reminds me that nothing stays the same and to keep  an open mind through my life experiences. The replay value on this project is a 5/5 for me, because every track brings about chill vibes and puts me in a good mood every time I hear it.

Stream it via YouTube below.

HELLION - WE DRINK THE BLOOD, WE EAT THE BODY (w/ Fifty Grand)

   Diving deep into an ambient body of reverb-filled notes, the deeper down you go the more you progress in sound as well. Flying past light percussion and hypnotizing shapes in the walls, the track continues in an eerie manner with choir-like voices chanting our journey onward, encompassing a growing feeling of loss of hope. The song pauses and keeps us in place, unable to move forward until permission is granted or heard. As if we’ve swam deep to brush the bottom surface with our hand, we are greeted by a breathing on the neck so sinister yet interestingly captivating that we recognize it as Fifty Grand. This creepy part of the track rises as we rise back to the surface and break water to only be in the middle of a hurricane. Waves of bass & synth crash down relentlessly as we struggle to stay afloat, yet eventually we have to give in. Guys, this track is godly... and the song title fits it perfectly.

EASTGHOST - Omniscient, They