Based in Malmö, Sweden, Kevin Forest is a singer/songwriter and producer with a seriously versatile sound. As an artist, he endeavours to craft music that connects with audiences through expressive emotions, experiences, and narratives that have shaped his artistry.
At the end of last month, Kevin unleashed ‘After Nexus’, an EP inspired by the life after his debut EP, released in 2018. A deeply personal and sincere offering, I instantly fell in love with the six-track offering.
Keen to learn more about the man behind the music, I was stoked when Kevin agreed to an interview! Chatting with us about his latest release, what he believes music’s role in society is, and what he would be if he wasn’t a musician, please welcome our brand new friend Kevin Forest!
Hello and welcome Kevin! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! Before we get into the nitty-gritty, please tell us a little bit about your musical journey. When did your love affair with music begin?
That is honestly a difficult question to answer. Growing up, I was constantly performing, whether on stage singing and dancing or acting out my wild imagination in the living room for my family. Music has always been central to my identity, but I would like to say it started when my mom sat me down to watch a live performance of Michael Jackson performing ‘Billie Jean’. I had never seen anything like it before, and that moment will forever be ingrained in my memory.
I’ve fallen in love with your brand new EP ‘After Nexus’. It’s such an intimate and honest offering. How do you hope listeners will relate to or be impacted by the themes and messages?
I’ve said before that ‘After Nexus’ is me returning to my roots in RnB and the ‘Nexus’ sound, but it’s also an exploration into the influences I have had for the last 3 years. Conceptually, it’s a deep dive into my psyche, exploring the growth and insight, but also the insecurity and fear I have experienced since the release of the original ‘Nexus’.
With this project, I wanted to shift the perspective from the narrative set by ‘Nexus’ to a more contemplative and adult one. I hope the listeners can relate to and be impacted by the journey I go through in ‘After Nexus’, realizing that it’s important to acknowledge your faults and take responsibility for your actions but also to forgive and move past them.
You’ve cited influential artists like Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, and Prince as key inspirations for your music. Is there anybody else you would credit for shaping your unique sound, and would you say that your tastes have changed over the years?
Those three are incredibly crucial to my entire artistry, but I can fully take inspiration from anywhere. Some artists that directly inspired me during ‘After Nexus’ are Justin Timberlake, Usher, and Bryson Tiller, with the band MOTHXR also being a key inspiration for the second track ‘and beyond.’
Over the years, my tastes have both changed massively and, at the same time, seemingly stayed the same. There have always been staples like Michael, Usher, and JT in my rotation, but I have had an EDM phase, a rap phase, a grunge phase, and so on. Since I started releasing music, however, my tastes have truly become universal. There isn’t a single genre I dislike, and that is something I would say has aided greatly in my music.
Can you share some insights into your creative process? How do you transform an initial idea or thought into a finished song?
It is different every time but it essentially comes down to a few starting points. There are times when inspiration strikes from nowhere, and I’m compelled to improvise a melody or a lyric, and a lot of times, I do both at the same time until I have a foundation. Other times, it can start from a short musical idea that I come up with on an instrument that I then structure until it becomes a fleshed-out song. The last way is when a producer sends me the foundations of a beat or instrumental they have worked on, which I write to and arrange until it once again becomes a song.
What, to you, is music’s role in society?
Music has many roles in society. It’s an example of expression, of community, of escapism, and so on. It is crucial to life as an art form, no matter what people without a creative bone in their body would like to tell you. For me, it is everything, I wouldn’t be able to function without it, and I strongly believe that the world wouldn’t either.
Einstein famously said, “If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician.” If you were not a musician, what would you be?
Most likely an actor or possibly a writer. I grew up performing, so that will forever be in my blood, and my first venture into entertainment was acting, so I’m not a stranger to it. When it comes to writing, I have wanted to explore it for a long time. I feel like words hold so much power, and I believe I can already captivate using them through my songwriting.
OK, Kevin – desert island time! You’re allowed to grab 3 albums before being stranded on an island. Which do you go with?
Most of these are probably expected if you’ve listened to my music before, but I’m gonna try to explain why.
So, there’s obviously gonna be a Michael album in there, and while I currently listen to ‘Off the Wall’ more, it would feel wrong to take anything other than the best album of all time, ‘Thriller’, with me.
The second album I think would be essential is ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ since it’s a masterclass in songwriting and harmony.
The last album needs to fill the melancholic sad boy side of my personality, so I’m gonna take Joji’s ‘BALLADS 1’ with me to fill those dark and empty nights on the island.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us Kevin! It’s been great getting to know you better. Before we let you leave, what comes next for you musically?
Thank you, the questions were fun! Currently, I’m all in on ‘After Nexus’; it’s such a cohesive and great album if I can say so myself. Throughout the year, I’m gonna work on some more visuals and remixes for the project, and some other secrets I can’t talk about right now. I will also hopefully return to the stage again as well – that’s been something I’ve wanted to do for the past two years. This is a new era and a new sound, but my vision remains the same.
