Unreleased Trippie Redd Song & Battling Depression ft. Forrest Isn't Dead

I don't care who you are, what you do, what level of whatever you're at. I am more than willing to hear what you gotta say. Cause you can learn something from anybody. The One More Time Music Podcast. Genuine conversations with genuine people about music. Hosted by Henry with a three and playback Ben. We're from being more coops to piss off. They find it one more time. part that one more time, part that s*** like one more time, they part that One more time. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for another episode of the One More Time Podcast. I'm your host, Playback Ben. Here was my co-host, Henry with a three, because Henry with an E was already taken. Henry, who do we have on the podcast today, my friend? I actually meant to ask you about that before we started. You told me uh Forrest was coming. This isn't Tom Hanks, though, right? This is someone else. This is the biggest disappointment we've had. It's Forrest Whitaker. I knew you looked familiar. Yeah.

No, no, no, no, no. This is Forrest Isn't Dead. Lead Man for Forrest Isn't Dead. Yeah. Bam. Just like that. And we will help tell his story on the episode today. Forrest, we appreciate you coming on. Oh, yeah. This will be fun. I've been wanting to do this for the past 10 years. Yeah. It's honestly awesome to have someone like Forrest, and you're honestly not the first. You're actually the first one that's asked to be on, and we've let you come on. So you must have said something, right? Um But we appreciate you tapping in because this is what it's for. For sure. It's to help, you know, gain awareness to other people's stories and then help other artists and you know, producers, managers, lawyers, ARs, people in the music industry tell their stories where they've come from, where they're at, and where they're going. So we appreciate you coming on. Let's get right into it. Growing up, you didn't have a lot of TV playing in the household, but there was a lot of music. Yeah. Always on. What types of music was playing? All types of stuff.

Uh a lot of Foo Fighters, a lot of Prince. Uh not a favorite of mine, but a lot of widespread panic. Yeah, there was a lot of other kind of old school bands, I would say that were on, right? That your mom was a fan of. Yep, Allman Brothers. Now I was a fan of Prince, though. That was in Foo Fighters, though. She put me onto those as a kid. And Modest Mouse, which is one of my favorite bands that her and my uncle found out about in the 90s before they blew up through college radio. Oh wow. Yeah, we got to link him up with Gabe. That's Gabe's like favorite band. Oh, yeah, they're sick, dude. Yeah. I like their earlier stuff, more than their later stuff personally, but it's still good. Still good music. Yep. Yep. So your mom was a big, you know, music fan. For sure. She had lots of music playing around the household. Uh never was really allowing you to watch much TV, but she was definitely a supporter of you know music playing, you being you know, interested in music. She told a story about a CD that was stuck in the car CD player for about three years. That would be the dark side of the moon by Pink Floyd.

Oh man. man. She mentioned that the CD player was broken to the point that you couldn't get it out. Right. And you couldn't switch to the radio. This sounds like some Pink Floyd dark magic. It was, yeah. So yeah, I memorized Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon front to back as a child. What was your favorite song off that album? Uh Comfortably None. Sure. Yeah. Okay. What a record. Yeah, that song. That's incredible. I mean, honestly, when I heard that story, I was like, there could be way worse albums to have been stuck in the CD player. It could have been William Shatner's version of Rocket Man. So many different albums. I was honestly going to ask you if you could have one CD not be stuck in the CD player, what would it be? But here it is. You answered the question. That's a hard one. That's not a CD. Let me think. As far as a CD, nothing against them. It's just that every song sounds the same. Any ACDC CD. I would have that would probably be my pick. Controversy. ACDC, we'd still

Love to have you on the podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. That's what I'm saying. No shame to ACDC. That's my stepdad's favorite band. It's just, you know, if I had to listen to one thing every day, all the time, that would be at the bottom of my list. Interesting. Yeah. My dad would have a couple words with you too. Oh, that's fine. I can play ACDC on the guitar even. So you know. There you go. honestly, let's flip it around. What would be the CD that you would allow to be stuck in your CD player for three years straight? Uh Three Tears for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance. Awesome. I I know every word front to back. I know every guitar lick front to back. I know every detail of that album. That is, yeah, one of my favorite albums. Love it. Yeah, so you mentioned, you know, every guitar lick. You play several instruments. Yeah. When was the first time you picked up an instrument and what instrument was it? It was drums when I was nine. Yes, sir. Fellow drummer. Yeah. Drums, is it because it's the easiest thing to get started? Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't mean to, you know, fire shots.

Because it's the easiest. Yeah, totally Have you ever played drums. Yeah, you ever tried to keep a groove for an entire band? Ben? I wasn't. I was a pencil drummer. I was a pencil drummer in my day. Um, but but no, it's just interesting because uh a majority of our guests that were musically inclined and played instruments, drums were the first one. So I guess just for someone that's younger, maybe because of the you know, hand-eye coordination of guitar or keys, it's maybe a little bit I don't know, is it a little bit harder? I'm I'm asking. Um why do you think that it is? Because I mean, I mean, Henry, everyone. I started on piano. I think piano to me is the number one instrument to start with. Yeah, actually, I think I So it's just a coincidence, maybe that we've had a lot of drummers on the show. Okay. Yeah. Cause I feel like I a lot of people start on piano. Yeah. Um it's a good foundation. Yeah. It's great to just understand music theory and understand and be able to look at the keys and do chords. Yep. So fast forward though, how many instruments do you play um today? Well, when I was so nine on drums, and then I was 12 when I started playing guitar, and I was 13 actually when I started producing and singing.

Uh my cousin David Barnes, shout out David. If you saw that. Um I was like 13, he was on FL Studio. He used to rap and produce himself, and he was like, Yo, I'm gonna teach you something that's gonna change your life. And then he showed me how to produce, and the very first thing I ever tried to produce on my own was a cover of Mother by Danzig. Wow. Yeah, great song. That's awesome. Yeah, but before you got into production, I mean you were writing songs at a young age. I mean, oh yeah, you had notebooks full of whether whether you'd call them full songs or not. I mean, they they were right, you were writing lyrics like poems, yeah, poems. But song-like things when I started that. when did you do that? When I was between seven and now, I've always even before I wanted to. Do you have any of those notebooks? My mom has a container this big and it's stacked with notebooks that are just filled with words that are save those. If you ever have writer's block, do you ever dig back into some of those old notebooks? I have I haven't even opened them in over 10 years.

Hey, maybe maybe you should give them a shot. I thought about it. There might be a hit record in one of those notebooks. They were very dark and demented and crazy. But I think it's more like a thing that you open up way later, like when he's the most famous, you know, on the planet, then you open it back up. Yeah, me and my team were talking about turning them into NFTs. Shout out NFTs. Man, money making. We should have a whole episode where we talk about NFTs and music by the way. You should. with it. Yeah. It's gonna change the game. Did y'all see Tory Lane's new album? Yeah. Sold a million copies for a dollar and a minute or something. Genius. He was going crazy about it. And you can resell the album and make money. Yeah, it's a collector's item. I'm I'm admittedly not well versed in the whole topic. So before our conversation, I'll definitely have to do some research. Yeah. Yeah, once again, that's why I mentioned my team having their hand in that because I don't know much about NFTs either. Yeah, perfect. So your mom obviously, you know, was into Allman Brothers. She mentioned that when you'd get into trouble, she'd punish you.

What what were some of your punishments? Do you remember? She had so one of the things that I know she mentioned was that she would never she would take everything out of my room except for my instruments because she didn't want because she didn't want to take that away from me. And also she, you know, she knew my connection with music. And she also would make me cover songs that she liked that I didn't like. That's crazy. And it might still be on YouTube, but I posted a video of me doing an Allman Brothers songs, and I spelled Allman like an almond, which is super embarrassing. And I was young, so please forgive me for that. But the Almond Brothers, it sounds like a brand of almond. Yeah, I know the Almond Bros. Yeah. They should do that. Yeah. Brand. So other than music growing up, and even to this day, skateboarding is a big passion of yours, right? When did you start skating?

I started skateboarding when I was nine. My father used to skateboard, and uh he kind of put me on when I was young. And uh yeah, I've skated my whole life up until I quit probably about a year ago. Just because I quit. I just can't take the falls no more. I'm just yeah, what was your worst injury? Uh I broke this arm to where it was kind of dangling like this at one point. I've broke it's still like you hear that pop. Oh, that's because I fucking broke this pinky. Um I've twisted my left ankle probably like seven or eight times. Uh always the left one. I I don't have a lot of details, but apparently I broke my shoulder at some point because I went to the hospital and a doctor was like, you know, your shoulder was broken, right? Like it's grown back weird. And I was like, oh, I didn't even notice. Wow. Yeah, I have a weirdly high pain tolerance, but that's crazy. So you mentioned getting into production. When was that?

Uh when I was like 13. So was that when you did you start taking music seriously then, or was that still very I feel like my entire life I always like knew that I wanted to do music, but I would say as far as it being a career, I would say probably like 15 or 16 is when I was like, I'm doing this. I'm so mad at these people who like figured out exactly what they want to do. Isn't that so interesting though? that's what my fiance says. I started making beats and engineering like at 21, like 22, and these kids, and there's like 17 year olds. It's not It's never too late. I admittedly just started taking a music career, you know, in management and doing this podcast, you know. I mean, the podcast three months ago, but you know, even music seriously, like two years less than two years ago, and I'm freaking 30. So it's like I I definitely not too late, though. I hate having regrets, um, but I so badly wish I would have taken that leap back in, you know, when I was 18, 20, whatever years old. But um, that's that's interesting. So, what kind of music did you start producing?

Uh well, I guess you would say rap. I've always been interested in all types of genres, but I started with rap. Uh my buddy 3AG Pilot. If y'all know who I was like, Shout out 3AG. You know what I'm talking about? That's my boy. We grew up together at the time. Yeah, you put me on him. Oh, yeah, yeah. We've been uh he actually kind of taught me how to rap. Like we used to hang out in his basement for hours, and I would be like freestyling back and forth with him, and he would be like, nah, nah, nah, like you need to catch it like that. You're not flowing, man. Right. Yeah. For real. And uh he is an impressive rapper, and he freestyles everything. We still work together too, 13 years later. But wow. Uh so I actually started as his producer when we were kids, and that's kind of where it began. Did you have a producer name? Uh I didn't have a producer name, but my artist name in the beginning it was AK Kennedy. AK Kennedy. Because my initials are JFK, like John F.

Kennedy. Okay. Yeah, so that's where that came from. That's dope. And so you started rapping. It was kind of dark that I did the gunshots on JFK. Yeah. Oh man. Henry went there. It's a that's a history lesson for you kids. Yeah, don't play with guns. Yeah. Unless you have to. So what was your you know, next artist name as a rapper? Uh as I it was just that, and then I went to Dahlia Doe actually, as a producer. Okay. Yeah. And then one more time? Dahlia Doe. Dahlia Doe. And then from there I went to Young Doe. And then from Young Doe to Doe. And then about four years ago, it became Forces and Dead. Wow. And and so even though you were still quite young, you already decided to drop the young at a young age. Yeah. You're like, how old were you? I'm too grown for this shit? When you dropped the young, how old were you? Uh that would have been like five years ago. I was only like doe for like a year or so. Okay.

But it was only because like he he felt wise beyond his years. So he was like, I'm dropping this young shit. Okay. I ain't young anymore. Yeah. It was uh actually the reason I did it is because the sound of the music was becoming a little less rap and a little more pop. And I was like, young doe sounds more rap than it does pop. It does. But so who are some of your hip hop and rap uh influences? And I like asking this question because I also want to know not only who were some of your influences as a rapper, but also who did you like to listen to? Because I feel like those are sometimes very different. Fred Durst and Vanilla Ice Baby. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I was like, no, shout out to them. They were white. Shout out to them. It was it was just a joke. But yeah. Nah, Fred Durst is legit. Um, nah, Carter III, Lil Wayne. That was probably when I was like, oh yeah, this is my shit. Yeah. Mr. Carter, three Pete. Yeah. And uh and so both you liked him as a fan, and also wanted to kind of emulate some of the things that he was doing as an artist, too. Yeah, for sure.

Because I feel like sometimes those are different. Sometimes it's different. You know, as far as sometimes I ask artists who are some of their influences, and they don't align at all with what their sound sounds like. So that's why I kind of like to delineate the two between like who were you a fan of, and then who did you say, like, damn, I I want to try and work that into my craft. I've always been kind of good as far as like not doing what somebody else is doing. Not that my music doesn't sound like somebody else's, but like for example, like I do not live the same type of lifestyle that Lil Wayne lived. So you know what I'm saying? Like my lyrics and music sound is not gonna be, you know, some hood shit. And you're aware of that. Right. And that's important, right? Yeah, for sure. We're gonna we're gonna hit it one more time on the One More Time podcast. When we feel like an artist has dropped a gem, we ask them to just say it one more time for the people in the back. Don't lie in your lyrics.

If you lie in your lyrics, I don't want to hear it, and neither does anybody else. You're wasting your time. Tell the truth. So well said. Guys. that's honestly a big gem. Huge. People might think that they have heard that. you can only keep up a facade for so long. Facades are whack, dude. You're gonna get yourself hurt one day. That's right. That's interesting. So emotionally or physically. So you mentioned, you know, having some hip hop rap influences. You also mentioned, you know, if you could have one CD stuck in your CD player, it would be My Chemical Romance. Who are some of your other non-rap influences? Uh Misfits for sure. Misfits. One of my biggest. There it is. Uh Modest Mouse. And probably my next biggest next to my chemical romance would be The Cure. I am a gigantic cure fan. I'm obsessed with Robert Smith. I actually have a poster from their 1992 Wish Tour that my mom got at that tour. Oh wow. Yeah. I'm I'm a third generation fan of the cure. Wow.

My grandfather, my mom, and then me. The way music is, you just don't see third generation fans of anything. Yeah. I feel like It just changes. No, I'm trying to think of like what my grandparents were into. Nothing that I'm listening to. I think you played big band music in the car, you know? Swing. Right. Yeah. Shout out to my pop. Shout, shout out to Pop. Pop. So, with all these different genres of influences and you being fans of these different genres, I heard you were a big playlister. Oh, yeah. I make a lot of playlists. You like to make playlists. Yeah. First off, can you put Henry and I onto some of your playlists for sure. Can you add us? Yeah. Please. What's on your playlist as of today? What were some of the newest additions to your playlist? Um, Touche Amore. Another one of my favorite bands. I actually, the song's not out yet, but in one of my songs, I name drop the singer. Okay. Because his lyrics are like next level amazing. Um as far as new bands, Turnstile. or just anything that you might have added to your playlist recently. New additions.

Honestly, yeah. Oh, okay. Just new additions. Touché Amoré, Turnstile. Um this isn't a new addition necessarily, but I've been listening to a lot of TSOL. Okay. Um yeah. That's dope. You'll definitely have to add us to the playlist. Oh, I will, for sure. We've had another guy that was called the Encyclopedia of Music by one of his uh brothers and actually collaborators. Yeah. And we asked him to put us on a playlist. He still hasn't added us. Dan, I'll add you. Dan. Dan. What's up, man? If you don't fucking add us to that playlist soon, it's like it's got five clicks, Max. Come on, Dan. so you've been through. I'm so real, I'm doing it right this second. Oh, look at. On the podcast. Look at the initiative. That's the initiative. This is incredible. This is an artist that takes his craft seriously. Oh, yeah. This is a playlister that takes his playlist career seriously. He's getting new playlist fans right now. Yeah. Maybe we'll drop one of his playlists in the in the comments. I mean, who knows? Who knows?

If they don't, I will. Yep. Yep. No, it's done. It's in the description. Look down. It's happening. I'm gonna make Ben do it. There might be even a little link to one of those, like, I forgot what they're called. I love Info card. Love a good info. Right up here, probably or over there. It's one of these sections. I never know which way to point. Top right. And Henry, before we forget, you gotta look at your camera. I mean, I am looking at no. He's the worst about looking into his camera. Well, when we do that he knows what it is of actually looking into a real camera. When we do the episodes with me and you, there's like two cameras right next to each other, and I'm like, Yeah, so it's one. So if you want something to hit real hard, you look at the second one down there. Yeah, that one. The bottom one. Yep. And you're like, hey, motherfuckers. Listeners. Listen up. Yeah. That's our thumbnail. That's a incredible. It's cutting that up for the thumbnail. Yeah. You already mentioned like four names or five artist names that you've you know gone through in the past. Obviously, Forrest Isn't dead is the latest and greatest.

It's the go forward. It's the brand. It's here to stay. It's here to stay. It's not going, it's not dying. No. So it's not dead yet. not dead yet. I'm always fascinated by how do you choose? Tell us about the brainstorming process because going from young doe to doe to then Forrest isn't dead. There's a story behind that clearly. There's Clearly, some thought that was into that. Not with Doe. Doe is No, exactly. Let's focus on the one that's here to stay. Okay. I was about to say I was in a car on my way to West Virginia. I was like, fuck it, I'm gonna start going by Doe. That's a terrible idea. Yeah, I know. It was bad branding, honestly. Yeah, but but now that it's Forrest isn't dead, yeah. Obviously, you mentioned that, you know, JFK were your initials. Yeah. Forrest is my middle name. Is the middle name. Yeah. But talk to us about the branding behind isn't dead. What does it mean to you? So I was living with my manager at the time, and I was driving home, and for some reason, we were trying to think of brand names because we were talking about rebranding because there's a new like sound switch. And um my first was Forest is Alive.

And I was like, I don't like how that sounds. Like it's not, it doesn't roll off the tongue nice. And then I was like, Forrest isn't dead. And then I was just like, Yeah. And also, like I have gone through a good bit of stuff and I've grown a lot as a person. Talk to us about some of the stuff that you've been through. Yeah. So that's why I was like, okay, so it's like a sign of me being here instead of dead, like I should be, or could be. I shouldn't say should be. Um, but yeah, I've been sober for a while now. I used to have a lot of problems with like pills and uh cocaine and acid and anything. I did everything except for heroin. I would never touch heroin. But um, I've been sober for a long time now. I even recently quit smoking weed and like kind of wow, yeah. I don't drink either. Like I drink maybe once every six months, like for celebration, but that's it. So nice, yeah. Super clear minded, feels good, you know what I'm saying. I got a wonderful fiance who helps me out a lot. Shout out Forrest's fiance. shout out to Rose, right?

Rosalie, yeah, Rosalie. My girl. Yeah, she helps me a lot. She's actually even just in the three years we've been together, like helped me process a lot of like childhood traumas and shit. Wow. yeah, yeah. Yeah, so so mental health is clearly something that wasn't talked about very publicly in the past. It's starting to get more socially acceptable to discuss it and to be open about it. For those listening that may or may not be struggling with, you know, depression or mental health issues. What would you say to them? I would just say that it's uh as far as suicide is not worth it. And uh everybody kind of has a purpose and something they could do to make the world better. So you just need to find that for yourself and focus and hone in on that. Um and yeah, don't worry so much about what other people think. And also uh I had a brain fart, but um just just focus on yourself and just do what you got to to make yourself happy and put that first. Put your happiness before anything else or anybody else's major major, maybe just one more time.

Focus on yourself and make yourself happy before anything else in the day. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes you do just have to be selfish when it comes to mental health. For sure, for sure. I think happy people are more capable of helping other people be happy. Exactly. Right? The happier you are, the easier you rub time you will have. So it's not even selfish at the end of the day. Yeah, yeah. How did music put did music play a role in big time? Yeah. Um even like that album I mentioned, the My Chemical Romance album. That that album, like the lyrics in that album kind of like made me feel like, okay, I'm not the only person who has these feelings. Like when I was young and like extra depressed, like, you know, and like a big message of theirs was like, there is hope and you can't persevere, like past that stuff. And so I've taken on a lot of that message within myself because it, you know, that helped me a lot tremendously as a kid to hear someone else say that. Yeah. So you feel alone at first. You're like, I'm the only one that feels like this.

Why do I feel like that? Especially when you're like an angsty old 13 year old. Yeah, like middle school shit. Yeah. Yeah. But no, it's um, I mentioned on my Meet the Host episode that was the episode that dropped right before yours. Um I was in a pretty dark place before I just started taking music seriously. My aunt actually committed suicide. Sorry to um yeah. And it was something that I didn't know about. I I'd never experienced suicide from a friend. I didn't even I didn't even know a friend of a friend that had, you know, dealt with it. So it was this brand new thing to me. And just you know, being through the, you know, being alongside her through the depression and whatnot. It was something that completely like opened my mind to like how bad it can get for someone. Yeah, and you know, of course, then I have my own bout with like feeling very, you know, dark and just alone and in a you know interesting space mentally, obviously, and music, you know, just meeting Henry and like joining him and his team, obviously, to really like make this thing happen and like starting to do the podcast and stuff, it's just been like focusing on yourself, right? Like you said, it's it feels a certain way sometimes, but to your point, like me focusing on something that I love, which is this podcast, for example, like gets to have people like you like come on and stuff.

So like it it turns into selfless, even though maybe originally it's self-ish. Yeah, and I think that's okay. Yeah, and uh and more to the point of what you were saying as far as like now you have the podcast, is that's what I meant earlier when I was saying, like, if you're feeling that way, like find something that you can put your time into, and it's going to help you over time. Yeah, and I know sometimes it can be hard, like when you're down and depressed of like even having the energy or wanting to, but like you just got power through it sometimes. I know it's hard, but one foot in front of the other, man. It's a fight you gotta put up though. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? And it I'm a testament to it. You obviously are as well. Like it's possible. Oh yeah. And it feels so fucking good once you know. I'm not perfect by any means. I still have bad days. I'm sure you all did. Yeah. I had one yesterday. But yep, right. But it's just, but it's still if you can, you know, find that thing that maybe makes it not all feel so hard. I still think it's like it goes back to the Gary Vee.

Shout out, Gary Vee. We'd love to have you on the podcast by the way. We Really would. It's like make a list of the things that you're really good at. Make a list of the things that you really love to do and like see what's on both lists. Yeah. That's a good idea. Like laser focus into those things. You gonna one more time to me? He even knew which button it was. Oh yeah, I pay attention. This guy's sharp. Figure out what you're good at, figure out what you love to do. And if there's anything, even one thing that's on both lists, do the shit out of it. Oh yes, sir. Period. Big gems. That's great. That's great. Can't believe he did it. So as part of Forest Isn't Dead, how would you describe your sound? Like if you were to go up to some guy on the street that's never heard of you, what would you say that your you know sound is how would you describe it? I would say introspective alternative pop music. That's probably the best way that I would That's good. Okay.

A lot of my lyrics, actually, all of my lyrics are more based on the stuff that we were just talking about, as far as like emotions and perseverance and you know, being you through your darkest days. Yep. Um, and then the music, I you know, I just like I said, the Cure is one of my favorite bands. They're really like poppy. Uh, and I like them because they're like whimsical and dark at the same time, and that's kind of the vibe that I'm going for. Yeah, it's whimsical and dark. Whimsical and dark. Yeah. What would you say is the song that you're most proud of of mine? Throughout the forest isn't dead era, I would say. Uh, that's out right now, probably here we are. But the songs that you guys will probably hear in the future and maybe come back to this. Um, either Paper Kingdom or a funeral. Funeral and paper kingdom. Those two. Perfect. They're not out. yet. let's play a snippet from what was the one that was out? Here we are.

Here we are. Here we are. Here we are. Here we Are. and here we are fighting our demons. Here we are, just trying to be human, you know. Shh. I got chills. I don't know if the camera can pick this up. Woo! Thank you. I appreciate that. It's a good thing when Henry gets chills. You can't fake this. Nope. So, so what inspired that song? I can tell you the story behind it. I said I'll play it for you. I have the very first recording of when we wrote the song. What we did is we were at band practice. So Matt produced the original bones for that song. Shut up, Matt, man. Yeah. Legend. And he emailed it to me, and I was in the car, kind of like vibing with it. And I was like, you know what?

I'ma just pull it up at practice. We're just gonna like play over it and then see what happens. And I have that recording of the first time we played over it. Uh, all of the words I freestyled, they were first things that I said. Yeah, first thing I said, every single one of the words. Yeah, uh, hook and all, and um Matt's guitar parts were the very first thing he played. Like that song just happened. Um that's always the best music. We had a day like that. Do you remember the day? Yeah, when it was a day of firsts, yep. It was the first uh sample he found. It was the first freestyle kick that he, you know, uh made the first 808, like it was the first of everything, and the artist were also vibing off of first. First beat I played for an artist, yeah. But it was just one of those days where it was like he was like, Should we just go with the first one we just heard? We're like, fuck yeah, we should. Like, because everything else was the first. Why would we not go off of the first like take or the first this? So it was kind of more of a game at the end of it, but it like it turned out incredible. Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a shout-out, my boy first.

Good job first. Good job first. First from SK FKI. Yeah, uh, something that he kind of put me on to when I've worked with him the couple times I have that uh I kind of taken into my own swag. Is when he's in the studio, he'll start a project. And if the first in the first 10 minutes, if it doesn't feel right to him, he's like, fuck this, go on to the next one. Yeah, like he doesn't spend a lot of time on the records. And so, you know, I kind of do that now. But when I'm in the studio with Wes and Matt, we're working on it. Shout out Wes. Yeah, Wes Green Wes Green, man. Wes Green, Matt Vassie. And my boys, and Zuko. Yeah, and Zuko. Gotta shout out Zuko. Shout out to the team. Um, Matt Vassie. they produce all the music with me, and they also play in the band. Matt's on guitar, Wes is on synths. but yeah, if the song's not hitting in the first 15, 20 minutes, then we're just like, all right, next project. Yeah, yeah, you'll know if you need to move on with it. Yeah, that was the very first time that we just ran through it and we were like, yep, that's a hit. Let's keep it.

Yeah, we're gonna like we're gonna go deeper into this. Let's make this song for real. Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. So you described some of the music. Yeah. How would you describe yourself as a person? I always love this. As weird as this is gonna sound, I don't think about myself too much. I gotta put myself at the back burner, focus on what's in front of me. But um I've heard myself described as very headstrong. So like if I know I'm gonna do something, I'm doing it. Or you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't half-ass stuff, I do it 100% or not at all. Whole ass. Yeah. I'm a whole ass. He's a whole asser. Yeah, I'm a whole asser. And then if I don't want to do it, I just won't. I just, yeah. If someone's like, hey, let's do this, I don't want to, I'm not doing it. Yeah. I don't do stuff I don't want to do. Yeah. Yeah. You know, some people just go with the flow. I'm not that guy though. Yeah. You create the flow. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Someone described you as very compassionate. Oh, yeah.

And I'd say so. You know, you you really do care about other people. Mm-hmm. Um, and the quote from Zuko, and I loved this quote. Shout out Zuko for this. To be interesting, you have to be interested in others. Oh, yeah. And I was like, damn, that's like a one more time. That's like a fucking Nelson Mandela or some shit. Dude, Zuko has a lot of wisdom. Yeah. Yeah, he's a very smart. guy. Yeah. So, So yeah, to be interesting, you gotta be interested in others. Yeah. And so I think that you're clearly a very interesting character. And I think that it might be from the fact that you really are genuinely, you know, inch. I mean, even just like I said, you're interested in what we're doing, and you know, with the podcast and whatnot, like that was felt to a point that I was like, oh fuck yeah, we gotta have this guy on. And then it was like obviously, you know, you've known Henry for a while anyway. So it was kind of like you know, the stars aligned. I uh that's great.

I appreciate that. I definitely like I don't care who you are, what you do, what level of whatever you're at. I am more than willing to hear what you gotta say because you can learn something from anybody. You can learn shit from a six-year-old. One more time. You can learn shit from anybody in this world. There's nobody who can't teach you something. You can learn something from everybody. So I always take the time to listen to what people have to say, you know, and hear them out. Uh definitely gain more knowledge that way for sure. And you never know who that person's gonna become. Or that we've had several people, Chad Tenney's who actually may or may not have just been involved in a uh He was, yeah. He worked on this new video that'll be out uh early sept late September, early October. And we didn't even know that, guys. So that was crazy to have Forrest literally show us unreleased footage from the Resolve Media Group, Chad Tenney's and Mac, Mac Grant. Shout out Mac.

And so episodes 11 and 14. Yeah, exactly. You got Mac on here too. No, y'all need hey Mac. Mac, yeah. We'd love to have you on the podcast Get on here. But but no, so uh Chad mentioned it, another guest of ours, Whoa mentioned it. How whether it's the fucking intern in the room, the secretary, the lowest level person in the room, to your point, you can learn something from them, maybe. Definitely. They have something to bring to the table. Everybody. They're valuable just because of where they might be currently, that doesn't mean no. exactly. It has no bearing on where they might, you know, be someday, or just what they know and what you might learn from them. So that's like I love seeing the consistent themes amongst our guests because you're not a producer manager. Well was literally a producer-manager. You're not a filmmaker and director and producer of videos, like exactly like Chad is. So hearing someone that's you know, front man of a of a uh band and an artist and also you know a music producer have that same mentality that I I love finding those consistent elements between our guests.

It's really cool. One of my uh philosophies with life is like uh everybody is on equal ground. I don't care what job you have, I don't care if you're the fucking president, I don't care if you're the janitor, everybody is on equal ground in my eyes. Like nobody is above anybody. And my mom could attest to this. I don't care about um what's the word? Um, like formality. Like formality does not matter to me. Like, yeah, that shit's out the window. Like it's kind of fake sometimes. It's yeah, and I just don't buy into that shit. Of just what, like how things should be true. It's just like you have to behave like this around this person. Like you have to treat this person with a certain amount of respect. Like I will respect you if you respect me. And outside of that, I don't care who you are or what you do. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And uh that's interesting. Yeah, yeah. Everybody deserves love, everybody should be treated equally. What's been your most memorable moment so far in music?

Was it a studio session, a live performance, a collaboration? You might've done? Like what? Something you'll never forget. Exactly. What stands out in your career so far? I got a couple. Uh one of them is meeting Coach K at a disco. That was really cool. Shout out, Coach K. Shout out. But I wouldn't say we're homies, but we're acquainted. Okay. Now and we talk sometimes on Instagram. Nice. Coach K from uh Quality Control. Quality Control, man. He's the guy. Not all you Duke fans thinking it's Coach fucking Mike Krzyzewski. We don't want to hear your Duke bullshit. I know nothing about sports. So perfect. But just for those of them that don't know who Coach K is from QC, label home of the Migos, Lil Baby, um Cardi B. Yeah. He used to manage Gucci and Jeezy back in the day. He was kind of uh sadly in the middle of that beef at one point. Yeah, but that was tough for him.

Oh man, that's some legend. He is an Atlanta legend. Yeah, he's a hip, he's a hip hop and music legend. Yeah. I mean, they have QC sports too. They have QC like entertainment. I mean he's amazing, dude. Yeah. Um, being on stage with 21 Savage, that might be when was that? Uh this was like 2015. And how did that uh happen? Trinidad James's birthday. Shout out dad. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know him. Yeah. I know Dad. Uh his buddy, or not his buddy, Trinidad's cousin, Nick's cousin Trinidad. I don't know him well enough to call him Nick. Trinidad's cousin G. But you did know him well enough to know his name was Nick. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. I knew him as Nick. Oh, okay. I was like, you still call him Trinidad. I guess I'm not cool enough to know him as Nick. You'd be like calling me Justin. I wouldn't like that too. I just know him as Mr. James. Yeah, Mr. James. With the salute. Yeah. Yeah. I knew his cousin Juke. Uh, who's one of my good friends? Juke? I've worked with Juke.

Yeah, Juke. Shout out to Juke. Um Yeah, he dude, he just got me a housewarming gift. He bought me a Supreme Skateboard for a housewarming gift. So so that's dope. Yeah. Nice juke. Good job. But yeah, so he was like, yo, it's uh Trinidad's birthday. You trying to come. And I was like, hell yeah. And it was, I was on stage, and it was like me, 21 Savage, Man Man Savage, Trinidad. Both the savages. I think Fat Man Key might have been there. Key man. Key, we would love to love to have you on the podcast, my friend. I've done a song with Key. Put in a good word for us, my friend. Yeah. But it's actually, it's got my boy ATL Smook on it, uh, Swag Hollywood, Key, and then me. Nice. Yeah. Is it ever coming out? Maybe. Speaking of projects that may or may not ever see the light of day. Yeah, I think you have something to say on that note. Tell us about a project that we'd all be dying to have released. Uh back in the day, it was 2016. My buddy KK was like, yo, there's this kid you need to meet.

Uh, I think you could really help him with music. He's just like kind of getting started. Uh, and I was like, all right, bet. Like, and then he pulls up. I I gotta tell the story before I tell y'all who it is because it's so funny. The anticipation. Yeah. So he pulls up and picks me up, and there's buddy who we're about to talk about in the car, and then his manager. I get in the back seat, and this is so funny to me, and I loved it. But his manager was like, yo, he's gonna be famous one day. And I was just like, all right. Talking about the you or the guy? The guy. Okay. He was just like, yo, just so you know, he's gonna be famous one day. Yeah, I was like, all right, cool. Okay. And then we like You're like, uh, I love the confidence manager. For sure. No, and I did. That's why I was saying it's super cool. It was just kind of funny to be like, I never met you, but yo, my homie's gonna be famous. Now he definitely is. Now he definitely is. So we go to the studio, I start pulling up some beats, and he starts singing. And I am the second I heard him sing, I was like, Yep, he's gonna be famous.

I was like, this stuff is too good. Yeah, it's amazing. And he was freestyling everything. And then we did like three or four songs together that never got released, and this artist is Drumroll, please. Trippie Redd. Trippie Red. If you don't fucking give us those sessions, yeah. Trippie, we'd love to have you in the podcast, and you need to drop this project with Forrest. Let's not drop that project, but let's come back. Make a new project. Make a new project. Let's come full circle. The hook, I can't. Your manager was right. You're fucking famous. Yeah, he killed it. We get it. Yeah. Um is it still his manager today? I have no idea. Okay. I'm so out of touch with him. I have no idea. But uh the hook. But we saw the DMs. You were DMing for us. Oh, yeah. in 2016. Told me to pull up and everything. Yep. Um, the hook was uh it's like a movie every time I hit the scene. Ay, ay. Da, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na. Ay, ay. Okay. But yeah, yeah, that was a dope melody.

Yeah. And then I was doing the lower layer Trippie was doing the higher layer, and we were singing it together. I can only imagine that blend. Yeah, it was sick. And uh, yeah, uh eventually we'll work together again. I already know it. I know but um that's awesome, but yeah, Trippie red. We worked on some songs that never saw the light of day. Damn. Yeah. What a they weren't that good. What an inspiring though, like you said, you know, let's let's manifest that that that new moment, right? Let me say this. Yeah, of course. Not that he wasn't good, but he was shitting on me on those songs. I've definitely gotten better since then, but at the time I was just like, oh man, this kid, like I am lucky to be on this song with him. That was before he was famous, too. I was just like, this kid is so talented. But Nice. I've caught up, dogs. You could keep up with him today. Yeah. Yeah, I could keep up with you now. There you go. Let's go. So if you could manifest a new moment that if I were to ask you this question would for sure be on your list of defining moments in your career, you know, what would it be? Would it be headlining a certain festival?

Would it be collaborating with this certain artist? Like, what would that that pinnacle moment for you be platinum? Yeah, just any anything. I only have two. Okay. It's uh being on a song with Gerard Way, My Chemical Romance, okay, and being on a song with Robert Smith from The Cure. Wow. Anything else is like kind of just like whatever to me. Like even going platinum or selling out of shows, like it's cool. But like those two are like where I would genuinely be like it's about the people made it. It's compassionate. What do you like so much about them? Uh everything, You know what I mean? like what is it? It's what they stand for and what they talk about, their presentation, how much they're like in touch with themselves and like uh just happy to be themselves, you know what I'm saying, and their level of expression. I'm really into it. Uh even for myself, like in middle school, I was like pretty much in touch with myself, and then in high school, my mom made me go to a different high school than the one in our district because she didn't want me to go to school with my friends because your mom sounded so cool until this moment. No, she was cool. No, she was doing the right thing.

She was doing the right thing. Okay. Cause I was getting in a shit ton of trouble with my friends in middle school. I went to school with like a bunch of rich kids. Uh yeah, that was like a new one back in the day. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. The year- It was like a new preppy one. My freshman year was the second year. Yeah, it was a super preppy school. I didn't fit in at all. And it really messed with my confidence, and it made me feel like I couldn't be myself because I'm around a bunch of people who were extremely judgmental of me. Yeah. And then, you know, I was just really insecure for a while. And then eventually, like I said, once I met Rosalie and stuff, she's kind of helped me come back to being myself and being confident and happy with expressing myself the way I want to. So speaking of kind of, you know, how you feel about yourself. We already talked about, you know, maybe some adjectives, right? That you'd use to describe your music and describe yourself. But what do you like most about your artistry? What are your strengths? Would you say? Definitely songwriting. Like we had said earlier. I've been writing for so long.

Like is that lyrics or is that like arrangement? Uh, all of it. I would say I'm not a great singer. Um Wow. Yeah, I'm not I'm really I thought you were pretty good. I appreciate that. Yeah, I was like, you could have fooled me, maybe. But yeah, I would definitely say I'm a better songwriter than a singer, which is okay. That's more what I base my music on. And really, like, I would say my main thing is just like I said, is like letting people know that you're not the only one going through some of this shit and that there is a light at the end of that tunnel. He's a communicator. Yeah, and that I could be an example for these people of like you can get off these drugs and you can get out of these bad situations and put yourself in a better spot. Yeah. That's great. So talk to us about the label situation. Which label did you sign with? Uh Madison Records. Shout out, Madison. Shout out Madison. Uh the CEO, Tanner Hendon. Shout out Tanner.

Tanner. His fiance or wife. Can you tell? We like to shout out to Katie Doherty. No, because his fiancee actually went to kindergarten with. Yeah. So shout out Katie too. Not my fiance. Tanner. She found out about me through Henry. She came to a show of mine with Henry and then told Tanner, and that's how Tanner found out about me. Because, because Frank Mason. And you guys all found out about me. Wait, So you guys signed your label because of me? Because of you, technically, yeah. Yeah. That's crazy, right? The best podcast episode ever. I don't know. I think that's fact. So I'm sorry, Tanner, if that's not exactly how it happened. No, for this podcast, it's the fucking truth. I'm pretty sure that that's what happened. Henry is the reason why you signed with Madison Records. I just know that Tanner told me that the first time he heard of me was through Katie, through going to the show. Was it aisle five? Was it that show? No, Tanner came to that show. Smith's. It was a show at Smith's upstairs at Smith's. Yes. Quick little side, funny story about Smiths. It was also Frank Mason performing because you guys. My boy. You guys were more dope music with uh Zuko. Shout out Zuko over here.

Still more dope music. Still more dope music, of course. Um over 9,000. Yeah, it's over 9,000, baby. Over 9,000. I remember um Forrest put on an amazing show. I was super pumped up, and it's where it's after the show, everyone's chilling. I just came up to him like, yo, that was a crazy show. You guys killed it. Is there any way I can help or anything? And he was like, yo, you could uh you could buy these socks. Support, dog. Support. He had he had four branded socks. Branded socks, and I copped a pair of socks. Oh, do you have any more of those? No, I don't. Fuck. You need to do a rerun. I'll hook you up with some shit though. Yeah whenever I get some merch. Yeah. I was like, man. Not you, Henry. I'm just kidding. My guy, come on. Don't leave me hanging. It's messed up. That's amazing. I'm just kidding. Good deal. So what's coming up? Uh, any, you know, singles or projects or you know, shows that are coming up that you want to, you know, shout out that you're excited about. You mentioned the video. What which song is that? It's this song called Fire.

It's really dope. It's fire. It's fire. It is. Yeah. It's coming out, and I can't show y'all a video, but I'll just tell you. Somebody caught themselves on fire in the video about fire. Who could it be? Yeah. Who Could it be? Um, I don't want to give away too much. Um, and then we have this. I don't know. No, that'll be over. We have a private show on Saturday, but this will be a week before y'all see this. So y'all missed the private show. Y'all missed the private show Yeah. It was fucking dope. It was legendary. Hindsight. Yeah. Yeah. Me and Ben are gonna be there. Don't miss awesome. Don't miss the next one. Yeah. Yeah. And then I know we're gonna be booking some shows. I know like spring next year, we're gonna have the album, the full album, and we'll also have a tour set up. Gotta have a tour with the album. Yeah, for sure. Have you announced the name of the album, or is that still? I know the name, but I don't know if I'm supposed to drop it yet. Okay, I'm gonna hold on to it for a second. We could use a use of podcast exclusive though. I think Henry, we're at a final segment of the One More Time podcast.

It's Henry's favorite. It's everyone's favorite. Where are we at right now, Oh shit. I like to call this the rapid fire rampage. Oh, we're about to rampage. Buckle up, Forrest. So the Rapid Fire Rampage, it's a three part rampage. Because we love threes around here. Three is a good number. Oh, yeah. That we tend to gravitate towards. It's my third favorite. Is it following one and two? Okay. It's just a negative joke. Okay. So it's gonna be uh short answer. I'm gonna hit you with some quick short answer questions. You should fire back a quick answer to me. I'll do my best. It's gonna be a this or that as part two. I'm gonna give you two choices. You pick one, top of your head. And then it's gonna be a word association. I'm gonna give you one word, you give me one word back. Okay. And I'll repeat that as we go. That's a lot too. It feels like therapy. It's gonna be we might learn something. We might charge you. So that'll be 50 bucks. Yeah.

Here we go. Rapid fire rampage. Force isn't dead. Initiating rampage. Give us Forest. One band in your top five of all time. My chemical romance. Give us your favorite hobby to get away from music. Skateboarding. Perfect. Lead into the next question. Give us the best skate trick you have ever landed. Probably three flipping a five stair. Sounds crazy. It is. I'm going to have to see a video. Can you describe that in a little more detail? So it's like a 360 shove it and a kick flip together over five stairs. So it's like like that. And and so it's a full turnaround, but it's also flip a flip. A kick flip and a 360 shove it. Wow. That was the phone is actually a good look. Great skateboard proxy. I've been showing people how to skateboard on a phone for years. See, see, I used to use the little uh tech decks you can do. I have one. Shout out my boy Melvin.

You talked to Melvin. Oh, yeah, Melvin Mello. He gave me a tech deck not too long ago. Hell yes. Melvin's great. Sitting in my studio. Joe Biden exiles you from America. Where do you go live? Uh Scotland. Why? That's where my fiance wants to be, and I want to be where she is. Shout out Rosalie, man. She's totally wearing the pants in this relationship. Definitely. It's okay. My wife does too. She should. Yeah. If you want to be happy. Yes. If all your band members quit tomorrow, which band would you join? I would just keep doing my shit by myself. But if I had to join a band, uh the cure, if they'd let me. Give us one underground rapper that we should all check out. 3AG Pilot. Boom. My brother. Give us one of the dumbest things you've ever done. Oh.

I gotta play that one safe. Um that's why I preface it with one of. Yeah. One of the dumbest things I've ever done. Probably stole from one of my friends. Yeah. Pretty stupid. It's a good one. Last time I stole too. Good. I was like, never again. It's like five years ago. Just so everybody knows. Let's flip it into one of the best decisions you ever made. Best decision I ever made would be working with Zuko and Wes. If you could add any one instrument or person to the band, who would it be? It would be a second keyboard player. And I don't have a specific person, but if once again, if I had to choose, it would be Robert Smith, because he plays keyboard too. Love it. Love it. Give us your dream venue to play. Dream venue to play. Uh, HiFi Buys buys sold out. First part of the rampage. Major success.

Love it. Sounds good. Moving on to the this or that. Okay. You get two choices, you pick one. Okay. Here we go. In the studio or at a show? At a show. And you pretend like this is uh some years ago, but beer or liquor. Uh I mean, I still drink on occasion, but not that much. But I'm definitely going with liquor. I do not drink beer at all. My man. Skate shoes or barefoot? Oh, skate shoes. I don't do barefoot. Not, not, not like in the the not a foot guy. No, not a foot guy. It's a weird way to put it, but yeah. It was a weird question. It was you're a weird guy. Small local venue or big festival. Uh for me to perform. Take it as you will. Uh attend a small venue. Perform a big festival.

Good answer. Good answer. I do not go to festivals. Hear you. I'm not a public person. Lake House or mountain cabin. Mountain cabin all day. Confidence. Oh yeah. Tattoos or jewelry? Neither, but I guess if I had to pick tattoos. Okay. Do you have one? I have no tattoos and I don't wear jewelry, so yeah, I'm literally the same way. I forgot to update that question from our rappers. The only thing I have to wear is this fucking wedding ring. This goddamn wedding ring. Shout out to Lana. I'd much rather wear like a wedding shirt or something. Like a wedding hat. I can't take it off. My head's bald all through here, but. Wedding shoes, wedding shoes. Wedding fit. We're getting off here. Sorry with a wedding hat. Okay. Oh man, that's good. Chicken or beef. Me and my fiance try to eat vegan, but if I had to pick again, chicken. Bro, your this or that's terrible.

Beer or liquor. Doesn't drink. I say I drink. Chicken or beef, he's a vegan. I'm not, hey, I'm not, I'm not full vegan. I don't want to claim that. Okay. Because I still eat chicken here and I just like to make fun of his questions. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Boxers or briefs, assuming you do wear underwear. He's like, I'm commando. Briefs. Brief man. Briefs. TV shows or movies. Oh, that's hard. Yeah. That's a hard one. We ask the heavy hitters on the One More Time podcast. I guess. I don't know. That's a hard one. I'm gonna, I guess, go movies. I watch more TV shows, but I have more love for movies. What's your favorite movie recently? Sorry to interrupt the rampage. My favorite movie of all time. This is gonna be so hamster, but probably Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Sure. Uh my favorite movie recently would probably be it, chapter two. Really? Yeah, I haven't seen it. The scary. Oh, sorry, hereditary. Hereditary. That's one of the best horror movies in the last like 10 years.

Handsome. No, my wife wants to watch like scary movies all the time, and there you go. I'm so scared. Dude. Scary movies. Hereditary will freak you the fuck out. I don't want to watch it then. It's so good. though. It sounds terrible. Can we move on to the third part of the rampage? Yes, sorry. You're doing great for us, by the way. It's a good rampage so far. Rampage part three, word association, the final part of the rampage. I'm gonna give you one word. You give me the first thing off the top of your head. Right back. Okay. No thought whatsoever. Here we go. Your first word is stage. Left. Oh god. Beach. Ball. Why am I laughing? You're Doing well. I don't know. This is like really good. Pro Tools. Logic. Ooh, Ooh. Logic, Logic squad, Logic squad. Quiet. Canada.

US. I don't know. He's so good. Merch. Store. Video games. Call of Duty. Anxiety. Me. Denim. Jacket. Piercings. No. Atlanta. The best. Sushi. Food. I don't know. I tried. It is food. It is. It is indeed. Politics. No. Pink Floyd. Dark side of the moon. This has a rampage. This has been a great episode with our guy Forrest from Forrest Isn't Dead. This has been a blast. We appreciate you coming on, man. I had a fun time. it was fun. I enjoyed it, man.

Yeah, it did. All the adjectives. Um, no, it was awesome getting to hear, you know, some of the darker sides of your story, and honestly, some of the brighter sides of your story. You know, we got to hear some of the details around how you got your start, where you've come from, where you're at, and where you're going. We appreciate you tuning in, folks. This has been an episode of the One More Time podcast. We're here every week. on Thursdays. Whether you like it or not, you can't get rid of us. Can't do it. I hope you're enjoying it. If you are, please like, subscribe, follow, drop a comment, tell a friend, tell your friend's friend. You know the drill. Until next week. Henry. We outcha. We out. Bye-bye. See ya. Peace. Bye-bye.