Indie Light

I had the good pleasure of chatting with Forest Slater earlier this year, and you can check that out below. However don’t forget to check out my review of his single ‘Girl by the Poolside’ by clicking here. 

Tell me about yourself?

I’m an independent musician based in Salt Lake City, Utah in the U.S. I currently work in construction but hope to be a full time touring musician in the future. I enjoy the outdoors and spend most of my time making music or camping or a lot of the time both.

What Instrument(s) do you play, if any? And how long have you been playing your respective instruments(s)?

The main instrument I play is acoustic guitar and I’ve been playing for 6 years at this point. I also know a handful of other instruments including the mandolin, violin, piano and ukulele!

Who are your biggest influences?

You don’t hear it in my music much but I  listen to a lot of emo rap/ hip hop and had people like Juice WRLD, Lil peep and Xxxtentacion make me want to make music and I think my sound also comes from acoustic folk/pop/indie artists like Noah Kahan, Hozier and Rainbow Kitten Surprise

What song(s) do you remember most from your childhood?

I didn’t grow up with a phone or access to music so I would just listen to whatever my parents would listen to which consisted of a lot of Grateful Dead, Bob Marley and bluegrass artists like Trampled By Turtles and Sam Bush.

Do you perform covers and if so what’s your go to?

I do perform covers! If I do, I like to try new things like making acoustic versions of songs that are hip hop or more upbeat but I am always learning new covers to learn about songwriting and don’t stick to a certain genre.

What genre of music do you consider your work to be?

Seeing that i’ve only been releasing music for a year I don’t feel like i’ve been very consistent with a certain genre and i’m trying to find my sound but I think i’ve started to find my sound and i would consider it acoustic indie/alternative towards folk/pop for some of my songs. 

Do you have a process for writing your songs?

I do have a pretty consistent process. Usually I will come up with a guitar loop/ instrumental I like, after that I will hum/ say random words to find some good melodies that fit the guitar and then I will write lyrics very last. I find it helpful to break down a song into parts like that and simplify the writing process so it doesn’t get too overwhelming.

How has your music been received?

A lot better than I thought it would be, I am definitely a perfectionist and since I do all the writing, production and mixing/mastering I am not perfect in any of those aspects so it’s hard for me to release stuff because I don’t think it will do good because it is not perfect but i’ve learned that if you find the right people they will enjoy it so even if it is not perfect to me someone else might enjoy it so I just release stuff and my recent work has been received well!

Are you planning any music releases for the near future?

Yes! I have not had the time to write recently but I aim for one release a month and that is my goal for this year! I would love to do an album or EP but that probably won’t happen until I can work on music full time. For now it’ll just be singles.

Where can fans find your music?

All of it is under “Forest Slater” and it should be available on every streaming platform! Looking up my name on google also brings up a page that has links for the big platforms.

Do you have social media, if so please provide links?

Yes! You can find me on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. 

Where have you performed? What are your favorite and least favorite venues?

Unfortunately I have not performed yet but I hope to start this year, it is one of my goals!

Do you have any gigs in the near future, and if so where and when?

Nothing booked but I have submitted to events/festivals. I am hoping to get a local one to Utah this year called Fork Fest!

How do you balance your music with other obligations?

It can be really hard sometimes, i’ll have time off work every once in a while and use it to get caught up with all my music stuff and then i’ll get busy and fall behind again and it’s kind of a cycle but I am hoping to find a way to change that a little to stay more consistent with music.

Following on from that question, what has been your biggest challenge as a performer and have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so then how?

beginning of last year it was the fear of people not liking my music which I have overcome and that just came from seeing support from people and seeing people enjoy it! My next one will definitely be performing live but I think I’ll get over it by just doing it.

What advice do you have for beginners?

Just start releasing things and don’t be afraid to put out bad work. Everyone starts somewhere and a lot of people want things to be perfect and want to have the best songs written if they are going to release things but everything is subjective and maybe what you think is your best song people might not like and the only way to figure out what fits you and what people like is to start releasing a lot of work! Plus it takes a lot of time to get good at something and so you can’t just wait around till  everything is perfect, you’ll get better as you go and can still get fans along the way.

And let’s end with something a little different…Which famous person, living or dead, would you have dinner with and why?

It would probably have to be Ela Melo from RKS. I think she is one of the best songwriters out there and It would be fun to talk to her about inspirations/ the process of writing music!