Millie Forte and His
Beautiful Disaster:
Quill Wordsmith
wordsmith@excapethematrix.com
I’m not sure what it was exactly, whether it was the many links to trip hop and Telepopmusik. Or if it was the sultry harmonies that flowed from the snippets provided online, but there was something familiar yet strangely different about the creative sounds of Michael Payne, better known as Millie Forte. I had to capture and I had to get involved with what it was that caused such a sound to be so synonymous with this “best kept secret”.
QW: How long have you known that music was the thing for you?
MF: I was about 6. It was weird. I always sang little nursery rhymes that I heard on TV or whatever. But it wasn't until I was 6. I was over my grandmothers' house and she had a huge entertainment system that was completely off limits to the children. I snuck inside and pressed the play button and Tina turner came on. It was Ike and Tina’s song called “oop boop be doop”. It was really catchy and it was the kind that you could really sing along too. So after getting spanked my mother was the one that was like "omg" you can really sing and she pulled me into the living room to sing in front of everybody and that's where it all kinda started.
QW: Where did the name Millie Forte come from?
MF:
There was this older lady in town. She was a singer named Esther Forte. I live
in a small little city. So anyone doing anything musically everyone knows about
it. She had this huge house in the neighborhood. She would invite the kids in
the neighborhood who were interested in music to come over to the house. And we
would all write and harmonize with each other and everything. And she called the
group of us, the Forte Family. So naturally everyone was "so and so Forte". But
she gave me the name Millie Forte, because when I was younger I used to love
Millie Jackson a lot and plus I've been known to have a potty mouth like Millie
Jackson. I actually didn't really claim that name outside of the comforts of her
house. For a long time. It wasn't until the past 2 or 3 years that I actually
decided to take it on as a stage name.
QW: Without spoiling it for your audience what can you tell me about the upcoming album?
MF: It's different. It's different for me anyway. For anyone that heard my first two projects they are very subtle, neo soul, jazzy. But this particular project I decided to be true to myself. There's a common misconception that when you hear the term soul singer you'd expect them to sound a certain way, so I decided to push the envelope of what is soul music. I can hear soul music in everything. So I’m playing around with a lot of different sounds.
QW: Speaking of different sounds, is Telepopmusik one of the major inspirations for your style of music?
MF:
A lot of the inspiration for this album is Trip Hop music. Telepopmusik,
Portishead, Esthero, and Gnarls Barkley were all huge inspirations for this one.
QW: Cool, now off of this album, what are some of your favorite cuts?
MF: My favorite song right now is the one called “Heaven is Still There”.
It's just....I think it's just one of those songs that’s so honest. It was
inspired by a good friend of mine. Chanj. Me and him had a conversation about
how he always has to one up artists that are out there when recording an album.
Most music is competitive which is good because you want to be known or
whatever. But the song is basically saying if an idea hasn't been done, then do
it. Do what other people aren't doing. That's how you get noticed a lot more.
That's where that song came from.
QW: I know you said “Higher” was inspired by Floetry. Were there any other tracks that were inspired by other artists?
MF: There’s a song on the album called “For A Heart” that was inspired by Kelis. I was cleaning my room one day and decided to listen to every kelis cd. You know how you hear an artists so many times that you start sounding like that artist? So as soon as I started listening to the albums I wrote a song and the entire song sounded very Kelis. I actually have two other albums prior to this one.
QW: You have two other albums prior to this.....How long have you been recording?
MF: Been recording since I was 13.
QW: Wow, ok now you're in Roanoke, Virginia which I'm assuming is a rural area, what are some of the struggles that you deal with as an independent artist trying to get his name out into the industry?
MF: The fact that my hometown is bluegrass....predominant music is bluegrass music. We're surrounded by the mountains so country music is a given. One of the struggles I have is trying to get a show. A lot of times it's hard to get people to actually pay attention to you musically. When you're in a small city a lot o f people aren't going to be interested. Especially artists like me. We have singers but a lot of artists are trying to do what they see on MTV or BET. That would explain why it's hard to get shows. [with my sound being so different].
QW: It’s interesting and it's sad because you succumb to the sounds of what everyone else is doing.
MF: Exactly. That’s why networking is a big part of being an underground artist. If you're not networking you might as well just record and keep the album for yourself. Networking will get you further than recording a song. That's why I stay on myspace. I have tons of friends in crazy places. In a town like Roanoke you have to be really passionate about what you do because you're working extra hard. You can't just perform in front of a crowd of ten friends. Unless that's your thing. If you're not trying to get your name out there or try to develop a huge fan base I guess its okay for some people.
QW: How many songs have your recorded for this album?
MF: Seven songs recorded so far [for this particular album anyway].
QW: Now what would you say is your favorite piece so far - which one did you have the most fun recording?
MF: The most fun? “So gone”.
QW: That’s hilarious, because that’s the one you don’t like. Now tell me a little about the “So Gone” track. You said it's the one that you wrote out of anger as well as the one you, in the beginning, didn't care for....but it's so different.
MF: I have certain songs that I’ll record and I’ll write the song to the
beat. But when I hear the finished recording I say I don't like that song. But
when I hear it over and over again it grows on me. 1. I recorded it out of anger
so I had to get something off my chest as a stress reliever. 2. It was late at
night and I was giggly and I forced myself to have fun to record that song. For
me that was an emotional song to record.
QW: Now I know you've done some live performances as well, including Atlanta, what's that like?
MF: For me personally, it's weird. Michael and Millie are two completely different people. Millie is the kind of person that's not interested in anything but music. Even during this interview you're not talking to Millie. You talk to Millie on the way to the studio. It’s almost like blacking out from the time of walking to the stage and walking off the stage. I’m doing stuff that I would never do in person. Millie would jump off the stage and dance with the crowd. Michael is the kind of person that's not feeling the song and will just walk away. I have the most fun on stage.
QW: So I know there's a difference in audiences depending on where you go. What was it like performing in Atlanta vs. Roanoke?
MF: Wow. Atlanta vs. Roanoke. In a city like Atlanta you have to take into consideration that it's a huge city with lots of different people. Atlanta is a lot more open and acceptable of stuff that isn’t the norm. Roanoke will respond to this album like “Yea" Atlanta will be like “Oh my God!” Atlanta is used to seeing stuff that's not of the norm. Roanoke is like get up there and get it done and be happy with what you did.
QW: So how long have you been working on this album, “The Beautiful Disaster”?
MF: Altogether I've been working on the album for 3 years. I went through a
lot
of rough drafts sand everything. The album has taken so long because I just
recently came up with a concrete concept of what I wanted to do. I’ve had like 4
other albums before this one, but when I finally got one that I was excited
about, that’s what did it. See, if I’m not excited about recording it it's like
wasting paper and time. “Beautiful Disaster” is such a truth of my life right
now. So that's what made me decide to finally go into the studio and record it.
It was originally called “Sunsets and Parks” and I was going to throw it all
into one big thing. But it wasn't organized enough fro me.
QW: You must be really blessed to have the studio time like that.
MF: That goes with the networking I was talking about. Studios here are scary. You have to know someone otherwise it just gets really scary. (laughs) I used to record 45 - 70 songs and just pick my favorite 15.
QW: When can we expect the album to drop?
MF: Cross my fingers and say as early as late spring or early summer. The last two projects are not available outside of Roanoke, but this album I plan on having on CDBaby and iTunes for purchase. Also I’ll be taking the request of people who contact me through MySpace or email and send it to them personally.
QW: Well that’s definitely a plan, I look forward to keeping in touch and
I’ll be sure to direct people towards your myspace to make those requests!
------------------------------
Artist: Millie Forte
Album: The Beautiful Disaster
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/millieforte
Email: sunsetsnparks@yahoo.com
:qws:
"Machine" Featuring Da Duke
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