Would you consider yourself an adventurous music enthusiast? Did your Spotify Wrapped contain music from all across the genre spectrum? If you answered "yes" to either of these, we think we've found your new favorite band. Consisting of best friends Max Banchi and Tea Wise, indigo forever brings its members' individual strengths to the table - respectively in EDM and alternative rock - yielding a unique, innovative twist on teenage angst. Despite their contrasting backgrounds, Max and Tea's shared love for similar types of art and media shape the world of indigo forever, spearheading this experimental duo to rising stardom.
Image credit: indigo forever, graphic created by Karly Ramnani
YOU'LL LOVE INDIGO FOREVER IF YOU LISTEN TO: Skrillex, Louis The Child, Teen Suicide, Kenny Beats, FKA Twigs, Deadmau5
Why did you guys decide to call your musical duo Indigo Forever, as well as name your alter egos Wsteaway and Wxmell?
MAX: The name kinda chose us, really. I always feel like names, melodies, and creative ideas come to me out of nowhere. I had a list of names in my notes app, like “Second Nature" or "Ice Compass”, but indigo forever stuck. Blue has always been my favorite color and considering the somber nature of our project (at least this album), it felt right. Wxmell? I don’t even remember, to be honest, it was so long ago that I chose that on SoundCloud. The name always served as my “super cool” DJ alter-ego, I guess. At times, I wish I picked a more legible name, but to me, names aren’t that important. I think your actions give meaning to your name.
TEA: Honestly, Max just came up with a list of name ideas and when reading them off, “indigo forever” had a really nice ring to it. I’m pretty bad at naming things, so I’m grateful he came up with something that ended up feeling perfect. After deciding on the name, the more our project developed, the more it made sense. It’s kind of funny because purple has always been a very special color to me, and it lands on the indigo-spectrum.
In regards to wsteaway, the name is a reference to an album from one of my favorite bands, Teen Suicide. It’s called “dc snuff film / waste yrself” and was crucial in getting me through my angst-filled teen years. My Xbox gamer tag and social handles have been “wsteyourself” for the longest time in reference to this, and I knew I wanted my artist name to be a play on this a bit. So, I came up with “wsteaway” as a way to reference the album, while also including my own name in it (wsTEAway).
How did the two of you meet, and what made you guys decide to pursue this type of musical project?
MAX: Tea did a write-up for one of my tracks, “e-boy with Jagro, Sebii, Belis & Bby Goyard.” I followed them on instagram, saw they had a similar appreciation for the music and art I liked, so naturally I DMed them to work. We also had a few mutuals so it didn’t feel completely out of the blue. When I work with people, I look for a few things. A deep passion for music, similar taste in art (do they like Bladee?), and a good sense of humor. Tea fit all of these qualities, and every studio session felt less like work and more like two kids playing with paint.
TEA: Max covered this one very well, haha. Yes, a few mutual friends and people we both knew, and the write up I did for “e-boy” for A1234 was what first got us connected online. We didn’t actually meet in person until our first studio session, which I was pretty nervous about since I was new to making music and had only ever collaborated with friends back home in Reno. But when working with Max, I realized I didn’t have a reason to be anxious about it, and we naturally bounce ideas off of each other. My production skills aren’t nearly as honed as his, so I was super excited to get to work with someone with his talents, and who has a similar ear when making music.
I love how your sound encompasses both EDM and alternative! How long did it take you guys to arrive at the perfect blend of these two genres?
MAX: It was pretty instantaneous. In the beginning, there were no expectations on what our music would/should sound like. Working with artists can feel like pandering to the artist’s sound, what they want and not what you want. There’s the Kenny Beats “The Cave” style of work, where you acclimate to the artist's style and interests. Which makes sense, especially when you’re a producer working for placements. I really didn’t have any expectations when working with Tea, but I was amazed at how easy things were. First session we made “oh ur in my city? ok?? AND???,” the second or third we made Bloodsxcker.
When collaborating, sometimes an artist could ask for the color green and you give them the color green, with 10% of your blue. Sometimes, you want to give them a cute pink breakbeat but they want a yellow donk beat. With our project, it’s like we both instinctively wanted a cool shade of purple (or dare I say...). Maybe this was a cheesy metaphor, but this is all to say Tea is really easy to work with. Our musical styles merge like peanut butter and jelly but into a new, more powerful PB&J. Peanut Butter and Jelly 2, one might say. Maybe the jelly is a deep purple and the peanut butter is a chrome blue. I’ll stop now.
TEA: It didn’t take us long at all! It makes sense that our music sounds the way it does because of how we approach making it. When I make my own stuff, it’s very instrument-forward: I’m playing guitar, bass, viola, and whatever other instruments I’ve managed to get my hands on because I don’t really know how to make a song on a computer like Max does. So we’re just blending our approaches to music making in a fun and collaborative way. We put our own personal tastes into it, and these tastes have some overlap as well, which is what makes it work, I think. I love the idea of mixing genres and blending aspects of different sounds to create something refreshing, and Max makes it really easy to do that.
Who are your biggest musical influences and why?
MAX: I grew up listening to Linkin Park, Skrillex, and Deadmau5. I started DJing when I was 12, and had aspirations to become a “superstar” DJ. I love all forms of EDM, especially the stuff from 2008-2017, went to Icon Collective (a music production school that specializes in dance music) and honed in on my skills. In terms of executing a fully fledged musical idea/world, Porter Robinson comes to mind. More recently, I would say artists like Jane Remover, underscores, 2hollis, and yeule really inspire me.
TEA: As mentioned previously, Teen Suicide has had a huge influence on me. I absolutely love how Sam Ray has a million side projects aside from Teen Suicide (Ricky Eat Acid, Julia Brown, Starry Cat, and American Pleasure Club). I think it’s so sick to be an artist and not stick to one avenue with your music. The same can be said for Death Cab For Cutie / The Postal Service. I’m amazed by Ben Gibbard’s songwriting, and the fact that he released Transatlanticism and Give Up in the same year–both of which are beautiful albums in their own ways.
I’ve come to realize this recently, but FKA Twigs is also a pretty big inspiration to me. I used to be a huge fan back in high school, and her new releases for Eusexua and her mixtape CAPRISONGS revived this appreciation for her in me. I love how “strange” her sound is on LP1 and her earlier EPs like M3LL155X, and her visuals have always been so captivating. In this same breath, Ecco2k has been more of a recent inspiration for me as well. I love his sound, I love the way he’s unapologetically himself with his image, and his album E has shifted the ways in which I appreciate music.
Image credit: indigo forever
Tea, in what ways has your education at USC Thornton contributed to how you approach Indigo Forever? What about your work at Ride Or Cry?
TEA: indigo forever actually started developing during my time at USC. As a music industry student, I’d use any opportunity to involve indigo forever in my assignments. For example, I took Kevin Lyman’s branding class, and for my final I put together a brand deck for indigo forever. I’d also use the things I was actively learning in my other classes (DIY marketing, artist management, data & tech in the music industry, communications, etc.) and apply them in any way I could to my work with indigo forever. I’m very grateful for the tools and connections I’ve made through the program that have helped me get to where I am now.
My work at Ride or Cry has been helpful with the way I think about digital marketing, and ways to utilize social media as a tool for our music. To be blunt, it’s made digital marketing for indigo forever more of a pain since I do it in my 9-5, but again, I’m learning tools and strategies that I’m able to apply in a way that works for indigo forever. I’ve also been able to meet a lot of really cool people and make connections by being on the Ride or Cry team, and I’m super appreciative of the support everyone there shows our project.
Max, how did you discover your passion for music production? Outside of Indigo Forever, what are some of your favorite DJing gigs you’ve done?
MAX: I discovered my passion for DJing first for sure. I had an older brother who always went to raves, and the mysterious culture that surrounded it always fascinated me. Before music production, I did lightshows - gloving, where you sort of wave your fingers around with LED’s attached to them. (Sounds silly, I know.) It was a big part of rave culture and my adolescence, and was really the only way I could get involved with the rave scene without going to them. Not to brag, but in the International Gloving Competition (IGC for short), I ranked top 32. Anyways, I started DJing at those lightshow meetups, which lead me to DJ high school parties, frat parties, clubs, and warehouses. Then, I hit a point when I was miserable going to community college, and said fuck it, I’m going to “edm school.”
My favorite gigs are probably those really sketchy house parties I did as a teenager. We’d be playing "679" by Fetty Wap at full volume, cops would get called, someone would get stabbed, fights would break out. Ahh, I miss those days. More recently, I would say DJing Subculture was some of the most fun I’d ever had.
I also love how you guys have built a unique visual aesthetic around the Indigo Forever brand. How did you conceptualize this, especially your avatars?
MAX: I think me and Tea both have a deep love for animation. I think seeing Yameii Online live, being fans of Hatsune Miku, and the idea of having fictional characters be extensions of us was really cool. We created a vision board of what our characters Gen & iRi should look & act like. We sent the ideas to @bubbltek, and he created them perfectly. I remember seeing the characters for the first time and being beyond stunned.
TEA: Max hit it right on the head. I’ve always been fond of animation, preferring it over live-action media as a kid. We both have this appreciation for it, as well as fantasy-like worlds and environments (for example, we’re both fans of Skyrim haha). When it comes to the visual aesthetic/presence we have online, we’re really just doing shit that we think looks cool. I love having the freedom to put on whatever outfits I like for our TikToks and shoots, and this personal style from the both of us is super reflective in our characters, Gen and iRi.
The stylization of your song titles always stands out to me in the best way possible. This goes for many of your songs, but I’m most intrigued by “oh ur in my city? ok?? AND???” What inspired you to take this unconventional song naming route?
TEA: Both the title for “in my city,” and the concept for the song were inspired by a situationship (never again). TLDR, he called me out of the blue to let me know he was in my city after not speaking to me for years. I remember being like, “Um.. Okay? And I’m going to Ralph's to get groceries.” The audacity of that man! And so many others that have rubbed me the wrong way or left a sour taste in my mouth after interacting with them. The song is a diss on all dudes like this everywhere, and it's super sassy. “oh ur in my city? ok?? AND???” is the perfect way to get this message across before you even press play.
What does your thought process typically look like when you’re picking titles?
TEA: I am so bad at naming things and picking titles for things, and Max has definitely helped with landing on the titles for some of the tracks. The easiest way for me to name a song is to pick a lyric from it that feels reflective of the whole thing. I don’t think any of the songs off of our album had their title before the entire song was written.
When you guys composed and recorded your debut album, what were some of your favorite parts of the creative process?
MAX: That’s a tough one. I think making art with your best friend is an extremely gratifying process. The most memorable moments for me in the creation of the project was just the sheer excitement when we were both cooking. It may have been a piano melody or a guitar lick, a drum sound, but when the idea fits like a puzzle piece - there’s no greater euphoria. For example, on “If We Die,” we were in the studio and Tea said “What if we put a hardstyle kick at the end?” - and it fucking worked! Experiences like that are my musical bliss.
TEA: The feeling of collaboratively creating a concept and fleshing it out into a full idea has been so fun and satisfying. Both with each individual song, and the project as a whole. It’s been a blast to bounce ideas off of each other and land on something that we both really like musically, like with the “If We Die” example Max mentioned. Whenever we have a studio session we’re honestly just a couple of besties screwing around and having fun 90% of the time.
Congrats on your first ever live show this past October! What was your favorite song to perform there and why?
MAX: Thank you! Well here’s my biased answer - "O2." And not because it’s the song where I’m the primary vocalist. It’s because I had never sang in front of a crowd before! Ever! When I got up there to sing, I honestly didn’t feel any fear, likely due to the fact that I spent years yelling “1, 2, 3, jump!” on stage. I was actually really excited, mostly because this was a new challenge for me. What was shocking to me was hearing people cheer while I was performing. People came up to me after the show and said “You sounded great!” - it was surreal and it really felt like I had leveled up.
TEA: Thank you so much! This is a hard question! I think I’d have to say “happy anyways.” Performing that song for the first time live was very surreal. It was an incredibly emotional moment, and I ended up breaking into tears at the end of it. My dad was at the show, and singing a song that was partially about him while he was in the room hurt in the best way possible. One of the things I aim to do with creating music is making something that others can connect with emotionally, and to learn that people were crying while I was crying and performing “happy anyways” is so touching.
Finally, the P&P classic! What’s a lyric from “indigo forever” (album) that stands out to you? Walk us through the process of yourself writing it, and how does it speak to you personally?
MAX: I think my favorite line in the album is on the song "To Love & Be Loved."
Tea wrote it, and it goes “Let me be your flower, I promise I can bloom. Can I gaze at you for another hour? I’m planted in your room.” It’s such a serenely beautiful line.
I suppose in "O2" I really like the opening line “cracked the code to my heart again.” I think there's beauty in the idea of someone’s heart being unlocked like a key. In terms of the creative writing process, and this might be a boring answer, but I really don’t know where my lyrics come from. I wrote the entire song without deliberately thinking about the theme. For me, it’s a very spiritual thing, and I believe my higher self/subconscious in this specific song had traumas to process. If I really sit and analyze the themes of the track, it’s likely about past relationships where I had trust issues in finding the line of friendship & romance.
That’s one of the most fascinating things I’ve learned as a songwriter! Writing reveals to me what I feel, and what still needs to be processed. I suppose that’s why people journal.
TEA: Max stole my answer….LOL. But for me, it’s the entire verse at that part in “To Love & Be Loved”: “I love it when you play your strings, no matter how melancholy. ‘Cause to me, it’s your soul that sings–I’m constantly overcome with folly. Let me be your flower, I promise I can bloom. Can I gaze at you for another hour? I’m planted in your room.” It’s honestly one of the best things I’ve written so far.
I love how I was able to use this poem about romantic longing from years before I even met Max, and how this wasn’t even initially written as a song lyric. It was just a journal entry to help me process what I was dealing with at the time. I am unfortunately a hopeless romantic at heart and those lines truly reflect that. It’s a very bittersweet lyric about a person that still runs through my mind from time to time. Ouchie!
Overall, it's more than just music that sets indigo forever apart. To listen to indigo forever is to immerse yourself into the world they've built, complete with meticulously thought-out visual and sonic components. If you're feeling inspired to dive deeper into it, we've curated a playlist that captures their vibe!
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