Secret Forté is an Indie Rock trio hailing from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Made up of members Eric Grundy, Elyssa Snow, and Juan Rincones, in their own words, this band is “constantly trying to capture the truest form of feeling, through music.”
Secret Forté’s music explores a variety of themes, including friendship, heartbreak, self-doubt, along with their deepest fears. Despite these occasional darker concepts, Secret Forté manages to incorporate brighter, blissful melodies alongside elements of nostalgia throughout their Indie Rock tracks. We can’t wait to see what is in store next for this promising group.
“After Party” begins and listeners are met with a soothing and intriguing electric guitar paired with intimate and upfront vocals. The track starts out on a softer note, later opening up to include punching drums and soaring electric lines.
“After Party” features a unique extended instrumental section halfway through the track that continues until the song closes out. This instrumental section highlights various energized guitar solos and compelling drum grooves, as well as darker, grittier textures that float in and out of the scene. Secret Forté invites listeners to rock out in this section with them, showing off their impressive talent on their instruments and tightness as a unit.
Secret Forté sets the scene of an afterparty throughout the track beautifully with their image-driven lyrics. Darker themes of regret, sadness, self-doubt, creep into the track, as they sing:
“Maybe it’s the best night we’ve ever had
Made us forget that we’re so sad
I won’t regret you in my ways
Cause I regret myself every day”
Despite these darker themes, bright guitar tones and melodies contrast to uplift the track, while energetic vocals and punching drum lines drive the momentum forward.
Go and show Secret Forté some love on their nostalgia-infused Indie Rock track, “After Party,” today.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Secret Forté. We are blown away by your song, “After Party” off your EP 'A Brief Meeting Up,' congratulations. Can you tell us a bit more about the inspiration behind writing “After Party?”
Thank you so much for listening to our music, and taking some time to chat with us!
We originally wrote “ After Party” for a short film. The inspiration comes from finding yourself in a situation (like a house party that your friends dragged you to) and feeling like you don’t really belong. Wondering “Why am I here”, but just trying to go with the flow, and find a little light in the darkness.
We'd love to know the backstory of your band! Can you tell us a brief synopsis of how Secret Forté was formed?
Funnily enough, we all went to high school together, but secret Forte didn’t start writing music together until a few years after that, in 2014. Juan (frontman) and Eric (lead guitar) began writing music together, after reuniting by chance (literally running into each other) at an EDM show. After a year of writing songs together, the two decided to start looking for a drummer and a bassist to begin playing live shows. This is when (drummer) Elyssa, and (former bassist) Adrien joined Secret Forté.
It’s extremely obvious that you are all very talented on your respective instruments, and we are loving the time you take to display this talent halfway through “After Party." This feels like the perfect song to play live and have a crowd dance along with you. How has the reaction been in your live sets to “After Party” so far?
Thank you! These instrumental breakdowns are something that we really love doing as a band. It’s a big part of our writing process, to jam and let the song take on a form of its own, apart from the lyrics. We really enjoy playing this one live. It is a perfect song for the middle of a set. This gives us a chance to get a little more personal, while still keeping the energy up!
So far reactions have been great. We love to see the crowd swaying along to the slower parts of the song, and then dancing more as the song picks back up.
Did you have a specific idea in mind of you who hoped this song would resonate with the most or how listeners would connect with the track?
We really wanted to reach people who might be feeling alone through this song. Sometimes our anxiety and our stress can feel like a shadow, yet life goes on. This song could be a reminder, that we aren’t alone in our struggles. Look around you and see your friends and family, and try not to be so hard on yourself. Have fun, go to a party, and try to live in the moment!
What’s next for you?
We are actually gearing up to record a new EP this year. Our writing as a band has grown so much over the last couple of years, and we are loving it. We are so excited for this new batch of songs to come out into the world! More info coming soon!