We had the good fortune of connecting with XNE and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi XNE, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I grew up in a musically gifted family, from my mom and dad to uncles and aunts on both sides I’m surrounded by musicians of various calibers and genre, so choosing to learn the instruments I taught myself and playing songs I like and writing came naturally. Honestly, there wasn’t much thought about having a career in music, until I was first offered money to come somewhere and perform while in college. From there, it was whatever opportunities came about.

Now, I’m in it because not only do I see a life in it but enjoy creating and visiting worlds in the pieces I write/compose. My name is XNE (pronounced “zone”) after all, so as long as I want to keep making spaces I’ll be tapping along in logic &/or playing one of my instruments.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I work to create music that resonates within and transports the listener to the world of each project that I release. I try to take you to a place, a XNE if you will, that feels right, even if the feelings you’re reminded of hurt. I find beauty in the experience of being removed whilst staying in place when an impactful piece of music is played, the synchronicity of undergoing a moment wherein you exist where you always have been but your mind is able to take a back seat and just be within whatever is playing is a dope phenomena. That is the connection I aspire to create. I don’t want to just make music thats good, or catchy, or profitable; I want my music to takes you to the place I was, feel the feelings I felt, and understand the message I wanted to convey when the song was conceived.

Getting to where I am was both a long and short process. It was long in that, in a way I’ve been learning to create as I do my whole life. On the other hand, learning new instruments, teaching myself to produce, and getting used to being on stage in my own way has been easy. And song writing is also virtually effortless as the bulk of my songs come from experiences either in the real world or my dreams. All I have to do is bring the thought into the physical. My biggest challenge is honestly promotion and marketing as I very much dislike the requirement of having an active social media presence to be an artist in the modern day… Oh yeah, and some artist/producers/managers are sheisty so be careful who you try to create with. The only time I tried to produce a single with another producer in their home studio him and his manager tried to finesse the hell out of me as a new artist. I later recreated, mixed, and mastered that song, Third Floor, solo and now it’s my second most popular song on Apple Music.

As far as a thing I would like the world to know… I create what I see and hope it resonates.
My branding is very simple lol:
1. He sleeps and dreams up songs or lives and writes from life and observations.
2. He is chill and creative in a variety of ways.
3. He has a nice voice, I could listen to him sing or read his poetry.
4. Gosh, does this man wear colors at all?– I’m gonna lurk until he does.

Hopefully that simplicity of creating, connecting, and continuing on doesn’t bite me in the but later but so far it’s been a nice ride.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Simple: – Breakfast from Dulce Vegan Bakery and Cafe
– Lurk in EAV or Little 5 and do an activity like sandbox vr or lazar tag
– Lunch from Chi Chi Vegan
– Nap or play chess and get elevated with some good ganja
– Dinner from Budi’s Sushi
– Go to Ponce City Market Rooftop and play games with random people.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Good Question. When I think back no one specific comes to mind as a clear music mentor or person that pushed/challenged me as a musician. I dream up my songs and as I learn more the dreams get more vivid and visceral… If I could I would honestly shoutout my dreams since they do the heavy lifting. but as a good substitute I’ll say the black art and general musical communities. As I’ve been on this journey I’ve gotten nice affirmations and a few recommendations along the way be all sorts of people in the community, my family, and friends, especially from other producers and other underground artists. It’s nice.

Website: https://trevianstrong.com/xne-quick-links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xnetheartist/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPmlnhKZHEvjRcteYXsmGiw

Image Credits
Image credits are Eye of Khalifa(@eyeofkhalifa), Osiris Photography(@osirisfotos), and XNE (lol some where shot by me as well)

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