Because Monticello was fairly insular, Leone’s mother took the initiative to broaden her son’s mind by taking him to church in Champaign, Illinois, a town which saw a lot more diversity. He was exposed to various cultures from an early age; his church, too, was focused on a mindset of universal awareness, something that has certainly seeped into his music.
“I think [church] was really important for…the music, because I try and take a real global perspective as much as possible, from what I’ve seen. And let that kinda melt into the tunes that I make both production-wise and story-wise.”
EnterWILD is Leone’s second project and first entirely self-produced, full-length album, and the follow-up to his 2012 debut Deep Ocean. It took him almost three years to complete EnterWILD — he began the project before Deep Ocean dropped — and it was absolutely a labor of love.
Leone used Deep Ocean as a tool to find his voice, while EnterWILD gave him focus and allowed him to speak only on things he cared most about. Both projects are musical conceptualizations of nature: Deep Ocean concerns the coast around the forest, while EnterWILD — even though it was made with a midwestern forest is mind — is that forest. EnterWILD is ultimately a metaphor for his existence.
“[Both projects are] based around natural elements and using nature to express ideas and situations we all go through as human beings, as young human beings,” Leone explains.
“[On EnterWILD,] there’s more immersion of ideas. If you play EnterWILD in a forest, it’s like you’re stepping into a new dimension. As opposed to Deep Ocean, if you play it at a beach, it kind of enhances the moment. But I feel like EnterWILD can really like bring you into another world.”