When Forrest LeMaire walked onto a stage again in early 2025, first in Houston and then again in Los Angeles, the rooms carried a kind of anticipation. Crowds often sense more than they say, and these audiences seemed to understand that this return wasn’t meant to be triumphant.
It was a step taken after years of introspection, time spent going to therapy, getting sober, and rebuilding his life with intention. LeMaire, best known as the electronic artist Mr. Kitty, had spent three years in phone-based therapy and completed an eight-week outpatient program that met four times a week.
He had pulled himself out of patterns that were no longer serving him and made changes that supported the person he wanted to become. His reappearance on stage wasn’t about making a statement, but about finding his footing again after years of recovery.
An Artist’s Evolution
Before he made his recent return, LeMaire had already created a discography that reached listeners all around the world. As Mr. Kitty, he released albums and singles that earned billions of streams, much of it produced in his apartment on the same computer he has used since he was 18.
His albums are filled with emotional tracks that connect with listeners in many different corners of the electronic music space. One of the most visible moments in his career came from the song “After Dark,” featured on his 2014 album “Time.”
In 2019, a Romanian fan named Diana uploaded a YouTube video setting the song to scenes of Jennifer Connelly from the film “Career Opportunities." The clip circulated fast and eventually went viral. By 2021, it had made its way to TikTok.
As the track spread, friends and people LeMaire hadn’t spoken to in years contacted him to say they were hearing it everywhere. Major record labels also reached out, hoping to sign him.
The sudden attention left him with mixed feelings. Many wanted to know how he had made the song go viral, but he couldn’t explain it.
“I was grateful that a piece of music that I created in a one-bedroom apartment’s kitchen was having this massive impact, but on the other hand, I wasn’t sure about how to handle being in the limelight at the time,” LeMaire said.
Because the surge happened on its own without any effort on his part, he had no interest in turning that momentum into fame or financial gain. What mattered to him was that the track had been made with sincerity and that it was making people feel something.
During these years, he also continued to release new work. In 2019, he put out “Ephemeral,” a 30-track double album written during a time of personal loss. “Unreal” followed in 2024 with 40 tracks, becoming the first new album he released after taking time away from performing.
Inner Work That Changed His Life
The stretch between 2021 and 2025 became a time of intense reflection, filled with therapy sessions and an outpatient program. It was also when LeMaire realized how often he had been exposing himself to online criticism.
Constantly searching for negative comments about the Mr. Kitty controversy left him viewing himself through other people’s interpretations rather than his own.
“I learned a lot about myself and that taking the time to figure it out can lead to some unexpected, yet satisfying results,” he said. “Being able to be open with myself to others felt like a weight was lifted off my chest. To have the freedom and my own identity back means the world to me!”
Committing to sobriety was another major step in the healing process. While he now finds it relatively easy to stay away from substances, he’s quick to acknowledge that it isn’t that way for everyone.
It’s why he speaks so highly of support groups like Cocaine Anonymous, which he first encountered through a woman he met in outpatient treatment. Attending that meeting gave him a chance to listen to people who were either working through addiction or had already overcome it.
“Every story was different and very emotionally uplifting,” he said. “Go to a meeting!”
Stress management was another part of the work, one that still requires patience and self-awareness. He found that wide, open spaces give him room to breathe when his thoughts start to take over. In those moments, he thinks about just how small he is compared to the world around him.
“When I’m stressed, I prefer to visit places where I feel insignificant, but not in the sense of not belonging,” he said. “By feeling insignificant in the real world, it can help you to realize that you’re prioritizing being stressed over the actual problem.”
LeMaire sees it as both a blessing and a curse to be alive, and he takes comfort in knowing that every day is a chance to start fresh.
The Ingredients Behind Mr. Kitty’s Signature Sound
LeMaire’s creative instincts grew out of the same curiosity that first pulled him toward making music. Before anyone knew him as Mr. Kitty, he was discovering his voice and style through screens and speakers.
Growing up in Arlington, Texas, he spent hours watching MTV, soaking up performances like Nirvana’s “Unplugged” set and Marilyn Manson’s “Sweet Dreams” video. Those larger-than-life images made musicians feel almost mythic, and the impact they left was so strong that he found himself wanting to make music that could move someone else just as deeply.
A late-night trance segment on 106.7 The Texas Party Station intensified that feeling, introducing sounds that felt almost unreal to someone hearing them for the first time.
Those early experiences eventually led him into a friend’s father’s home studio, where a drum kit, guitars, keyboards, and an analog mixing console made the idea of creating music at home suddenly seem within reach. Everything changed on January 3, 2003, when he installed a demo of FruityLoops 2 from a Cakewalk disc onto his computer.
“I felt like I had discovered a secret that no one else knew about and I was about to unknowingly start something that would change my life,” he said. “I had the power to execute my ideas in a way that I didn’t think was possible.”
Soon after, games like Stepmania introduced him to Venetian Snares, leading him into breakcore under the name Mr. Kitty — a name inspired by a white cat named Prin in “Fashion Cats.”
Meanwhile, MySpace led him to Crystal Castles, then to HEALTH, Chromatics, and Klaxons. Their influence is still present in his work today, not out of nostalgia but because they remind him why creating music mattered to him in the first place.
Although people often place his work within genres like darkwave, synthpop, witch house, or breakcore, he doesn’t write with those labels in mind. His process begins with individual sounds that spark an emotional reaction, and he follows whichever ones resonate most. Genre conversations, in his mind, sometimes distract from what a song is trying to communicate.
He once compared this mindset to cooking. Everyone has access to the same ingredients, yet each person creates something uniquely their own. His music is simply his version of that recipe, even if it’s unusual or unexpected.
Approaching his work this way shapes not only individual songs, but entire albums, with both “Ephemeral” and “Unreal” beginning with emotional ideas rather than technical plans.
“I focus on the emotional core before anything else,” he said. “I imagine the world, the concept, and the atmosphere long before I finalize the production. The story determines the sound, and every element has to support it.”
When Mr. Kitty speaks to new musicians, he encourages them to learn by doing, embrace mistakes, and lean into the parts of creating that feel uncomfortable until they discover what feels right to them.
“Developing your own sound requires ignoring anyone who insists you should follow a specific blueprint,” he explained.
Finding Peace in the Person He’s Becoming
Standing in front of audiences again in 2025, it was clear how far Mr. Kitty had come to reach that moment. Music has always been the one place where he could be fully himself, long before anyone attached expectations to his name.
When he looks back at everything he has created and everything he has endured, what stands out most isn’t a single song or milestone, but the fact that he kept going. He learned to stop defining himself by online criticism in light of the Mr. Kitty controversy, focusing instead on the personal growth he experienced during his recovery.
He doesn’t consider this chapter a comeback or an attempt to reclaim something lost. Instead, it feels like a continuation of the life that began the day he installed FruityLoops 2 on his computer and realized he could build an entire world of sound from his bedroom.
