Rolling Stone caught up with Channel Tres at Coachella 2024.
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00:00So I just showed you a video that I captured at your show's 2019.
00:11It was at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, super duper small stage, I think it was like the basement
00:16of like zone one or zone two of Elsewhere and now we're here, Indio, Palm Springs, Coachella.
00:23Tell us about the journey of Channel Trace to get here today.
00:29I guess it really just started just in Compton at my, with my great grandparents just playing
00:36drums and like having like a genuine love for music, just like, you know, I would be
00:42doing this if I wasn't getting paid or like being here at Coachella and like even Elsewhere
00:48that I still get the same feeling as I like, as I was in that small crowd when I'm in front
00:54of a big crowd, like it's all, it's all the same.
00:57And like, that's something I said to myself, like when I first started, I was like, I'm
01:00going to treat, if 50 people show up, I'm going to treat it like it's a stadium, you
01:04know?
01:05So it's just, it's just about, I think, yeah, and to have that mindset, you just give a
01:09hundred percent in whatever you do.
01:11And that's just, that's what got me here.
01:13And that's what's going to keep me going.
01:16I saw on your Instagram, you were reflecting a bit about music and where you started.
01:22I mean, creating to create because it was like the only thing you knew how to do so
01:28truly and so intimately.
01:30And I want to know about that, how you've been reflecting over that as you've been preparing
01:34for this stage.
01:35And had there been any like revelations or like any moments where you're like, yeah,
01:41like, I love, I really love this.
01:45I think the revelation for, I mean, where I've been currently has just like, I don't
01:52know, like once I started kind of getting paid for music and it started becoming like
01:57a part of a big part of like my livelihood, like for a second, I felt like things got
02:02lost in that, you know?
02:04And then I think just the past couple of years, I've just gotten back to like, well, maybe
02:10it's probably the past six months or the past seven months.
02:13I just got back to showing up and just like, you know, like breaking those barriers, like
02:18within my head, like, like there were, I would just have so many barriers of like, you know,
02:23like, oh, I can't do this.
02:24I'm not supposed to do this or I'm not like, I'm not people know that I have a deep voice
02:28and that's what I got known for.
02:30So I'm posed to sound like that, you know, I had to break that and just be like, no,
02:34you know, like when you, when you're a child, you know what I'm saying?
02:37You have no barriers, like your imagination just runs wild.
02:40And so I just kind of spent time like, you know, music is like really good because, you
02:45know, you get to use your imagination and you get to like be yourself and tell your
02:49story and that's what like, you know, I think people look forward to at times, you know,
02:54and I never got here overthinking anything.
02:56I got here just, you know, having fun and like, you know, and studying the craft for
03:00what it is and just genuinely wanted to be a great musician.
03:04So I just have to remind myself to get back to those basics every now and again, because
03:09like with life and real life and just things that's going on, you get caught up and like
03:14music has always been my like safe haven or the place where I get to like let all those
03:19things out, you know.
03:21So there's a couple of things I want to ask about.
03:24One is you just talked about your grandparents growing up in Compton.
03:28I want to know, obviously, if you're listening, you can hear traces of Chicago, you can hear
03:32traces of Detroit, you can hear traces of Berlin.
03:35I want to know how Compton and your grandparents home and spending that time with them shows
03:41up in the music that you create today.
03:43I have the basis of who I am and that's going to always be me and how I grew up.
03:48But then, you know, as you get older and as you grow up, you just go experience different
03:53things.
03:54And like, I remember Kendrick saying something about like, you know, when I was still in
03:58Compton, I was like listening to an interview and he was just saying like, you know, you
04:02like you have to get out.
04:03And I kind of like really was I was a fan of him.
04:06So I seen when he like did his tours, I seen and I heard him talk about those things.
04:11And so I just was like, oh, I like that informed me, like, man, I got to like start, you know,
04:16traveling and getting to know different places and getting to know different types of music
04:20and stuff like that, you know.
04:22And so it just kind of naturally sprung over into my creativity, you know, and like I'm
04:28a big Prince fan.
04:29And you know, with Prince, you can hear country music.
04:31You can hear rock.
04:32You can hear funk.
04:33You can hear it all, you know.
04:35And so I just wanted to even George Clinton, you know, they will have classical like melodies
04:40over like some very funky rhythms and stuff like that.
04:43So I just wanted to like be that type of artist where, you know, I have the basis of my experience
04:49as a black male from Compton and just that that whole thing.
04:53But like you add the other musical components and then you just get a really unique sound.
04:59So what would you classify as your sound?
05:02I think with the three artists that you just named, Kendrick, Prince, George Clinton, they're
05:08very different.
05:09But there is like a sonic through line in between those.
05:12What would you consider, how would you classify yours and how you fit into that kind of landscape
05:19that you just laid out?
05:20I mean, everything goes back to the funk, you know, like point blank.
05:25I mean, I have like, you know, of course I have my my deep roots in house music and stuff.
05:31But like even before that, it was always funk, you know, and like and that's yeah, I can't
05:37even I can't say it no other way.
05:40So speaking of house music, I think obviously we know this, that house music is black music.
05:45But I think for the undoctrinated, the indoctrinated who were maybe three artists that are like
05:51these are the bedrock of house to me, according to Channel Trace.
05:57That's a loaded question.
05:58But like, I mean, you have to say Frankie Knuckles for me, Moody Man for me.
06:05And who else?
06:09I mean, I would just say Honey Dijon for right now, because like I mean, I came up like,
06:15you know, I got hip to house music maybe around 2010.
06:19So it's been like 10 years since I've been like, so I can only go by what I've experienced,
06:24you know.
06:25But, you know, you could talk about Adonis Sutherland and like a lot of other people.
06:29But like for me, it was Moody Man, Honey Dijon, Frankie Knuckles for me.
06:34So I want to talk a bit about this, you know, the family that music has brought you, I think
06:38over I mean, from your beginnings of producing beats for other people and producing sounds
06:45to now where you're collaborating, not only on your own projects, but on other projects
06:50as well.
06:51Can you talk a bit about the family that you've created through through this art form?
06:55Man, yeah, that's very, that question can make me a little emotional because like, yeah,
07:02Terrace Martin, Ty Dolla Sign, Thundercat, you know, my brother Barney Bones, you know,
07:08James Blake.
07:10And yeah, I've just had a lot of really great conversations in studios and I've learned
07:17a lot of great life lessons like, and it's just crazy.
07:21Some of the things that I used to trip over, I used to worry about, it just feels so great
07:25to like be in this, like to be at this place musically and to be at this place in my head
07:31where all those barriers are just like, you know, kind of like have been like, washed
07:37away just because of meeting other people with experience.
07:41I remember when I did my collab with Tyler, the creator, and like, and he was in the studio,
07:47he had a briefcase, he had a notepad, it was organized.
07:51And like, I was at a place in my life where I wasn't really organized.
07:55You know, I was just like, kind of in my, like, rock star, just like, you know, and
08:01I did that session with him and it really opened my eyes.
08:04I was like, oh, this is a business.
08:07Like I have to take this seriously, I have to like, show up, I have to work hard, I have
08:11to like, write down my ideas, I have to like, really, you know, pay attention to this gift,
08:17you know, that's been given to me and like, really steward it the correct way, like, really
08:22like, you know, like, there's songs, I used to throw songs away, I used to like, not write
08:26down the things I hear in the shower, I just not like, I never thought of myself that precious
08:32that I have something precious to offer the world, you know.
08:35And so through these experiences and these relationships with my, with these people I've
08:38met, sorry, that I call friends now, I've just learned, I just learned to value myself,
08:46you know, and like, now I'm just, I just feel like I'm walking in there and it feels great.
08:52Yeah.
08:53Yeah, that's, there's something that I experienced in witnessing your journey, kind of like where
08:58I was in 2019, to where I am now, I feel mirrors in yours as well.
09:02It's like, you always knew who you were and through life and the people that you've met
09:07and the people that you've experienced, you're able to sit with that and be proud of that.
09:12And I can definitely see that.
09:13And so, yeah, that's amazing.
09:15Yeah, I'm happy for you.
09:17Yeah, birds of a feather flock together.
09:19That's what they say.
09:20That's what they say.
09:21That's what they say.
09:22The wisdom.
09:23Yeah.
09:24Well, thank you so much.
09:25This is, yeah, I'm really happy for you.
09:27And yeah, this is, this is amazing.
09:29It's really great to meet you.
09:30Appreciate it.
09:31Thank you so much.
09:32Peace.