Interview Get To Know… Channel Tres

Fresh off of the release of new mixtape ‘I Can’t Go Outside’, meet the Compton-born artist.

15th December 2020

Hello and welcome to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… getting you a little bit closer to the buzziest new acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

Recently we’ve met Atlanta duo Lowertown, rising quintet Children of the State, wonk-pop’s Blanketman, alt-R&B star emir taha, and now we’re introducing you to Compton-born artist Channel Tres.

Having already made a name for himself with his intriguing blend of musical styles, must-see dance parties, and collabing with the likes of SG Lewis, Robyn, James Blake and Disclosure, he recently dropped his sizzling new mixtape ‘I Can’t Go Outside’, detailing his thoughts about this shit-heap of a year, using the songs as a journal to try and make sense of what has happened.

Made in his bedroom, the mixtape shows a different side to Channel Tres, allowing him to explore a more intimate and tender sound, and also features huge collabs with Tyler, The Creator and Tinashe.

We sent Channel Tres over some qs to find out a lil’ bit more about him.

Describe your music to us in the form of a Tinder bio.
Black is sexy.

What’s your earliest musical memory?
My great grandmother bought me a drumset when I was really little, like 5 years old. I was really little. I might have even been 3 or 4 years old, but I’m pretty sure that’s where it all started.

Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)?
A couple artists that inspired me when I was starting would be Toro y Moi and Marvin Gaye. With Toro y Moi, it was cool to see another black artist being labelled as experimental, so I drew a lot of comparisons there. Then with Marvin Gaye, he was just such a good singer, he perfected the artist route and really grew into it while also being in the studio all the time writing songs for Motown, playing different instruments and stuff. I really admired his dedication to being in the studio all the time.

You’re from Compton! What do you think of the music scene there at the moment?
The music scene in Compton is always moving and growing. At the moment I think the scene is doing really well. We’ve got a lot of different budding artists climbing the ranks, and at the same time we’ve also got the best rapper in the world representing us, Kendrick Lamar, so I’m proud to be associated with that.

Are there any other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?
I see JPEGMAFIA and Baby Keem doing great things right now as well.

Who would be your dream collaborator?
The first one that comes to mind would be Stevie Wonder. I just think we would come up with a really great dance song, and it would be cool to get some harmonica parts from him, I think it would be really tight.

Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to next year?
I really hope I can get back on the road and perform. That’s the only thing that I’m really missing right now, obviously that’s all shut down because of the pandemic, but if I could get back into shows then it would start to feel like things were going back to normal.

If people could take away one thing from your music, what would it be?
I hope that people can listen to this mixtape and try to take a moment to appreciate life, and really work to push past the drama.

Tags: Channel Tres, Features, Interviews, Neu, Get to Know