On a 95-degree day in late July, Channel Tres zooms in from Los Angeles' Silver Lake neighborhood wearing a tank top and intermittently sipping from a large water bottle.
It's been a few weeks since the artist released his debut album, Head Rush17 tracks that pack myriad elements of Tres' psyche — “my love life, dealing with loss, dealing with transition when my dreams come true” — into a refined blend of hip-hop, R&B and electronic music that tracks his rise from his hometown of Compton to major tours and major festival stages.
“Now I'm someone people will recognize sometimes,” he says. “I'm not just a bedroom musician anymore. I do things. It was like, “I have all these things going on, and I only have this one brain to process them. That was the point of the title, Head Rush. It was something that could be euphoric, but it's also something that can be a headache.”
This characteristic depth is balanced by a lot of production that is simply danceable. This fall, Tres will embark on a 15-date tour with Kaytanada for what he predicts will be “the biggest dance parties of the year.” He is currently also working on dance music which he tries out in DJ sets and afterhours. And the reach is real: When he recently returned to Compton to hang out on the set of Kenrick Lamar's “Not LIke Us” video, he said, “a lot of people came up to me like, 'Hey man, we love what you're doing.' house music. I would never have thought back home that I would hear that from people. That kind of stuff inspires me.”
Ahead of his appearance at HARD Summer in Los Angeles this weekend, Tres talks about what he's been up to, what he still wants to achieve, and the moments he's just been able to enjoy the moment.
It's been a month since the release of your album. How was this period for you?
The first two weeks were hell because I was reading everything. I was looking up my name on Twitter and reading everything. I was reading Reddit, just soaking in the positive and negative comments. It was a lot for me, but I felt it was important to take both sides of the criticism, just because I want to teach myself how to take whatever it is and be okay with it.
That sounds intense.
I didn't want to feed off all the positive comments and fill my head with all the positive stuff, thinking I'm a piece of shit when I still have things to work on. Then I wanted to see the negatives as well so I could gain strength to have thicker skin so it wouldn't affect me as much. Because the more you get into it, you realize you're going to get all kinds of comments. I've always protected myself from that, but this time I was like, “No, I'm going to deal.”
After those two weeks, I stopped. I was like, “Okay, cool. I will go back to therapy and instead of twice a week I will do it once a week.” [Laughs.] Then I just got really excited about the future. I was like, 'Wow, I really put a chapter of my life into 17 songs and released it, and it feels so good.' I am excited to use what I learned from this process to inform the next body of work.
Were you able to shake off the best and worst things you read about yourself?
Yes. I learned how to be like, “This is how I feel. I know what I was saying here. I know how I freaked out the production here and what that means to me as a producer.” After all was said and done, I was like, “Oh, I'm only in competition with myself.” I get to do something I'm passionate about, and it serves me, and it serves my creative juices and the kid in me, but it also pays the bills. Wow, so look at the life I can live.
You mentioned that you were recognized and uploaded your profile. The last time you spoke Advertising sign, in 2023, you said you're “ready for the big races… ready for the big stage energy.” Do you feel like you've achieved that with this album?
No, I don't feel like I've achieved that. But I feel like I achieved what this album was supposed to achieve for me. I didn't get where I wanted to go with this album, but I'm thankful I did because there are more stories to be told and I want to leave a mark [output.] Whenever that moment comes, chill. I already feel successful, but I know there are places I want to go.
What places are these?
I still want to play Glastonbury. I still want to headline Coachella. There are certain things that I automatically want, like I want to get Tonight show automatically. I want more excitement behind things I do, but I'm not in a rush for it. I know these things come with the most work I put in.
Were there times when you felt like you were getting exactly what you wanted or dreamed of?
I had an album release party for my project and Thundercat came out, Ty Dolla $ign came out, Kaytranada came out, Estelle, Ravyn Lenae came out. I was wondering if they would all show up. I was like, “Let me go for the fans and give this body of work the credit it needs.” Then they all appeared. We all listened to the album and then everyone I mentioned came on stage and I was able to play my favorite songs with them and feel with the crowd. I was so full of love. I was like, “This is it. It's about the community.”
These are people I've looked up to since 2010, and now some of them I can call friends and colleagues. And my mom was there, my aunt came, my grandmother. Everything clicked. At that point, nothing mattered – like the successes I want or my personal ambitions. For my cousins or other people from Los Angeles who knew me before, to see where I've come to now, that brought a lot of gratitude.
Maybe this is an unfair question since you just released your album, but are you into music right now?
I've already been working on new music. I found new sounds. With Head Rush, I needed to rap more and incorporate some of my hip-hop and R&B roots. It's an electronic album, but it's not the dance album I wanted to make. It's more of a self-expression album, but I put in some dance songs that will be good to perform. But I still have a really crazy electronic dance project I want to do.
Ouch. Tell me more.
I've done dance music before. I mean, I never stopped, but I have my love for it again. I've been DJing again and have found sounds and new BPMs. I've been doing more after parties and underground club parties and testing records in my DJ sets. I'm hungry again for how I relate to dance music. I feel like I did when I fell in love again, but in a new way, because I have more skills.
What are the best business decisions you've made so far in your career?
I'd say fire the team I started with. I was very loyal to that situation and I wasn't necessarily getting the best job. When I got into music, I think I'm working for my team, when in reality, I'm Channel Tres. I created Channel Tres. I'm in the studio creating the songs. I put my life on the line on these tours. So the people around me have to be held to a standard and we have to work together. No one works for anyone. Being able to let a situation play out based on business and not be so loyal because you have emotional connections has been a really great thing for me. Because, yes, I am very loyal. But sometimes that doesn't mean that person is doing the best job for you.
How have things changed for you since you made that decision?
I feel like I have business partners now. We can look at Channel Tres objectively and make the best decisions for what we are trying to achieve. Because I'm a musician and a creative, but I'm also well invested in the Channel business and how we can promote it. I know I'm going to show up, and I'm going to put in the work, and when I have someone working with me that has the same energy, I can sleep at night with that.
You will be touring with Kaytranada this summer. What will this show look like?
When the offer of the Kaytranada tour came I was just like, “Wow, this is exactly what I need right now.” I was excited to go on tour by myself, but then I was like, “Nah, Kaytranada and I on tour together is just going to be the biggest dance party of the year.”
[My team and I] i'm so locked into capitalizing on the things i've already done. My routine is better. Me and the creative partner, we got better. I am open to learning, but I also come with fire. I've been rehearsing, and I'm honing things I've never done before. Even if it's just a dance move I want to add to my repertoire. I have seen many Broadway shows like The Wiz. Now I hang around the house, but I do it the Broadway way.
There aren't that many dance artists who incorporate actual dance into their live performance. Why is it a compelling thing for you to do?
I've been dancing since I was a kid. In high school I was in ballet. I'm just an art kid. If I wasn't doing music, I'd probably be doing a play. I have to make things interesting for myself. Also my first tour I ever went on was with Robyn. I have to watch her every night. The way he worked the crowd, you could feel the love and the energy. There is no mistaking that the universe put me on this tour. I want to bring people that kind of energy.
Have you always been so able to express yourself freely, or did it take a long time to get to that place where you just follow impulses?
Of course as a child I was like that. But then I did a talent show in seventh grade, and I was made fun of and made fun of for the rest of the year. He shut me down for a while and I was reserved, and you're like, 'I'm just going to be a producer and be in the background.'
What changed;
Something happened when I was in college. I was a drama minor. I started to learn how to act and then I felt the energy again. I don't live where I grew up anymore. I'm not the person all those people knew anymore.
I experienced house music and dance music and I was like, “There's no time to be precious about that. I'm going to get a choreographer. I'm going to start taking classes. I will practice and start being the person I want to be. Fuck it. There's just no time to be cool. If it falls off the floor, it falls off the floor, but I'm going to put myself out there, because you only get one life.'' And it worked.
What was the seventh grade talent show?
I grew up in the church, so I became good at the instruments. I grew up with my great-grandparents, so I wore loafers and slacks. So I said, “I'm going to bring that energy to the school and it's going to be good.” Me and my friend wrote a gospel song. I sang it. I was dancing and it was just a sea of laughter.
This is hard.
Because it wasn't nice to be like this. I go to school in Compton. Either you play sports or you're a gangbanger. That shit wasn't cool.
Well, if they could see you now.
They are doing it.
