Precise As They Can Be: Channel Tres

Since his emergence in the industry, not only has he put forth undeniable hits under his own name and collaborated with a bucket list of impressive creative figures from Shygirl to Mura Masa, he has essentially created a new genre of music — an unheard of feat these days — the emmaculate and addictive "Compton house": a fusion of Motown, Chicago house, Detroit techno and West Coast Rap.

This week, we're lucky to have been given another taste of the multi-hyphenate's talent. With his North American tour tickets dwindling, and Real Cultural Sh*t, his debut full-length on the way, Channel Tres released a music video alongside a new single, titled '6am'. In the wake of this announcement, we spoke with Channel Tres about his creative process, his energy drink of choice and what makes him dance.

Left; coat LOEWE. Right; coat and pants LOUIS VUITTON, top JUDY TURNER, boots VINTAGE from DUSTED GARMENTS, necklaces VENEDA CARTER.

It takes a lot of courage and the ability to keep pushing when you are a full time creative — have you ever doubted the process or wanted to give up? What has been your driving force?

I find motivation in where I've been and growing up how I grew up. Seeing family members struggle through certain mindsets and bad habits. I'm also infatuated with the process of starting somewhere. You can change yourself or start a new skill if you just commit the time and dedication to it. Through my journey in music, I've seen myself in certain places, and I might focus on a certain thing that I want to have for myself for a few months and it'll literally happen. That process is very addicting to me, and that's where I find motivation. Music is one of those mediums where you can constantly challenge yourself and grow, so if you reach a plateau in one area you can go to another area and do something. I don't have all the answers, and that keeps me going, too.

What does your support system look like? Who’s your biggest supporter?

I would say my mom. She texts me all the time and calls me almost every day. It gets annoying sometimes, but it's amazing to have that as a support system. I also have a good team, great management, and great people around me. I love the people I work with. The gym has also been a great support system. I'm always working out, running, and trying to push my body past different barriers.

Do you have a mentor? Do you consider yourself a mentor to anyone, or is there anyone coming up you want to mention?

I don't have a mentor. I have friends that might be more experienced in different areas than me, and I just kinda ask them questions when I need answers, or I watch people from afar. I feel like the world is kind of my mentor. I'm not traditionally mentoring anyone. People ask me questions and maybe watch me, but I think the best mentorship is being around someone or watching someone do what they do. With that, I have a lot of mentors that are unofficial mentors.

Left; sweater LOUIS VUITTON, pants ACNE STUDIOS, t-shirt and boots VINTAGE from DUSTED GARMENTS, necklaces VENEDA CARTER. Right; sweater and pants BODE, t-shirt VINTAGE from DUSTED GARMENTS, shoes GUCCI.

Where do you find inspiration? Is there any other medium you go to for it — art, fashion, nature?

Right now, it's been traveling. I'm inspired by people, I'm inspired by movement. I like going to clubs and just listening to tracks. I might DJ with some of my friends, and we just go back to back in front of thousands of people, and it's just us there having a good time. I find inspiration from living life. I think the best songs come when you're not trying hard and just taking in what's happening. So many things happen throughout the day, so I try to work on being in the moment all the time and making sure that I'm paying attention to the details of life and watching everything as it comes, and processing it as it comes. For me, that's enough inspiration.

Are you religious or spiritual?

I grew up very religious, so I don't really do religion anymore. I would say I'm spiritual because I believe in karma, manifesting, and love. I don't really like the rules of religion. I don't like certain groups of people being x'd out of anything. I think everybody deserves love and goodness. I just kinda stay on the spiritual thing and try to be positive and good to people.

Left; top HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE, jacket and pants WALES BONNER, ring VENEDA CARTER. Right; jumpsuit SAINT LAURENT.

What was the moment that pushed you to make music full time?

Yeah, I kept getting fired from every job I worked. I thought I was lazy or something but music was always something I could focus on all the time and work hard at, and so I just got to a point in my life where I just had to commit to it. It was really hard, I quit music so many times but I just couldn't do anything else consistently. But when I'm working on music, it's just natural, I feel happy, I feel good, and I always want to do it.

What’s something you like to do to relax?

I like to binge-watch shows. Recently, I've been playing Wordle every morning. It's been very good for my brain. I also like writing.

What do you do to amp yourself up?

Drink some Celsius.

Both; coat GUCCI, pants VINTAGE from DUSTED GARMENTS.

You’ve mentioned slowing down over the past few years, staying present. How does this help with your creative process? Do you get creative blocks? If so, how do you overcome?

When you're moving fast, you think you have some type of goal to achieve. Usually, when you're creating that way, the best shit won't come out. When you slow down and take it one day at a time, the songs just come to you. I wouldn't call what I experience a creative block, sometimes I just don't wanna create. But I don't force myself. I just go do something else. You go take a walk or something, come back, and then you do it.

Sometimes I'm not feeling everything that I'm doing, but then two days later, I'll listen back, and I'm like, "this shit is tight." The brain is really tricky. It's just about not taking yourself too seriously and not being so attached to the results of anything and letting all that shit go. Trusting my intuition and reminding myself that I love good music and I know how to make good music because that's what got me here in the first place. If I just keep doing that, I'm fine.

Left; top HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE, jacket and pants WALES BONNER, ring VENEDA CARTER. Right; jacket Mr. Saturday, scarf AMI.

You’ve got the moves on stage but what’s your favorite song to dance to when you’re all alone?

I like the Marvin Gaye I Want You album. It's very hip movement centric, and I like moving my hips slow.

Music

Jesse Jo Stark Is in a Genre of Her Own

April 19, 2024

In the midst of a total solar eclipse, I got the chance to talk about music and style with Jesse Jo Stark.

As I’m on the phone with her from New York, Stark is on a tour bus with The Veronicas, driving through the Colorado mountains to enjoy some time off in between shows. The Veronicas have just started their Gothic Summer North American Tour, and Stark is opening the show. What’s special about this tour for the lifelong music obsessive is the sense of powerful feminine energy encapsulating the tour. “We just started [tour], but it’s been really lovely. I’m obsessed with the fact that we’re all women — it feels like a very powerful crew. The Veronicas are lovely, the crowds have been so fun, and the venues are beautiful. It’s gonna be a good month.”

Photography Sophia-Liv Maguire
Styling Marc Eram
Interview Angelina Hazzouri
Talent Jesse Jo Stark
Hair Antoine Martinez with PARADIS using Roz Hair
Makeup Sydney Szramowski
Photo Assistants Mia O’Neal, Rashaun Richardson
BTS Ms Josephine
Creative Producer Olivia Roper-Caldbeck

This is Stark’s second time touring since the release of her full-length debut album DOOMED in late 2022, which was very well received and led to Stark’s first sold-out international headlining tour on behalf of the album. Previous to her solo tour, she’s opened for various notable acts, such as Guns N’ Roses and Jane’s Addiction. I asked Stark, who’s been writing and playing music since age 11, what it was like to prepare for her first sold-out headlining tour. Unsurprisingly, before any tour, Stark goes into what she describes as “bootcamp mode” — dancing every day, vocal training, rehearsing with her band, and of course, working on her outfits. “That’s the sort of homework I love,” she says, smiling. (Even though we’re on the phone, I can tell she’s smiling when she talks about the outfit part. I’d smile too if I had her tour closet.)

What’s unique about Stark as a musician is that she has ultimately created her own universe by embracing every aspect of her creative upbringing, her raw talent, her fascinating influences, and her unwavering beliefs in not needing to fit into a certain box when it comes to her art. She creative-directs and styles all her own looks, referencing an ever-evolving list of influences that range from Vegas showgirls to Halloween to old films to her parents in the 90s. “I think when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from,” she tells me, “but now it’s just my blood. I constantly reflect on my childhood and everything I was taught and everything I saw. My brother and sister and I are constantly pulling influences from our parents from the past. I think, more than ever, I’m heavily influenced by them.”

Stark, the daughter of founders and owners of the self-made American fashion brand Chrome Hearts, and now its creative director and designer, is someone who always knew what she liked, but as she describes it, had to ‘go through the motions’ that come with growing up and knowing one’s identity. Today, her self-efficacy is palpable — and it’s inspiring.

...when I was younger, I had this rebellion against what I was made from, but now it’s just my blood.

When she’s on tour, Stark is growing with herself and with her art — she’s not afraid to take life as it comes and learn through the process. With every show, regardless of whether it was on her DOOMED tour or this tour with The Veronicas, Stark understands the importance of human connection through music. Seeing faces of music lovers like herself, meeting those who have traveled to see her, and visiting familiar and unfamiliar cities has reminded her that she loves being on the road. “The growth that happens on tour is so important to me as an artist.” Sometimes we have to leave behind what’s familiar in order to rediscover what’s important, and Stark is a proponent of this growth mindset.

Growth doesn’t just happen on tour with Stark — this evolution of herself happens within genre as well, and for Stark there’s no such thing. Since her first release Driftwood in 2017, the artist’s sound has shifted year after year, but in a harmonious way that still feels central to her gothic Americana roots. When asked if she’ll experiment with genre in the future, Stark confidently answers, “I think I’ve only experimented with genre. I don’t think anyone knows what genre I am.” (She calls herself a “horrific hillbilly” — a perfect descriptor.) Steadfast in her belief that we as humans can constantly evolve in our work, Stark thinks it’s antiquated to fit yourself into a certain box and focus on one specific trade in order to succeed. “If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time. I want to experience different things.”

Since Driftwood, a two-song EP rooted in rock and country, Stark has experimented with more robust beats and 808s on DOOMED, and her most recent single “skeleton” features a softer, grungier punk sound. Without fitting into a specific genre, Stark’s music is undoubtedly and wholeheartedly her own, transcending the boundaries of what many artists struggle with when finding their sound. “I don’t think we should have to label ourselves in any way, shape, or form; so I’m not going to. I will continue to make all types of different music.” Fuck yeah.

If you look at us as people, we’re seasoned. We change all the time.

This goes beyond just music — in terms of her personal style, the same mentality applies. We discuss the idea that clothing and dressing is a sort of playground, and personal style comes from within. Stark isn’t about following trends, but rather, she thinks it’s important to tap into different stylistic elements that amplify who we are at our cores. On her DOOMED tour, Stark wore a lot of leather and stuck to a fairly dark color palette. Right now, she’s into more bourgeois satin and lace, experimenting with different textures and wearing things that feel slightly daintier and more delicate. On this current tour with the Veronicas, Stark is making it more of a point to take everything in — absorbing inspiration from every city, writing songs on the road, recording video on a friend’s super 8 camera, styling and wearing new outfits, learning and performing new covers — ultimately growing through the whole experience.

It’s endearing and inspiring how well Stark knows herself. A Los Angeles native, she proudly tells me that the tour finishes on May 5 in her hometown, a show that she’s especially excited for. While we can’t predict what thoughtfully-curated outfit she’ll wear or what songs will be performed, with new music already underway, one thing is clear: Jesse Jo Stark is just getting started.

Music

9lives' Latest Single Continues to Push Sigilkore

April 19, 2024

The versatile artist, producer, and pioneer of the sigilkore genre, 9lives, has recently unveiled his latest single "CANADA" featuring jnhygs. In less than two years since his emergence onto the music scene, 9lives has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a prominent figure within the digitally-driven sigilkore movement. "CANADA" sees him teaming up once again with experimental dance artist jnhygs, following their successful collaboration on "XTAYALIVE".

With aspirations to establish himself within the mainstream arena of experimental music production and artistry, 9lives is blending his distinct dark production style with collaborations with a diverse array of influential artists who trust him to create innovative sonic landscapes. "CANADA" marks his second release of 2024, as 9lives continues to champion the burgeoning sigilkore movement, pushing the boundaries of genre, evolving into a multifaceted artist, and solidifying his status as a rising star with an expanding audience.

Image by Connor Pritchard

Reflecting on their latest project, 9lives shares, “In early 2023 jnhygs found my music and we started chatting through TikTok, releasing our first song together called "XTAYALIVE"." He adds, We’ve been friends since this song had a viral moment, and fans have been heavily requesting for us to work together again all over our videos.” Describing their creative process, he explains, “I sent a bunch of new ideas to jnhygs via Discord and she sent back vocals to “CANADA”, which I then used to create melodic layers and extra percussion to complete the song.

Music

Eclipsed at Vampire Weekend

April 16, 2024

It had been about a week since the goosebump-inducing communal howls at the moon, as it covered the sun through a cloudy Austin, Texas sky, left me needing to take a seat—suspended in awe of the totality of the event and the synergistic break from routine. I overheard someone say, “I mean, it feels like we’re all going to die, but in a way that’s okay, you know?" under the shadow of the eclipse's peak, ceremoniously brought in as the band performed “Jonathan Low,” (in Vampire Weekend's familiar ironic hue) a track they wrote for the third movie in the Twilight series, Eclipse.

It had been five years since the band had released an album. In celebration of their latest album, "Only God Was Above Us," ticket holders wrapped the streets in blocks outside the venue for the band’s first Stateside show in about two years. Event managers searched to replenish the venue’s stock of eclipse glasses, while the band prepped a show reminiscent of 'getting the boys back together again'.

Words and photography by Rianne Akindele

In between newly released songs like “Classical” and “Capricorn”, the boys filled the almost two-hour-long show with old favorites like “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”, “Diane Young” and a genre evolved rendition of “Sunflower” as the crowd danced barefoot feeling the Earth’s energy intertwined with their own and the vibrations from the amps on stage. People stole glances at the imminently darkening sky, artists doodled, friends grabbed onto each other to scream the lyrics in each other’s faces, and onlookers from the highest level of the parking garage across the street cheered on in a symphony of nostalgia and anticipation.

Adding to the layers of the celestial afternoon, the band invited to the stage the likes of Thomas Mars from Phoenix, Dave 1 from Chromeo, and guitarist Brian Robert Jones, inducing further levels of indie revival euphoria.

As the show drew to its close, and the zydeco/country-rock “Cocaine Cowboys” medley fiddled through the air, a conversation could be picked up between two sisters in search of their Lyft driver through closed-off streets,

“I wish this happened more often.”
“Eclipses or shows like this?”
“Both.”

It’s moments like these that remind us of our shared humanity and the power of collective experiences; a gathering of souls under the same sky, sharing the joy of music and a wonder of the stars above. Perhaps it’s the rarity that allowed such transcendence, reverence, and gratitude to be felt. Either way, what a beautiful moment in time it was.

Here are a few shots from the Monday afternoon: