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Tchami talks his favourite places to play, those wild Malaa rumours and his latest single 'Rainforest'

As festival season brings the Parisian producer to the UK, Carly Hacon caught up with Tchami to chat about why he loves London and what else he will be bringing to the future house scene for the rest of the year. 
His latest track and second release of the year oozes chilled out summer vibes and is the perfect addition to a beach club play list. ‘Rainforest’ came out on Tchami’s own label CONFESSION, which has since hosted many big releases from artists such as AC Slater and Malaa.
So, what do you think is special about playing in London?
London is one of those cities that is hard to impress, however, the UK in general has always been very welcoming to me so I wasn’t surprised, and a festival I really enjoyed playing at recently was South West Four – the vibe was really good.
In all honesty where is your favourite place to play in the world and why? Is there a particular city or venue?
A city where I have consistently enjoyed playing since my beginning is Chicago, but the venue I like to play the most is probably Red Rocks in Colorado. Paris, and France in general, is always special because that’s where I’m from.

Your new single is out, ‘Rainforest’, can you tell us a little about that? And, what story are you trying to tell with the video?
The video director came up with this concept of being stuck in a time loop, where unless you choose the right path you go back to where you started. I let him do his thing, as I agreed with his idea, but my interpretation is that it is an invitation to a higher level of understanding life. It’s a state of mind  where you don’t move just for instant gratification. But this is just my take on it. You are free to have a different one.
What other things have you got in the pipeline? Any more exciting news or future projects that you’re working on?
The exciting thing is that I won’t be touring as much as I was the past few years. I’m going to spend more time at home and in the studio. I have too many ideas floating around to not take the time to finish them.
What would you say is the best thing about having your own label?
It’s being able to give exposure to up and coming artists and participate in the culture.
If you could only collaborate with one other artist for the rest of your career who would it be and why? 
I have no idea. All I am looking for in a collaboration is spending time with the other person – talking and crafting music in the studio. That’s what matters the most to me.
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever heard about yourself? Is it that you’re Malaa?
I think people easily figured out that I am not Malaa. One thing that is recurring is people asking if I am a real priest. My answer to that question is obviously no, but I could have been. Everything I put out there as Tchami is an extension of who I am. So if you know Tchami you know me in some way.

Obviously music takes up a lot of your time but what do you do on your days off? What is a typical day off like for you?
A day off would be playing video games on the Switch, jamming with my electric bass over records, and going out with my friends or at least calling them. I like to take the time to do simple things like reading.
Can you tell us something about yourself that we would be surprised to know? 
Once I fell off a train that was leaving the station. Snake was on that train and was laughing so hard. I think I was too at the end. We were on our way to Paris to buy records. It was 15 years ago. Wild times…
Finally, what advice do you have for aspiring artists starting out in the industry?
Have a good understanding of who you are as an artist. This will take you further than just being good at making music.

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