Meet Elash Chambat | videographer & musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elash Chambat and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elash, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I do a lot of things in life. I am a musician: I am a guitarist (among other instruments) in a band called Fat Bottomed Boys, perpetuating Queen’s legacy with new original songs. I am also a sound engineer. It’s my main activity. I have a studio, and I am in charge of FOH sound on tour with some French bands. I am a videographer: I shoot music videos, and feature films… But what I like the most is… doing a lot of things! I am very afraid of daily routine. I like learning and improving.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a kid I wanted to become a rock star. Some of my songs were pretty good, to my taste, but I didn’t give myself the means to get there. I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know how the business worked. My mother suggested a plan B: I became a sound engineer. I worked in a studio, did some live gigs, too. As a living, I didn’t have much time to do my own music, so I worked on other’s music instead. But that’s cool, and I like it. I love finding new hobbies. I got into photography. I got into music videos, into jazz guitar playing…
I like not being into the spotlights, but I consider myself as an artist. I don’t limit myself to one discipline, I see art as a whole. I’m not looking to become famous at any price. My aim is that people like what I do and that it gives them emotion.
I never encountered success, so far. I mean… I am not a rock star, yet. But I’m okay with that. I do what I like, I make enough money, I have a happy family.
When filming I don’t pretend to have a vision, to revolutionize cinema, to become the new Spielberg or Tarentino. I do my best with what I have. The technical team is almost only me. For budget reason probably, but also because I like wearing all hats at once. It’s really convenient, even if the result is less polished. I can go anywhere with a camera, a drone and a wireless lav mic in the backpack and shoot a scene in 30 minutes when it would have taken a full day to setup back in the days. I run a lot, but it’s fun!
I have also a musical project I am trying to make work. It’s a band called Fat Bottomed Boys. I am a huge fan of Queen, and we are paying homage to them in writing new original songs in the royal tradition. We already released four albums. It’s very difficult to get known, because we know we are not young and sexy (anymore), and our music is very different from what you hear today. But we do what we like, and we are happy when people like what we do.
Nothing is comes easy. Making music or a film is the easy part. It’s useless if your work stays on your hard drive. The most time-consuming, tedious and cruel part of the job is reaching the audience.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well… I am sorry but LA is not a city a like a lot. When travelling I like walking, and LA is way too big, to me it’s only freeways with chain stores around, and villas behind large fences. I prefer NYC or Chicago, of large wild areas such as Joshua Tree, Monument Valley, Bryce, Zion Park…
But, I must admit, I ate in LA the best steaks in my life in some of your steak houses!
As a foreign tourist, I also enjoyed wandering in Santa Monica, on the pier or on the beach, and Warner Bros Studios was a highlight.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to Alan Delabie. I’ve known him for more than 20 years now. He has always been, and still is, a driving force. At first we wrote music together, then did movies. He has the starting ideas, I have the technical skills. I could not do a film on my own, I guess, I am too lazy for this. Alan knows how to motivate people, and he rushes headlong straight ahead.

Website: fatbottomedboys.fr

Instagram: @fatbottomedboysmusic

Facebook: @fatbottomedboysmusic

Youtube: @fatbottomedboysmusic

Image Credits
Alexandre Marouzé Benjamin Poupel Rigo Luchi