Chaouche on the sound of falling rain

I think rain is my favourite natural sound.

I've always struggled with anxiety and sleep and so, unless it's raining outside and I can hear it hitting on my window, I pretty much listen to rain every night when I'm going to bed. Any time I'm feeling nervous or anxious, I just play some recordings of rain or http://rainfor.me and I immediately feel relaxed and peaceful. One of my favourites is a YouTube video called “Zen Garden Rain- 2.5 hours Relaxation, Peace & Meditation (no music, just rain)”.

When I was growing up, my siblings and I had a very unsettled childhood. Some of my favourite memories are from when we would hide under blankets with my mum watching storms outside. We loved that.

We regularly drove from south Wales to north Wales because my father had a restaurant up there. We didn't really want to go up there and so sometimes my mum would stop and ask us to listen to the beautiful sound that the rain would make on the tin roof of the car. I think that's why I love it so much, because it makes me feel safe.

By coincidence, when I contacted my friend Benjamin Johnson to help mix the album, he reminded me of a recording that we took in his old house of what was the rainiest day on record. While we were recording it an ambulance passed by and the siren was sampled in there too. It was a happy accident that it timed perfectly with the track, so we left it in.

The whole album is about working through traumas and difficult emotions of the past, and so it's very empowering and healing for me having the natural sounds of the rain washing its way through the track that's about finally being able to feel safe and secure in my life.