Interview: Flume On His Upcoming U.S. Tour

By Jessica Mlinaric in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 26, 2013 4:00PM

Electronic music artists are having quite a moment, and thankfully few more than Flume. In a time of repackaged old trends and hybrid genres, 21-year-old Harley Streten is a rare example of an artist bending boundaries to create novel sounds. Flume’s infectious self-titled LP took his bass-heavy melodies to a number one debut on the Australian charts in 2012 and a sold out U.S. tour last spring. Featuring atmospheric layering, chopped up vocals, and influences that range from dream pop, hip hop, and trance Flume has managed mass appeal while staying true to his sense of experimentation. Streten recently chatted with Chicagoist over a cup of coffee from his home in Australia in support of his upcoming U.S. tour, which stops at Metro on Sept. 4.

CHICAGOIST: You've obviously had an incredible year. What's been the biggest surprise to you?

FLUME: I think it’s funny when there are girls I’ve met at a house party a few times when I was 16 and they come out of the woodwork like, “Hey we should catch up for coffee.” It’s pretty funny like we’ve been best mates when I haven’t seen them in so long. It’s definitely a huge lifestyle change, but it looks like a bigger change on the outside than it really is. I’m still with the same friends and I’m still at the same house. I actually only got the keys to my new apartment yesterday. The only difference is I travel a lot more now and I don’t work my shitty part-time job anymore.

CHICAGOIST: What did you think of Asta’s live cover of “Holdin On” for Triple J?

FLUME: I think it’s kind of unfair to try and sing because it’s such a difficult one to sing and the lyrics are wack as well. I’ve actually chopped it up so I don’t even know what the true lyric is. The lyric is kind of twisted and messed up. It’s a very ambitious choice.

CHICAGOIST: Any thoughts about sharing the stage with a band or maybe breaking out the sax?

FLUME: Eventually I would love a band, but at the moment I’m definitely looking forward to incorporating that saxophone.

CHICAGOIST: You've mentioned elsewhere having experimented writing for a range of genres from R&B, to trance, to hardcore back in high school. How has that influenced your work as Flume and do you anticipate branching into other genres eventually?

FLUME: Yes that’s the thing with the Flume project, there aren’t really any rules. I do two projects, Flume and What So Not. What So Not is more club-oriented stuff. With Flume it’s kind of a fun experiment and literally anything goes.

I’m just going to write and see what happens. I feel like the album I just did was a moment in time for me creatively and the next one I want it to be different. I want it to maintain some of the core elements of the Flume sound but I don’t want to just write the same record. I definitely could and I think it would do well, but I feel like I’m in a position of some influence at the moment and I want to use that to do new stuff rather than spoon-feeding another record that would be similar and safe.

CHICAGOIST: For those who may not be familiar with What So Not, can you describe that project and how it differs from Flume?

FLUME: I always think of Flume as the pretty melodic project and What So Not as the angry, bass-heavy dance music. It’s more like EDM or heavy Hudson Mowhawk-y TNGHT. Flume is like Cashmere Cat. Flume is Flume.

CHICAGOIST: Can you tell me how hip hop specifically has impacted your sound?

FLUME: I’ve never really been a hip hop head, funnily enough. It’s a common misconception. It makes sense because sounds on some of the tracks are straight up hip hop. I like hip hop, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never been really immersed in that genre. House music has always been my thing.

What really changed that for me was Flying Lotus and the Brainfeeder label with the L.A. beat scene. That collective is basically where my hip hop influence comes from. It was the whole concept of stuff doesn’t have to be perfectly on time, which was kind of mind blowing to me when I realized it. Shit can sound really good if it’s not in time.

CHICAGOIST: The sounds you incorporate are really unique. Is there anything specific you look to sample or are they made from scratch?

FLUME: I try to avoid using samples a lot because getting them cleared is painful. I download a lot of sound packs and things, and it is fun to start from samples. It always varies from song to song but generally everything is built from the ground up.

CHICAGOIST: I know you’ve worked closely with some other artists in the Australian electronic scene. What kind of inspiration do you draw from them?

FLUME: Yeah the electronic scene here is quite healthy at the moment, but on an international level the guys who are coming up we stick together. If I’ve got something I need a vocal for I’ll send it to Nick (Chet Faker) to help me out. If we’re looking for remixes I’ll talk to Ta-ku, because he’s just really good. We all kind of just help each other out.

CHICAGOIST: How do you approach creating remixes?

FLUME: I usually take the song apart and look for the part I can work with in the song. I usually like to work with vocals; they’re the most fun, I find. I just look for songs that I can take in a new direction or where I think they’re missing something and I can provide that.

CHICAGOIST: How has being in the Australian music scene and breaking through compared to breaking through in the U.S. and other parts of the world?

FLUME: It’s not really different. Touring America just made me realize how big it is and how small Australia is. I was like, “Damn this is a big place.”

CHICAGOIST: Anything you’re looking forward to when you come back?

FLUME: I’m really keen to go to that burger joint Five Guys. You can ask for a burger animal-style. I read about it on the internet and I’m a massive fan of really good bad food. I like really unhealthy food that’s done well.

CHICAGOIST: Your last tour of the U.S. was sold out. What can we expect this time around?

FLUME: We’re playing bigger venues and I’ve got some new stuff to play out. I’ve got new edits of unreleased material. We’ll also have the Infinity Prism with us which is basically an optical illusion that reacts to the music. It should be a lot of fun!