In Conversation with Flume

Three years after the release of his Grammy award-winning album Skin, Flume is back in style with his captivating new mixtape Hi, This is Flume. 

The Australian record producer, DJ, and musician has also released several new songs in addition to the mixtape, all of which have received huge amounts of praise and success: his latest single ‘Rushing back’, in collaboration with Vera Blue, has been streamed over 15 million times.

Talking about Hi This is Flume, Flume explained that he decided to make a mixtape rather than an album because it was much less formal, and put less pressure on him as an artist. In his classic cool and carefree tone, he told me that he just wanted “to put music out into the world and chill.”  

The 38–minute mixtape is accompanied by a visualiser, instead of separate music videos for each song. When explaining the decision to add a visual aspect to the project, Flume suggested that in this day and age album covers aren’t as important as videos and that he wanted to do something different. The visualiser was filmed over a week in Western Australia, the homeland of the artist, and further adds to the creativity and energy of the mixtape. 

Describing the shift from pop-based and mainstream songs in Skin to the much more aggressive and experimental sounds of his latest project, Flume suggested that his music was like a “pendulum.” He expressed the way that he loves to swing back and forth between pop and experimental, electronic music so that he never gets bored. When I asked about his own personal music taste, he revealed that he enjoys “a broad range of music,” and takes inspiration in particular from artists such as Sophie, Eprom and Slowthai. This variety of music styles is clearly expressed in his music, and much of his work combines aspects from a range of different genres. 

Many of Flume’s songs are in collaboration with other prominent artists, such as his new songs with London Grammar, Vera Blue, and Reo Cragun. Talking about such collaborations, Flume expressed that he loves touring with other artists as it makes him feel as if he was part of a “band” and that being with friends is much more fun than travelling solo. He also spoke of the songwriting process, telling me that he prefers working one-on-one with artists in the studio. He produces his songs quickly rather than spending a long time overthinking about particular sounds and features, preferring to just trust his own creativity. When I asked about a collaboration that he would love to do in the future, I was thrilled to hear that he has always dreamed of working with Frank Ocean.  

Flume is coming to Manchester on the 13th November for his much-anticipated headline show at The Warehouse Project. Having already performed at huge festivals across the globe this summer such as Lollapalooza and Summer Sonic, he admitted that he actually prefers playing at indoor venues in his own headline shows. He explained that it is easier to control production aspects such as smoke and lasers inside and get a “true representation” of his performance. He also gushed about how much he enjoys touring and visiting new places, and expressed his excitement to perform at Manchester’s new Warehouse Project venue, Depot at Mayfield. In his own words, it should be “a great party.” 

In the past, Flume has disappeared for a few years after releasing his award-winning albums and completing the consequent sell-out tours. But things are about to change, he promises, saying that he now wants to “stay in the limelight” and release much more regularly. He added that releasing new music feels amazing, and that he loves the response he gets. 

When I asked if he was working on anything at the moment, he simply replied with “always.” This is good news for fans, who have many more albums, EPs and singles to look forward to very soon.