Australia's given the world Kylie Minogue, Hugh Jackman, Summer Heights High, Vegemite and Tim Tams, but it is not primarily known for being a hotbed of electronic music. A 20-year-old producer who makes emotive, cut-and-paste beats might help change that. Within days of its November release, the debut record by Sydney's Harley Streten, who goes by Flume, managed to outsell the boy band One Direction on the Australian charts.
Streten credits that improbable feat to a lot of homegrown support garnered through gigging, but that's also incredible considering he played his first solo show as Flume in November 2011. Over the past few months, while much of North America has been locked in winter chill, Streten's been playing to massive crowds on the Australian summer festival circuit.
CBC Music caught up with Streten while he was making his North American debut at SXSW in Austin, Texas, on the cusp of a string of dates across the continent. Catch him tonight in Vancouver at The Electric Owl (March 29), at the Hoxton in Toronto (April 5) and Montreal's Le Belmont (April 6).
How is SXSW going?
It’s good. I’ve done four showcases so far, two today already and one later tonight. The reaction has been pretty great, very strong, but I haven't had time to see anyone because it's been so hectic. We might go see Snoop Dogg tonight, which is pretty badass.
What's it like being huge in one place and encountering unknown audiences in another?
It's pretty strange. I’m interested to see how the music translates over here. In Australia I play these massive shows and festivals, which are a bit disconnected from the audiences. Here I can play small sweaty venues so it’s kind of nice. My set list depends on the show and the vibe. At a festival I like to smash it out and play fun stuff — nothing too serious.
How much were you gigging before you hit the festival circuit?
It's only been in the last three to four months that I've done festivals. I played my first ever Flume show in November 2011, and then things started heating up a bit so I did a few interstate ones in Melbourne and Brisbane. From there it just grew, it was a steady trajectory, but condensed!
Yeah, that seems pretty fast. Do you still get nervous?
Yeah, I do but it depends on the set. When it’s smaller, it’s not so bad but before festivals it’s a bit hard. But I like that nervous energy!
People talk about how hard it is to sell records these days. How does an unknown electronic producer chart like that?
It was a bit weird to be on the chart. I was squished between Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and One Direction! I’ve had a lot of support in Australia and done a lot of gigging. I think I’m championing the fact that I'm from Australia and that my music is working overseas. That's good for people at home to see.
What is the electronic scene like in Australia?
Not massive. Ta-ku and Chet Faker are doing some really excellent stuff. It's growing. Because I’m pretty young I’ve grown up with the internet so it’s not like I only listen to Australian stuff. I know L.A.'s got the Brainfeeder scene that's really strong, and so there's not an Australian sound in that sense. I basically draw all my influences from that Brainfeeder sound and international stuff.
I saw you shout out Montreal's Kaytranada in a recent interview. It's interesting to see, in you and him and Shlohmo, this wave of artists who are definitely influenced by that Brainfeeder, beat-scene sound.
My musical roots have been in dance. First trance, which evolved to house-y stuff. French electro was massive for me and then I was onto guys like Crookers. From '09, it died for me: I feel like house music got raped by becoming this mainstream, EDM thing so I looked elsewhere and found Flying Lotus, ToKiMonsta, Shlohmo and that left-field stuff. What made it stand out was that I had never thought about writing music that wasn’t always perfectly on time. I felt like music was getting crisp, clean and as tight as possible, but this was a lo-fi, "If you make a mistake leave it in there" kind of attitude. That was liberating for me.
It doesn't sound like you had a hip-hop influence, and that it was absorbed through the beat stuff.
Yeah, I never had a strong hip-hop phase. My hip-hop influence does come from Dilla through Flying Lotus.
I like that you give it up for trance because I feel it gets no love, even though we see its influence — from that euphoric aesthetic to actual sampling — in popular music.
Yeah, it's crazy that it gets no love! I basically love euphoric chord progressions: how the chords work and the melodies. You know how blues and pop have common chord progressions? To this day I use trance-style progressions and melodies, but in a context that is beats. So it's like Flying Lotus hip-hop style, Shlohmo and weird Dilla-style drums, with the chord progressions of trance in a structure that’s a bit house-y in terms of breakdowns and builds. My music is a combination of a bunch of things.
What's your favourite trance song of all time?
"Resurrection," by PPK.
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