Flume Speaks About The Pressure Of Success And Standing Out

We’ve all been waiting expectantly for some time now for the full dose of Flume, and now with Skin looming just over our heads, we can’t get enough behind the scenes. In a recent interview with Hunger TV, Harley Streten opened up about what drives the Flume project, how success has shaped this next album, and what the future might hold in store.

Instead of solely pursuing the weird or exclusively producing pop tracks, Streten wanted to take the chance to straddle the line between the spirit of Flume and what is readily consumable.

“I wanted to make something more commercial and also do the weird stuff. I want to fill both voids, not just do one end of the spectrum. So this record has some more poppy stuff than I’ve ever done before but it’s also got some weirder stuff that I’ve ever done before.”

And when the discussion turns to technology and the role of the internet, the Australian producer is under no illusion that it’s been vital to his meteoric rise.

“I wouldn’t be where I am without the internet. I came up and started getting some recognition when SoundCloud was in its golden age – people were discovering lots of new music, but there was a manageable amount of it. The labels hadn’t caught up, streaming wasn’t happening too much, Facebook wasn’t pulling any music for legal reasons. The internet helped me so much.”

However, Streten’s most profound statement has to do with his modus operandi, and is the best summation of what we’ve come to know as that “Flume sound.”

“It’s using technology in a way that it’s not supposed to be used. That’s what I want to do. There are so many options with a computer, when I get an idea or a technique down then the ideas for a song will develop around that and I will write chords. Every song for me is like a mini-experiment.”

At a whopping 16-tracks, Skin is finally set for release on May 27th, and is currently available for pre-order via iTunes. To read Hunger TV’s full interview, click here.

H/T Hunger TV