It’s no secret that Harley Streten, better known by his alias Flume, is one of the most respected producers in dance music right now. His sophomore album Skin was released to critical and commercial acclaim earlier in the year and wound up as the number two pick on our list of the 10 Best EDM Albums of 2016. In a new interview, the Australian musician has opened up about the creation of Skin, touching on a range of topics including the album’s guest artists and the pressure to avoid the sophomore slump.
In the interview, Flume touches on how some of the biggest collaborations on the record came to fruition, including the Vic Mensa pair up on “Lose It.”
It was in my hometown of Sydney. He was playing a festival, and I was a fan of what he was up to. I hit him up, and we go in the studio together, and he played some of his ideas he was working on and I played him some of my stuff. There was a particular idea of mine that I was working on that he was really excited about, and that became “Lose It.”
Streten also speaks about his unlikely joint effort with Beck on the album’s closer “Tiny Cities,” revealing his working process with the alternative icon.
I was in L.A., and we were looking for people to work with, and my manager knew Beck was someone I was into. One day I got a call from my manager and he was like, “Hey, do you want to go to Beck’s house today?” I caught an Uber to his house and I knocked on the door, and there he is, it’s Beck, welcoming me into his house. It was kind of surreal, to be honest. I was wearing pink board shorts and a backpack and a cap, and I realized I looked like some kind of kid, just walking into this legend’s house, but he was really down to earth. We basically just hung out in his studio space. I played him a bunch of ideas and he would walk around the house with a microphone, (he’d) walk into the kitchen just singing, and I’d record everything.
After the success of his self-titled debut LP, Flume reveals that he felt pressure to deliver a strong follow-up and is relieved he didn’t get bogged down by the dreaded “sophomore slump.”
I don’t think it’s a secret, I’m massively relieved. I didn’t know how it was going to go. I was actually quite concerned, I didn’t know what the future was going to be like. I feel quite liberated now. I feel like I can do whatever I want. I feel a lot of freedom.
Easily one of the most impactful albums of the year, Skin serves as a major accomplishment for Flume and it’s interesting to get some insight into its creation. Streten previously revealed that he already knows what direction his third studio effort will take, and as of now, it’s safe to say that the future is bright for our favorite Aussie producer.
