Australian EDM star Flume on his 2016 album Skin, hanging out with Beck and keeping a low profile despite his success
‘I feel like I can do whatever I want’ following success of second album, Australian says
Harley Streten, the Australian producer and artist who records as Flume, began making music when he was 13, with a starter production disc he found in a breakfast cereal box. He named himself after a Bon Iver song, landed a deal with Australian label Future Classic in 2011 and released his self-titled debut the next year.
Flume sold respectably, but his second album, Skin, released in 2016, turned him into an electronic dance music (EDM) superstar. Skin, which features collaborations with Vic Mensa, Vince Staples, Tove Lo and Beck, is a mix of commercially minded, vocal-centric tracks and more experimental fare.
Streten has toured ceaselessly to promote it, performing 100 shows last year.
When your album comes out and does really well, is there a part of you that’s secretly relieved? Because the sophomore slump is always a possibility, right?
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.
Did you think that Flume was just something you’d do for fun for a little while?
The first record did quite well in Australia, but nothing like this one. It was more of an online thing. … This has taken the project to a whole new level, and given it a lot of visibility. I really didn’t expect it to go like this. I was hoping it would do well, but it’s definitely far beyond my expectations.