Some of the biggest house music artists in the world have broken through the Australian electronic music scene. With that said, deep house specifically has always been successful in the UK, appealing to both radio and underground music listeners. This movement has echoed into our North American regions, and Disclosure's "Latch" is a clear example of a track appreciated by both ends of the spectrum. Disclosure is a prime contributor to this musical phenomenon, but they are not alone.Flume is a fine example of incredible talent to be exported from Australia. His sound is something different and full of surprises. The 22-year-old has gained a lot of traction with remixes of Lorde's "Tennis Court" and Disclosure's "You & Me," making him a must-see act at festivals everywhere.His schedule has been hectic while touring as both Flume and half of What So Not with recent performances in Toronto and Montreal under three different festivals. Luckily he had a bit of time to spare along the way, so we caught up with him to see how he feels about the influx of popularity of deep house.THUMP: You're on your way to Montreal for Osheaga, how are you feeling about it?
Flume: I'm really excited about it. I've been told a lot of great things about this festival.Is this your first time playing there?
I've played in Montreal a bunch of times; I think this will be my third time visiting but this will be my first time playing at Osheaga. I don't know what it is about North America, but the energy is great there. I do quite well in France and there are a lot of French speakers in Montreal, so it's always a great vibe when I'm there.You visited Toronto for TIME Festival a few weeks ago, despite the rainy weather what was your experience like?
It felt like a cool little festival, I often play festivals where I find I'm not too excited about the other acts, but this one was pretty sweet. It's a festival I would go to if I was around the area.Do you not enjoy festivals with artists that aren't relevant to your interests?
I do enjoy them, but TIME Festival is more of my thing. Acts like Grimes and Kaytranada were playing and they're artists I actually listen to on my iPod.Australia has really been embracing house music, more specifically deep house in the past few years, why do you think that is?
Disclosure. They are influential. Australia has the BBC Radio equivalent called Triple J and Disclosure has been getting their hits played on there. I think it has also been a movement in the UK, America and Australia, but it's not really just deep house, it's all house music. It has pop vocals with house beats and it's really good. Duke Dumont is another great artist doing cool stuff like that. It's great hearing some good house music coming back.How do you respond to fans that feel the stuff you put out should remain underground and not cross over to the mainstream and hit radio stations?
I just do what I do, but to put it into context I will do what I'm feeling, what I like and I won't change that. If it happens to cross over it's even better so more people will hear it and if that means going mainstream then I'm totally cool with that. As long as musical integrity is intact, look at Disclosure with tracks like "Latch" that cross over, it's awesome, it has created a movement!How do you go about producing when making music under What So Not?
That project is tailored for the festival and club settings, but it's not to say you can't play this stuff at any other time. So I do find it difficult sometimes to differentiate between Flume and What So Not when it comes down to it, because at the end of the day I'm just writing music. What So Not is a little more accessible and more of the heavier of the stuff I release.You tend to use a lot of orchestral sounds in your production. Where does that come from?
I've always loved strings and piano, so I really wanted to incorporate new things into something that sounds very electronic. It's fun to introduce acoustic elements.One of your biggest influences when you found electronic music was The Prodigy, how did you react when you heard they're working on a new album?
I actually didn't know that. I heard their recent album and to be honest I wasn't that into it. I prefer their earlier works; I really dig that old stuff. Although I wasn't very excited about Invaders Must Die, I will definitely check out their new album.They say it will be violent sounding and it'll be out sometime this year. Are there any particular artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?
I would definitely love to work with Oliver from The XX.Let's talk about life outside of music, how do you spend your free time?
When I'm not on the road I try to be very healthy by eating right and exercising. I do a lot surfing as I live close the beach back in Sydney. I try to work about eight hours a day in the studio, so I will get up at like eight in the morning, go for a surf and come back and work in the studio. When I'm there I like to bring some friends over, it's really fun bouncing ideas and getting feedback from them. They all love music so I find its good energy to have them around. We also have a ping-pong table set up so we get really competitive [laughs]. At the end of the day I drive back home, sometimes I might drop by mom's house to see if there is any food left over! [Laughs] I eventually get back home at around 10 PM.Ani got his ass kicked by What So Not in ping-pong during VELD Festival, follow him on Twitter @AniHajderaj.Related Stories:
We Wandered Around Town with Motez
Emoh Instead on What So Not's HARD Heritage
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Flume: I'm really excited about it. I've been told a lot of great things about this festival.Is this your first time playing there?
I've played in Montreal a bunch of times; I think this will be my third time visiting but this will be my first time playing at Osheaga. I don't know what it is about North America, but the energy is great there. I do quite well in France and there are a lot of French speakers in Montreal, so it's always a great vibe when I'm there.You visited Toronto for TIME Festival a few weeks ago, despite the rainy weather what was your experience like?
It felt like a cool little festival, I often play festivals where I find I'm not too excited about the other acts, but this one was pretty sweet. It's a festival I would go to if I was around the area.
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I do enjoy them, but TIME Festival is more of my thing. Acts like Grimes and Kaytranada were playing and they're artists I actually listen to on my iPod.Australia has really been embracing house music, more specifically deep house in the past few years, why do you think that is?
Disclosure. They are influential. Australia has the BBC Radio equivalent called Triple J and Disclosure has been getting their hits played on there. I think it has also been a movement in the UK, America and Australia, but it's not really just deep house, it's all house music. It has pop vocals with house beats and it's really good. Duke Dumont is another great artist doing cool stuff like that. It's great hearing some good house music coming back.How do you respond to fans that feel the stuff you put out should remain underground and not cross over to the mainstream and hit radio stations?
I just do what I do, but to put it into context I will do what I'm feeling, what I like and I won't change that. If it happens to cross over it's even better so more people will hear it and if that means going mainstream then I'm totally cool with that. As long as musical integrity is intact, look at Disclosure with tracks like "Latch" that cross over, it's awesome, it has created a movement!How do you go about producing when making music under What So Not?
That project is tailored for the festival and club settings, but it's not to say you can't play this stuff at any other time. So I do find it difficult sometimes to differentiate between Flume and What So Not when it comes down to it, because at the end of the day I'm just writing music. What So Not is a little more accessible and more of the heavier of the stuff I release.
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I've always loved strings and piano, so I really wanted to incorporate new things into something that sounds very electronic. It's fun to introduce acoustic elements.One of your biggest influences when you found electronic music was The Prodigy, how did you react when you heard they're working on a new album?
I actually didn't know that. I heard their recent album and to be honest I wasn't that into it. I prefer their earlier works; I really dig that old stuff. Although I wasn't very excited about Invaders Must Die, I will definitely check out their new album.They say it will be violent sounding and it'll be out sometime this year. Are there any particular artists you would like to collaborate with in the future?
I would definitely love to work with Oliver from The XX.Let's talk about life outside of music, how do you spend your free time?
When I'm not on the road I try to be very healthy by eating right and exercising. I do a lot surfing as I live close the beach back in Sydney. I try to work about eight hours a day in the studio, so I will get up at like eight in the morning, go for a surf and come back and work in the studio. When I'm there I like to bring some friends over, it's really fun bouncing ideas and getting feedback from them. They all love music so I find its good energy to have them around. We also have a ping-pong table set up so we get really competitive [laughs]. At the end of the day I drive back home, sometimes I might drop by mom's house to see if there is any food left over! [Laughs] I eventually get back home at around 10 PM.Ani got his ass kicked by What So Not in ping-pong during VELD Festival, follow him on Twitter @AniHajderaj.Related Stories:
We Wandered Around Town with Motez
Emoh Instead on What So Not's HARD Heritage
Nine Australian DJs To Look Out For, Handpicked by Nina Las Vegas