46 GQ.CO.ZA OCTOBER 2017GQ: Sound design, samples and
being able to record sounds and
edit them is fairly limitless. How
do you put borders on your
imagination to create a track?
HS: I really like sound design because
it’s a huge part of what a producer does;
it’s probably my favourite part of
music. For me, the actual melody and
songwriting and all that comes second.
What I’m most excited about is the
textures and the tones. I spend a lot of
time scouring the internet for all sorts
of weird plugins and a lot of my tracks
start from me just finding sounds online.
I don’t really record that much, I feel like
online there’s always a better recording
of the same thing I would record. Once
I’ve found the weirdest sounds, I’m like,
‘Now how am I going to make this into
a song and how am I going to make this
feel like music?’
GQ: Do you then build songs from
frameworks or just play around?
HS: When it comes to the sound design
sort of stuff it’s really just luck and
chance. I’m totally just fucking around
and playing with sliders – I don’t
really know what they actually do.
The sound design element is what’s
totally random, but when it comes to
the melodic and songwriting part,
that’s when a lot of the habits come
out – I just know what works and how
a song works.
GQ: Jonathan Zawada has been
behind all of your new album
artwork and live show creative
direction. What was important‘How am
I going to
make this
feel like
music?’
Catch Flume live at
Oppikoppi and
Rocking the Daisies
on 5-8 OctoberGQ: Your production has
a complexity of layers that gives
each song a longevity and sense of
journey – is that deliberate?
HS: I just do what sounds right and f
eels interesting and exciting. I usually
approach music with a theory or idea
I want to experiment with. With ‘Never
Be Like You’, for example, the idea that
kind of sparked the overall effect of
making the song was synth formations- synths and volume fluctuations that
create a flutter and give the song
a unique quality that’s off kilter.
Album artwork by
Jonathan Zawada
from top left: Skin
Companion EP I,
Skin Companion EP
II and Skin. Follow
@zawhatthe on
Instagram for more.about matching your music to
those visuals?
HS: The second record came around
and I was hoping he would be up for
working together and luckily he was.
With my music, it’s really precise and
involves a lot of attention to detail, but it
feels organic and I try and make sure that
it doesn’t feel like everything’s on the grid
and perfectly timed. There may be some
imperfections and it may sound like I’m
not paying attention to them, but I really
am. What I really like about Jonathan’s
style is that his work is really synthetic,
just like my work, but it’s also got this
organic feel to it. It’s hard to tell if his art
is actually real or computer generated,
and he kind of rides that line, which
I really like about his work.GQ: Given how artists are far less
secular than they used to be, have
you considered any collaborations?
HS: There are a lot of avenues nowadays
and it feels like things have been blurred
and mashed together; I’ve wanted to do
some kind of installation for a while, to
create synthesisers out of organic
materials. I’ve got a lot of ideas and
it’s something that I’d like to do with
Jonathan as well. I’m excited to be in LA
around different people doing different
things in the arts.GQ: The live reaction to your music
has changed the way you write –
what anticipation do you have
ahead of your South African shows?
HS: For me, I find it tough to feel creative
in a routine and everyday life, so travelling
is a huge part of what drives my creativity
and especially travelling to new countries
like South Africa; I’ve never been before.
So I’m very excited to come and hoping
to get a surf in, but hopefully without too
many sharks.GQ: Any new albums on the way?
HS: I’m constantly creating, but I don’t
think I’ll do another album anytime soon.
I’m going to put new music out more
regularly in smaller bites.