In the lead up to his visit to Australia this summer - where he will be bringing his new live 'Layer 3' 3D show to the inaugural Let The Eat Cake festival on New Years Day in Melbourne - Pulse's Christopher Barker speaks to the legendary electronic music figure that is Flying Lotus, covering his new album and live show, and how both jazz and cartoons have been a source of inspiration to him.
Very few artists over the last five years have revolutionized the electronic music sphere quite like Steven Ellison. The LA-based label head, lyricist and composer – best known for his work as organic beatmaker Flying Lotus - has almost single handedly changed what the world has come to expect from modern producers, not just in hip-hop circles, but in the progression of musical creativity around the globe. Returning in 2012 with a hugely-anticipated follow up to his 2010 LP ‘Cosmogramma’ (considered a conceptual masterpiece) – FlyLo’s third album ‘Until the Quiet Comes’ continues Ellison’s habit of boundary-pushing music with a range of esteemed collaborators including Thom Yorke, Thundercat and Erykah Badu.
In a rare interview opportunity with the underground hero, Ellison references (yet does not explicitly attribute) this album with growing up surrounded by veterans in the jazz scene (he is the great nephew of the legendary John Coltrane). “I think it comes from the fact that I really like to hold on to memories of being a young and enthusiastic child, y’know. I wasn’t jaded and I really loved music – I was genuinely excited about records, most of them Hip Hop. I try to hold on to that thing and that enthusiasm goes into the work and into the assets around the record – the visual accompaniment and so on. I really tried to remember what its like to be a fan and try to bring that feeling to life.”
Ellison thankfully hasn’t felt a need to shake off his family ties, instead using their innovative style with the power of technology and endless creativity. Critically acclaimed for the majority of his releases - many through the impeccable Warp Records - he has been fortunate not to encounter any internal resistance: “Its really good… I’m surprised” he muses. “The jazz community isn’t as open minded as their ideas were – they’re very like ‘I only listen to Jazz, man’ and they only deal with music that is ever-changing and super advanced . But they seem to respect what I do in the same way that I do them”.
When asked how much his home city influences his sound, he is more than confident: “The geography has everything to do with the sound. I didn’t believe that for a long time – I believe that if I lived in London I would still make the same music that I do but that’s not true. It just wouldn’t happen”.
Up until now, FlyLo’s live show chose to focus on the music rather than big-budget visual elements offered by other artists who aren’t doing much behind it. In collaboration with a series of artists, conceptual designers and technical wizards, Flying Lotus’ ‘Layer 3’ project is a show toned with depth – utilizing multiple layered visual screens in conjunction with his laptop-controlled beats. “More than anything I wanted to create a show where you could still see me but it’s still very visual and there’s a lot else to see” he says. “I think people like to watch me play but at the same time I’m just up there hittin’ buttons – I wanted people who aren’t dancing and staring at me to have something to look at…for the hip hop crowd. I feel like the music is very visual and I wanted to have something visual to accompany that”. Those influences, as it turns, run deep: “Obviously I’m a big fan of Kubrick and '2001: A Space Odyssey', I really wanted it to have some of that. I wanted to have some psychedelic imagery, I wanted it to feel 3D and I wanted it to have the same effect as having 3D glasses on, but without them.”
Coincidently, Flying Lotus continues to program a great deal of music for Cartoon Networks older-brother channel Adult Swim. There is no doubt their irreverence has been an inspiration towards the show. “Based on a being a fan of their programming and their ideas, as far as television goes and cartoons – they continue to do a lot of stuff that’s as forward thinking as it is silly, and perfect for a stoner like me. I remember back in the early days really loving the music coz they were playing a lot of beat music and a lot of stuff that I loved, so when I got involved I wanted to stay involved. I think they’re doing really cool stuff and I get a huge kick out of hearing my work on TV. It’s a lot of fun, I’m glad to be part of their team and I get to provide some material just for TV”.
Of course, with a new record out and the kind of live show that the majority of his fans have been waiting for, Ellison admits the pressure is always there. “Yknow, its tough. I feel pressure, just like any other artist, I feel pressure to deliver but I use it” he says. “Whenever I get that pressure, it excites me and I love to be challenged anyway. There’s a lot of times I play shows and other artists are on the bill and I’m like ‘damn all these people are playing, what the hell am I gonna do!?’ But in that final minute I get so inspired off it, it makes me better - it doesn’t cripple me. I remember the first time I really felt that was when I had to play this festival in Paris called Trans Musicale to about 6000 people – pretty decent for a festival. Now, I play to a lot more people but at the time I was like ‘yo there’s 6000 people out there, they wanna dance, they don’t listen to down tempo, you gotta deliver’ – I remember being really stressed coz there was so much pressure. My manager was getting emails from the promoter saying how important it was, how there was gonna be 6000 people in the room and they wanted to dance - a fuckin’ techno Justice crowd. And I had to deliver. It was something out of movie, I looked in the mirror and was lookin’ at myself like ‘You’re gonna kill it, your gonna smash it out’ I was like ‘Hell Yeah’ and it was so much fun. I get juiced off it, and that’s it.”
That’s not to say he doesn’t face criticism…even from his fans. “Sometimes…I feel like some people, it doesn’t matter where you go some people come for the party, and some people just want to hear the beat stuff and they’re like ‘why didn’t you play any of the fuckin…’ and they’ll name off some of my favorite songs but I can’t play them coz it’s not festival songs – its not built for the festival crowd but I always feel for that kid because I understand what he means. But at the same time everyone is coming out to party, you can listen to the beat stuff on your headphones. I try to bring a cerebral experience as much as a party”.
At a recent gig at LA rite-of-passage event Low End Theory, Ellison recently revealed himself as the face behind the much-speculated Captain Murphy project – a lyrical accompaniment to his music that is as perverse as utterly innovative. Whilst hesitant to talk about it, he is happy to set the record straight regarding the reveal: “I was tired of it being about the mystery. I didn’t want it to be about ‘Who’ – that wasn’t the important thing and people were gravitating so much towards it which I didn’t appreciate. People got the wrong idea behind it – it was meant to be more like a symbol - like Batman (laughs). I didn’t want it to be about who it was, it was meant to be about the message behind it. All of a sudden it was “who is this person” and not about the words so I was like ‘fuck It’.”
Flying Lotus’ ‘Layer 3’ live show is set to make it’s debut Australian appearance at the ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ Festival in Victoria on New Years Day. No stranger to our shores, Ellison is a regular staple in the annual tour circuit, and will continue to be for a while: “I love playing in Australia. Its always fun” speaking enthusiastically. “I think the fans really appreciate me and they fuckin’ like to party. Man…do they like to party. But yeah its really nice to bring this stuff to people, the kids are always enthusiastic about the new stuff its awesome”.
Listen to Flying Lotus on Pulse Radio