JODY MACGREGOR talks to STEVEN ELLISON, better known as LA-based DJ and producer FLYING LOTUS.

The first time I call Flying Lotus for this interview he’s busy, so I call back ten minutes later. Asking him what he was busy with, he explains that he was buying weed and his dealer’s paranoid about phones. I spend the rest of the interview trying to figure out if he’s joking or not.

Lotus, who is happy to just be called Steve, is no stranger to our shores. Back in 2006 he spent some time in Australia back attending the Red Bull Music Academy, which was held in Melbourne that year. After sending off a demo CD of his varied and bubbly instrumental hip hop he’d been invited to attend what he describes as, “an amazing experience. Not the academy kind of thing people think it is, it’s more just like a bigass gathering of like-minded folk. Basically, a party. It’s funny how much music doesn’t get made there, you’re so busy going out and partying and stuff.” That said, he did manage to get some work done while he was there, even if it wasn’t making much music, “For me it was a chance to network with folks and build some relationships with people.” One of those people was Andreya Triana, who contributed her sublime vocals to the nostalgic Lotus track Tea Leaf Dancers.

The music of Flying Lotus may be more familiar from its place in cartoons. He’s composed music for The Boondocks as well as the commercials on Adult Swim, which he says is the only television he watches. He’s more of a film guy, with a degree to prove it. “I’m not doing anything with the education I got. I’d like to get back into that,” he admits. Appropriately, a lot of his tunes sound like they belong on the soundtracks of movies, scoring moody nighttime street scenes. How does he get that sound, by working at night?

“Lately I’ve been having fun making music after hours with the headphones on, but most times I work during the day ’cause I live in an apartment complex. My neighbours don’t like me so much.”

So does when he works make a difference to what the music he makes ends up sounding like?

“Day or night, it’s a different vibe. I think that at night things get a little slower, more introspective as well. You find a deeper sound later at night I think as well, because it’s so quiet and still. Everything’s as it should be. At night your brain is tired, there’s no ego involved in it. You just let your voice fucking fly out man, no hesitation or anything. It’s nice. I wish it could do it more. When I was at my mom’s house I was way more into making music at night because they didn’t really care if I was playing loud, but where I’m at now, after ten that’s it.”

Never did figure out if he was joking.

You can catch FLYING LOTUS playing upstairs at the Step Inn with Suckafish P Jones on February 21. His second full-length album will be released via Warp Records in May.

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*