A ripple, then a wave, then a flood.
Flume's progress has been gradual – so gradual, in fact, that it's difficult to appreciate how far the Australian producer has come.
A year on from the release of his debut album, Harley Streten has become a critical darling, stormed Boiler Room and sold out countless shows across the globe. Playing two nights at Heaven (the last of which opens in a matter of hours) the producer is clearly still coming to terms with his new life.
Able to take a short break in Cambodia, Flume has flown into a pair of UK shows which open a typically hectic six month period of international touring. "Actually I had my first actual holiday, before this tour, so I had like six weeks off" he beams. "I mean, it wasn't six weeks purely off I had a few weeks when I literally had nothing on, nothing on my plate, it was amazing. I actually got to write new music and went away and it was really, really nice."
Clearly re-freshed, Flume has hugely expanded his live set up. Gone are the days of a shy young Australian producer hidden behind a laptop – instead, Harley Streten has amplified the visuals elements of his show. "We've actually brought along the Infinity Prism, which is essentially a big, expensive optical illusion. Bring it round and put it in clubs, trip out the kids. It's like a, like an infinity mirror – you can't look into it, it continues on and on. We've been bringing it round shows and it's been a lot of fun."
Working with his team in Australia, Flume was able to take his performances to the next level. "It's kind of designed from a lying perspective, doing something kind of unique so you've got your own trademark thing. They came up with a bunch of ideas and we ended up with this prism which reacts with the music, and we've got videos we made for each individual track."
However new technology isn't the only addition the young Australia has made. Part of a blossoming electronic scene in his homeland, Flume will be joined by several collaborators including Chet Faker and fast rising singer George Maple – both of whom will help alleviate the pressure onstage. "I much prefer being up there with other people as well" Streten insists. "It's a lot more fun, you can like bounce off them and it just more of a performance. It's also just simply a lot more fun when there's more people onstage, really."
In fact, Chet Faker and George Maple could well end up having a hugely influential role on Flume's next step. The trio have been collaborating, throwing ideas off one another during downtime between shows, as Harley Streten explains. "Actually we did a track together yesterday. We had some time in the studio, and I was supposed to be rehearsing with Chet, so I did a BBC thing this morning. It ended up that, instead of rehearsing, we just started writing some music. George Maple was upstairs in the studio, so we just started playing the track to her and she started singing and next minute we're all making a song together. So yeah, it's funny like that."
Flume is set to play London club Heaven tonight (July 4th).
