Flying Lotus Discusses His Changing Approach, the Road and What's Next

Published Sep 26, 2012

L.A. beatsmith Flying Lotus has a new album, Until the Quiet Comes , heading our way fast, and he's gearing up for a much-anticipated tour to boot. FlyLo, sometimes known as Steven Ellison, isn't exactly a road warrior, but with this new album following his 2010 breakout, touring is a must and he's mentally prepared.In a recent interview, Exclaim!'s October cover star explained, "This tour is more extensive than it's ever been for me. This time around, I'm gonna do a few weeks in Europe and three weeks in America on a bus. On a bus, at least I can smoke a lot of fucking weed."So that's motivation. But FlyLo is looking forward to the grind with a fresh outlook."I make music the same way I always have been. The one thing that's different is the approach changes from how I get from point A to point B," he explains. "I learned a lot more about mixing and that had a lot to do with it. It helps in the studio. It translates even better in the live setting. I just know more about sub-frequencies and it's a lot easier."The live show has "evolved and changed a little bit. It's more dynamic. But still a party! Not like my albums, [which] are more like personal exchange; [live] it's nice to have that social experience."After this round of live work is done he hints at a different direction."At the moment, I've been writing a lot of orchestral pieces, film cues and stuff. I don't know what's going to happen with them but it's fun. I brushed up on my classical chops. I'm combining classical with a little electronic as opposed to electronic with a little classical. But it's really fun. It's opening up something new in me."For now, get set forto arrive on Tuesday (October 2) through Warp and see all Flying Lotus's upcoming tour dates below. Also, read Exclaim!'s newly published cover story here Tour dates:10/7 New York, NY - Terminal 510/12 Montreal, QC - SAT10/13 Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall10/16 Chicago, IL - Metro10/18 Denver, CO - Ogden10/19 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge10/22 Vancouver, BC - Fortune10/23 Seattle, WA - Neptune10/25 Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre11/3 London, England - Brixton Academy (2 Flying Lotus sets)11/4 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso11/5 Leipzig, Germany - Conne Island11/6 Paris, France - La Machine du Moulin Rouge11/7 Fribourg, Switzerland - Fri-Son11/8 Berlin, Germany - Gretchen11/9 Manchester, England - Warehouse Project11/23 Tokyo, Japan - Makuhari Messe