Who is Flume? Biography of the musician...

In March this year a significant event took place in the world of electronic music. After a break of almost two years Australian DJ Flume released a new mixtape Hi This Is Flume.

And at the end of summer the musician presented his creation live to fans in America, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, having finished the tour with a performance in his native Australia. The project was enthusiastically received not only by fans, but also by critics. And this is a great reason to get to know this extraordinary personality better.

The beginning of an artistic journey

Flume: "I feel like the older you get, the weirder you get."

The musician took the pseudonym Flume in 2011. And on 5 November 1991, when he was born in Sydney in the family of director and teacher Glen and Lyndall Streten, he was named Harley Edward.

The DJ recalls that he first became interested in trance music at the age of nine. This was facilitated by meeting one of his brother's friends who was a fan of this genre and even wrote his own compositions. Aqua, Moby and Deep Forest discs took the leading place in Harley's home music library. Influenced by their work, he decided to try to do something similar himself.

At the age of 13, the future star discovered an uncomplicated music programme in a box of cereal, and after studying it, the boy began to delve deeper into the secrets of creating electronic music. In addition, from an early age he was fond of playing the saxophone.

After leaving school, Harley bummed around for a couple of months and then went to work. At first he was on the back of a news agency, and then he got a job at the Hard Rock Cafe in Sydney. But he only worked there for a few months, as he finally decided to devote himself to music.

Creativity

In 2010, Streten, without much thought, took the pseudonym HEDS, which is in fact his initials. From that moment the musician's creative career began.

In 2011, the Future Classic label held a competition for young songwriters, in which Harley won with the tracks "Sleepless", "Over You" and "Paper Thin". Nathan Maclay, the label's founder, becomes Streten's manager and helps to release a mini-album featuring the tracks selected for the competition. The artist on the cover was listed as Flume. The pseudonym was chosen after the name of one of the songs by the American band Bon Iver.

Around the same time Streten performed with Emoh in the duo What So Not. The DJs continued to work together until 2105, after which the musical alliance broke up due to creative differences.

And on 9 November 2012, the musician's first full-length album "Flume" was released, which in a short time topped the Australian iTunes top tracks. Jezzabell Doran, Chet Faker and Moon Holiday took part in the recording of the debut. Interestingly, the album was created on Streten's personal laptop while travelling around the UK.

After conquering Australia, Flume decided to conquer fans in other countries. In 2014, he toured the world while working on his second studio album. Its release was preceded in February 2106 by the release of the title track of the future compilation "Never Be like You". It became their first Australian number one. After this success, the album itself, called Skin, was released. The record won a bunch of prestigious awards, including a Grammy for Best Dance Album of the Year.

A life beyond creativity

The musician is a little weighed down by fame and the interest of journalists and fans in his life. But Harley is philosophical about it, noting that he became a public figure from the very beginning of his career and realised that there was no getting away from it. He jokes that his face isn't that famous. When he puts on sunglasses when he goes out, no one sees him as a global star.

Nevertheless, the musician prefers not to spread about his personal life. Last year, the press published pictures of Streten next to the famous writer Kelly Oxford. They were seen together at one of the parties. But the novel was not confirmed and so remained at the level of rumours.

"I don't really like to share my life on Instagram. I don't want people to know everything. The way I show my true self is music," Straeten said in an interview.

He now lives in Los Angeles, in his own home of over 1000 square metres, with a pool and his own studio, located in the Beachwood Canyon area, near the world famous Hollywood sign.

On his first visit to the City of Angels, Harley was disappointed. He expected to see a city of glamour, literally. But, he said, it turned out to be "a big quiet place with not a lot going on."

Nevertheless, the DJ is comfortable in LA. He loves the beauty of Sydney, but he notes that he came to the American metropolis to work and is sure that Los Angeles is perfect for that.

In Flume's Instagram account, most of the photos show him next to a dog called Percy. He is a funny mini Goldendoodle dog, who is always present in the studio when the owner is working. Percy even has his own social media profile and has as many followers as the musician.

Public activities and a high-profile scandal

In 2108, Flume worked closely with Greenpeace. He was prompted to do so by the deplorable state of the planet's natural jewel, the Great Barrier Reef. After all, this wonder of the world is practically part of Streten's homeland. He wrote the music for the organisation's video, which demonstrates not only the reef's problems, but also the global pollution of the planet. But this noble deed of the DJ was hardly covered by the media.

But in September of this year, the press finally got a chance to go full bore on Straten for all his secrecy and non-publicity. Harley himself gave a good reason. He was performing at the epathetic Burning Man festival in Nevada. After the concert, the musician was filmed with actress Paige Elkington, allegedly performing oral sex on her.

Elkington is considered to be the DJ's current girlfriend. It was she who posted the scandalous video on Instagram. Moreover, the appearance of the video in Paige's profile was preceded by the actress publishing a photo of a crowd of fans, one of whom is holding a poster with the inscription: "Does Flume lick arse?". Elkington accompanied the photo with a comment suggesting that we wait for the next story. The next story was a video of an approximately sexual nature with the musician.

The footage was deleted. One of the fans, who was nearby during the shooting, later claimed that it was a joke and Paige didn't even take off her tights and underwear. Flume later wrote the same thing on his account as well. On his page there was a photo of him holding a peach to his lips and the phrase: "It was a joke (sorry mum)".