Kicking his tour off tonight in Manchester, Flux Pavilion aka Josh Steele will be bringing his sound to a city near you. Because we're just that great, RWD have got two sets of two tickets to give away for each of the following shows.
For a chance to win tickets to Lincoln (16th October), Norwich (17th October), Newcastle (18th October), or Glasgow (20th October), simply tweet: Hey @RWDmag, you're the best! I want to win tickets to see Flux Pavilion in [INSERT CITY] please. Ta very much.
We got hold of the man himself to find out what you can expect from his Standing On A Hill tour...
So, are you looking forward to getting back on tour?
Absolutely. It feels like touring is everything that I've been working on for the past few months - getting the show together, etc.
Was it your decision to get Dillon Francis on board?
Yeah, I really wanted him on board when I was over in the States, but he was touring over in the UK at the time. I've wanted to tour with Dillon for so long and it seemed like the perfect opportunity. He's actually living at my house as well! We've made a lot of tunes together.
The next issue of RWD is all about gaming. Are you into that?
I always used to like playing games, yeah, but at the moment I seem to have less and less time. These past few days I've been getting over jet lag so I've been playing Borderlands 2. I've been waking up at about 4AM and playing it all the way through until about 1PM and just not getting out of bed.
Have you ever thought about putting together a game soundtrack?
I think a high-action racing games would be quite well suited to what i'm writing at the minute. But what I'd love to do is something like Final Fantasy and write a score and a proper story through music. With Final Fantasy, the music is as conceptual as the game. The guy who did it is a genius. I'd love to just lock myself away for six months and come out with it.
Have you ever been approached to do something like that?
I've been in talks with a few people. I just don't really have the time at the minute. I'm loving touring and kinda of just writing tracks for myself. I've got so many things I wanna do.
How does the music you've been working on sound? How has it has developed?
It sounds better produced because I've been producing for an extra year. In the course of writing the new EP I've just been wiped out and I've been doing everything from my bedroom. I was at uni when I wrote I Can't Stop and all those, making them in between uni projects. So I was kind of learning as I went along. But since I've finished uni I've been completely involved with what i'm doing instead of doing something else and then coming back to it. I've just been concentrating on this one EP and I've got everything on there that wanted to get. And yeah, it's done now. I finished it a few weeks ago, an 8-track EP which is coming out in November and the tour is gonna be showcasing the whole EP.
Why did you decide to name the EP... what was it? Over The Hill? Something like that?
Standing On A Hill… Over The Hill! Maybe I'll do that in like ten years time…
You don't ever want to name your EP or tour that!
Nah. Anyway, Standing On A Hill is a track I wrote that isn't actually on the EP. It's a side project that I'm working on… It's a conceptual idea of a hill being triumph and standing on a hill is the idea of being on top of a mountain and you've reached the pinnacle of triumph and you're just content. So it's kind of like bliss, essentially. The way I write my music with epic drops is like standing on a hill, and the big massive build ups are like running to the top. It's all just based around the idea of just letting go, letting go from everything, and just being completely open. Yeah, I always get that feeling when I'm high up. So that's kind of the concept behind the EP, and that's the feeling I get when I perform as well. I thought it fitted in quite well with the tour and so we decided to name it that. I'm looking to possibly build the track that I've written out a lot more and turn it into a short film based around the idea of touring and the emotional weight that comes with it. I think it goes with anyone's working life, like Mondays - whatever job you're in you have that sort of Monday feeling. The song is sort of about that too. So once I've done this tour I'll be working on the short film and that track will be released along with the film next year. It'll make a lot more sense when you hear the song!
Have you found any up and coming producers or artists that you think will be big in 2013?
Just people that are signed on Circus pretty much. I'm constantly backing the Circus catalogue. The reason that we signed up to the label is that we loved all of their music. There's this new guy called Mizuki who was literally just signed, and his stuff is just awesome - really my taste in music. It's my taste in electronic music - I think that's the way that we all think, within the label. So yeah, any of the Circus guys. Definitely excited about Mizuki.
What do you think about the EDM label people are trying to put on everything?
I think it's very literal. I don't really have a problem with it, EDM - Electronic Dance Music, and it is electronic dance music. I'd be more comfortable with just 'Electronic Music', or even just 'Music'… you know what I mean? I always refer to it as bass music - because it's bass-heavy and it's not necessarily dubstep. You've got dubstep and house and I think it all has the same kind of feel under the umbrella of bass music. It's the only way I feel comfortable with giving it a label. But, yeah, it's just music to me. I like it. I like it in my ears.
If you were going to give people coming to your shows one statement re. what they can expect from the tour, what would it be?
A whole bunch of new tracks and an all-encompassing show. We've got the visuals and everything's just coming together. Rather than just having some visuals and me DJing, we're bringing the the two together. It's not a groundbreaking thing, but it took us a while to sort it out. This tour is the most insular so far as a unit - slowly bringing it all together. This is the one i've been looking forward to all year. Definitely. Loud music, lights and flashing stuff - that's what they're gonna get.
Anything else we can look forward to?
The EP in November. I've got a track with Major Lazer on their new album too… that'll be out around the same time. Now I've finished the EP, I'm just touring and writing. Hopefully by February/March next year I'll have another release. My life now is just writing tunes. As soon as I finish this interview I'm straight back in the studio to write as much music as I can. Borderlands is good for a day, but I need to get back to work!
More info HERE.
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