RB Exclusive Interview: Flux Pavilion At Escape SoCal

Joshua Steele, better known by his stage name Flux Pavilion, is an English dance music record producer, singer-songwriter, DJ and label owner who has been performing since 2008. Flux Pavilion has headlined three US tours, two UK tours, and several festival DJ sets, including Glastonbury, Reading, Coachella, and EDC Vegas. Fresh off the release of his ‘Tesla’ album, Escape was one of his final stop in America on his Tesla tour before he heads overseas. I was fortunate enough to get to sit down with Flux to talk about his new album as well some things that got him to where he is today.

Why did you decide to create your own label?
The label I was with didn’t want to release dubstep on a drum n bass label so I sat down with Doctor P and we started it as a sorta side thing at first until I realized I could make anything I wanted and then to release it, I didn’t have to ask anyone.

You’ve talked before about doing live elements in your shows, is that something you’re still trying to do?
Yeah so on this tour I’ve been playing my guitar a little bit and a little bit of live singing as well… lately i’ve been wanting to do some more hard dubstep that can’t really be played live. I feel like it’s something that I’m still going to try to do (live electronic music), but it’s not going to be Flux. The album (Tesla) has taught me what Flux is again and I’m hyped for this to go down and work on those weird, fun, interesting sounds.

*Trailer starts to shake*
Datsik must have taken the stage *laughs*

What was it like working with artists such as Matthew Koma & RiFF RAFF on your Tesla album?
Pretty cool, I met Matthew Koma two years ago at dinner with some friends and I didn’t know who he was, he mentioned that he writes songs and I found out afterwards that he was f*ing awesome and had done Clarity and Spectrum with Zedd. So I already liked the guy and we got along and then I realized I loved his music so that was when I was like we have to do a song together. And I feel like Emotional has become one of the best tracks I’ve done in a while.

If you weren’t making music what do you think you would be doing?
Cooking probably, *laughs* like in a restaurant, not on a show or anything.

Do you think it’s better to start as a producer or DJ?
I’ve never really been a DJ, I am now but only because I started as a producer. If you want to be a DJ then you have to produce but you don’t have to DJ to produce. I never really grew up wanting to be a DJ I just wanted to make music and that kinda led me to becoming a DJ but obviously I love it now.

Is there someone that you’ve wanted to work with that you haven’t gotten the chance to?
Really interested in Grimes at the moment, he’s an electro artist, a singer and he always looks really cool on Instagram *laughs*. He’s not really EDM but I would love to work with him.

What advice would you give to a beginning producer?
Have some balls, trust your gut, if you want to do something that isn’t normal, do that. Don’t try to stand out just do what you like and what you believe in and just keep believing in it and keep working.

Connect With Flux Pavilion:
Website: http://fluxtesla.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fluxpavilion
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fluxpavilion/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/flux-pavilion