Flore
by Mister Mime
18th July 2021
Flore’s ‘Rituals Remixes 1 & 2’ were born out of the success of last year’s ‘Rituals’ album. These tracks are imbued with a focused and powerful reverie that bear testimony to her long and compelling career.
The dynamic French producer talks about her journey as a female musician/DJ, personal challenges, becoming the first woman in France to become an Ableton-certified trainer & going back to her musical roots. She also shares her influences and some rudimentary advice, while herself being an inspiration to all.
MM: Why did you call the album “Rituals”? Can you explain in some detail the concept of this record?
Flore: Around 2010 I’ve been through hard times, personally and professionally. In 2010 my mum had cancer, and she suffered for almost a year. At the same moment, I was working on my first album and everything was really complicated with the label. It was very frustrating and energy-consuming, so when the album went out, and I realized the music didn’t get much attention, I was pretty depressed… and lost.
After living these hard times for a couple of years, I started asking myself why I wanted to make music so much? What was the need? Where did I find all this energy?
And I started reading books about the link between Arts and the Sacred and It made me want to work on this subject, on an intimate basis. I realized I needed to go back to my roots (musically) and start from there.
That’s why some tracks have these strange names, like Numen or Psykhé. I love Etymology and got inspired by the sound and meaning of these words (Numen for « the power of divinity / the divine will » and Psykhé for the conscious). Sigui So is also the name of a traditional mask festival in Dogon community in Mali, Africa.
MM: Can you tell us about your musical background and journey?
Flore: I grew up listening to rock and hip hop. Then I discovered electronic music and got totally addicted by jungle and drum’n bass. In 2003 I was bored of the tech step movement and got really in love with Nu Skool Breaks and I started to produce. Then my musical journey got really large, except country music I think I listen to everything ahaha
MM: Can you give us a glimpse into your music production process? It could be something that you consider to be the main or unique aspect of your process, some techniques you like to use, go to plugins, or any other angles to your creative process that you’d care to share.
Flore: I’ve realized recently that my tune are strongly shaped by the effets chain I use… I like creating spaces virtually inside my DAW, so I spend loads of time, when writing my tunes, to look for the space and the sound of the melody and or the drums. It can take days, but I can’t go further until I can find this space. I think my favorite effect is Guitar Rig and some custom effects racks I’ve made with Ableton, with delay, distortions and reverb.
MM: How did the remix albums "Rituals Remixes - Parts 1 & 2" come about?
Flore: We released RITUALS during the first part of the pandemic, but luckily, it worked very well! We sold out the vinyl in a couple of days and as the promo was going really well we started thinking about involving some artists we love to make remixes.
So a couple of months after the album we released a first remix ep with some of my favourite producers: Hodge, Walton and 3Phaz. I’m extremely proud, having my music remixed by them is such a dream to me, I love them so much!
Then we started thinking about asking other producers for the second volume. And I realized that on this one I wanted women producers, and especially these 3: Deena Abdelwahed, Azu Tiwaline and LCY.
They are the most exciting artists of these last 2 years, no doubt! Their remixes are explosives!
MM: What has your experience been like, being a woman in the Electronic music scene for over two decades? Can you share your perspective on the current state of women in electronic music and how it has changed since the time you started your venture in this realm of music?
Flore: I’m pretty optimistic about the future. In the scene I belong to, I can see almost everyday male DJs/producers/promoters paying attention to this subject and in a way, the pandemic left a lot of room to talk and think about discrimination. Now things are slowly starting again in France, I can see effects, on line ups especially, with more women than before. I’ve also noticed a change in the way this subject is mentioned, people have noticed they were not « losing » in quality in booking females, that there are loads of super talented ones. It is really exciting because some promoters had the bad habit to always book the same female headliners to prove they were working on parity, but the thing is: we need more females at every step of their carrier and not only when they are on top, it’s nonsense!
MM: How do you feel the future is looking like, for young and upcoming women producers who are getting into the scene? What advice would you have for them, and for all artists in general?
Flore: Mmm I’d say: work hard, don’t be a dick. Do your thing, don’t wait for people to believe in you. Don’t wait for approval. Make friends, help them, get them noticed. It is a more collective journey than you think
MM:Who are your musical influences?
Flore: It is pretty large. When I was young we were listening to a lot of different stuff at home, from Italian or classical music to Jimmy Summerville or Gainsbourg. In my teens, I started listening to rock and guitars (I’m still a huge fan!) and 90s hip hop and funk. Electronic music came later, when I was 16, with trip-hop. My first shock was listening to Goldie’s Timeless. This album changed my life as I instantly wanted to produce electronic music… in 1996 maybe?
MM: What are the things, places, people, or artists from other disciplines or walks of life that inspire you?
Flore: Tough questions… I think these last few years what brought me the most inspiration are books (about arts particularly) and listening to rock/psychedelic or African music. Most of the techniques (in production) are inspired by ones found in other styles of music or other artist’s perspectives about art conception. It helps me to think about my music and my practices from another perspective.
MM: Can you tell us briefly about your association with Ableton, and what is your take on teaching music in a modern context, using technology?
Flore: I became an Ableton certified trainer in 2016. It made some noise at the time because I was the first woman in France to have it, and 7th in the world (where they are more than 250 males!). I’m really proud and happy to work with them because it is wonderful software and a very good team. I teach music production (studio & stage) with a school in Lyon, organise workshops (in France or online) and make videos for Ableton as well. I really enjoy doing this alongside my musical career, students give me lots of energy and different ways of thinking about music composition.
MM: Can you tell us about your record label POLAAR?
Flore: I run POLAAR with my best mate Marc since 2014. We have released music from French and international artists such as Esther, Prettybwoy, SNKLS, Tim Karbon, Only Now, Keito, Nasty J, Jumboclat or Mars89. We’ve also released a bunch of my own music, most of them on vinyl. We also promote gigs in Lyon and Paris.
MM: What do you like to do apart from music?
Flore: Gardening, petting, food and travelling :)
You Can Follow Flore on:
https://floremusic.bandcamp.com/album/rituals
www.flore-music.com
https://floremusic.bandcamp.com
www.polaarsounds.bandcamp.com
All Images courtesy of Flore
