London-born producer Flava D has taken the UK underground by storm with her hardhitting take on garage, house and grime. We caught up with her ahead of her DJ set at Dada in Beijing, Arkham in Shanghai and Han Lounge in Guangzhou.
What's your flava? Tell me what's your flava?
A strong Jack & Coke, with Terry's Chocolate Orange for after. [Ed: That's a British chocolate – highly recommended.]
Two years ago you'd never been on a plane and now you're flying to China for two headline shows. Does it feel surreal?
Yeah, it's crazy. A lot of things that I do don't hit me until I'm there on the plane. I'm incredibly grateful for being in the position I'm in and I'll be working on something exclusive to drop at the shows!
So you're still going to play a heavy dose of your own productions and remixes?
Wherever I play, I think it's important to play my own stuff. For a lot of people, it's how they first find me, through my productions. But I do have a particular style – moody baselines mixed up with some grime, jackin' house and the odd golden oldie chucked in, followed by an interesting mash-up of some sort.
It's been a few years since the so-called garage 'revival' – why do you think it came back so strong and does it still have legs?
Yes, it does. Over the past couple years there have been many new producers emerging from all over the place. [They're] making garage again and doing a very good job – still keeping the original elements but putting a modern twist on it. I personally think Disclosure played a part in its comeback, as they had that bumpy swing and the less predictable chords that I feel garage always had.
You described your album More Love as your most "most personal project" to date. What did you put into it?
More Love felt like a diary of mine at the time – a musical diary. I experimented more than I had done before. For example, I had never made a track without drums. Before I made 'Closure' I sat for 10 minutes, by myself in the studio in silence, and then I pressed record – no metronome, nothing. I just played and then added other stuff on top. I remember the feeling of relief afterwards, like I had just released any bad energy out of my soul, hence why I called it 'Closure'.
> Beijing: Jan 14, 10pm-late, RMB60. DADA.
> Shanghai: Jan 15, 10pm-late, RMB50-80 (RMB70 with WeChat scan). Arkham, see event listing.
> Guangzhou: Jan 16, 10pm-late, RMBTBA. Han Lounge, 241 Yanjiang Zhong Road, Yuexiu District 越秀区沿江中路241号 (8188 9633)
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