“I have never done this thing before and I have no idea what people will think,” says Steven Ellison—widely known by his primary stage name, Flying Lotus—when asked about his recent filmmaking work. He's already established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians working today. One imagines he might have said the same thing at multiple points in his career, from crafting his early albums, featuring their then-uncommon blending of hip hop with electronic and jazz influences (Ellison is the grand-nephew of jazz greats John and Alice Coltrane, after all), to turning a part-time radio show into a full-time independent record label when he launched Brainfeeder back in 2008.
In just eight years, the style and community of musicians who have come out of Brainfeeder have formed the core of what has come to be known as the LA Beat Scene and, in a larger way, have moved the sound of the mainstream far beyond the city limits of LA. Ellison’s sensibility can be heard on albums like Kamasi Washington’s The Epic, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and, of course, his own releases as Flying Lotus, to name just a few.
On September 17, LA’s essential hometown record label takes over what might be the most iconic LA music venue for a one-night mini-festival. Flying Lotus will be joined by Thundercat, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic for Brainfeeder at the Hollywood Bowl. In advance of that, we chatted with Steven Ellison about the event and about his new film Royal, which screened as a short during the Sundance Next Fest film festival in August and will soon be the first feature-length release from Brainfeeder’s new film division.
What brought about the Brainfeeder at the Bowl concert?
The people performing, we were all doing stuff together already. These are the people I want to be around and the people I want to do a show with. It’s a show I would want to see myself, so I think it’s really cool. It’s going to be a really dope night, I think.
How does it feel to someone who grew up in LA to now be putting on this show at the Hollywood Bowl?
You know, it’s awesome. It’s one of those big things to say you’ve played the Hollywood Bowl. When I played the Sydney Opera House, I felt the same way. And I’ve played the Bowl before, but this time it’s my stuff and the Brainfeeder stuff. It’s very exciting.
Other than this huge concert, what is in the pipeline for Brainfeeder?
Brainfeeder’s new film division. It’s a new company I started with Eddie Alcazar and we also have other filmmakers and artists under that brand, amazing animators and filmmakers. It’s a separate thing. I don’t know if the film and music projects really intersect yet, it will depend on the project.
You recently made Royal, your debut as a film director. Did that come as a surprise to people who were used to thinking of you as a musician?
A lot of people who knew me already know that film is something I’ve always been involved in and it seemed like natural progression. For other people, I’m sure they were like, “What’s this?” But those people… Who cares? I’m still making music. They’re just going to have to wait a little longer to get it, but that’s okay, it’s coming.
Royal premiered at the Sundance Next Fest as a short. Do you have plans for where it will go next?
It actually started as just a five-minute animation, but then it blossomed into the short. And now that is becoming a feature film. I’ve shot 70 percent of it now. It is going to be crazy. It’s not all about one story, it’s a bunch of different ideas. It’s kind of like how my albums are, in the presentation of it—it’s really crazy but it all fits together.
I don’t really have any plans. I don’t have any support financially, I’ve just been doing it all on my own with my friends and people willing to help me, but no studio system or distribution. I’m coming at it as just being brand new. I really wanted to make this in a way that is unique, kind of anti the film industry.
How does your creative process differ making a film as opposed to making an album?
It’s way harder. Making a film is way harder than making an album. Making music, you can do it all by yourself. You don’t need a whole bunch of money. You don’t have to convince a whole bunch of people that you’ve got a good idea, you just go in a studio and emerge with something. Making a film, I have to convince so many people that I have a good idea and beg people and just hop all the stars align and then you go shoot. It’s very tough and I’m learning a lot.
I got advice from a musician-filmmaker I love, Quentin Gautier, who said, “You should make movies like you make music. Whatever your approach, your style, bring that to your films and it will work for you.”
I like that. My approach is a bit more fragmented. I learn in the doing of it. I figure things out. And I really prefer that approach to scrutinizing a script and doing character profiles and outlines and all that stuff. I like to jump into the unknown. It’s the same with my music.
Do you think your distinctive point of view allows you to bring something fresh to the film world?
With film, right now, I just feel really inspired. There is a lane right now for people like me. When was the last time you saw a film with black characters like [in Royal]? You never see it. There’s this divide, this weird thing. Like a ‘black movie’ has to be a certain kind of way? I want to tell stories from a different perspective and show characters that people have never seen before, even though they’re right here. You don’t normally get to see minorities on screen do the kinds of things I want to show them doing.
Really, I want to show a different side of people. Darker, perverse things. To show the ugly is very interesting to me. I feel drawn to it now more than ever because we all try to be so polite, to not offend anybody, but that’s stale. I want to respond to that.
Brainfeeder at the Hollywood Bowl takes place Saturday, September 17 at 7pm. Tickets are $29 to $259.
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