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Flume talks mental health and THAT Burning Man incident on his girlfriend's podcast

8 April 2020 | 1:19 pm | Emma Jones

Flume, aka Harley Streten, is the latest guest on Paige Elkington's 'My Friend Podcast', and opens up about the toll of being on the road.

FLUME, aka Harley Streten, is the latest guest on Paige Elkington's 'My Friend Podcast' with his episode being released this week. He not only discussed the toll his rapid rise and consequent fame and success took on him, but also his use of alcohol to cope with his new life and how he almost called it quits completely.

“I don’t like attention,” Flume said in the interview. “I like a little bit, but I don’t seek it, ever… I hate public speaking, I’m afraid of it.”

“This music started working and essentially I became a public speaker… my worst nightmare. I pushed through it for four or five years, being like ‘You know what? If I just keep doing this, eventually I’ll get over it’. I did it for five years, didn’t get over it.”

Now, if you follow Flume on Instagram, this might be a little perplexing given just how hilarious he is on the platform. He opened up about this too in a way, noting that it was the infamous "eating ass" incident (Elkington being the one whose ass it was) that liberated him into not caring about what people thought anymore and how he feels the incident made him " the opposite of cancelled.”

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“I was concerned. I had an untarnished image and I was very worried about tarnishing it, and the repercussions. Thankfully, the repercussions were minor and, if anything, it made me happier. I used to always feel the pressure of tarnishing my reputation, and now I feel like it’s tarnished… I feel liberated, I can do what I want now and not have to worry so much,” Streten said.

Later in the raw and candid interview, Flume also revealed his own issues with using alcohol to cope with nerves, saying it got pretty bad at one stage, but therapy and anti-depressants helped him overcome this battle. He even went to his therapist to say how much he hated his job, and the guilt surrounding that feeling.

"It's fucked that I'm even saying that because I have an incredible job that people dream of having and I feel like a bad person for saying that but it's true. I love making music but I hate touring. I'm not cut out for this," he disclosed.

“I still get anxiety before shows and stuff, but it’s manageable now. I used to get anxious going to get a coffee. Going up to the barista, just general interactions like that, I would get neurotic and overthink."

"I was really against taking anything for it initially... I decided ‘Fuck it, I’ll give [anti-depressants] a go and if I don’t like it I can quit in like a month’. So I did, and it’s been like a silver bullet. Unbelievably effective, I feel like the exact same me just without this fear constantly looming over me.”

For those also hoping for more new music, he confirmed he is currently working on his latest record at the moment and is hoping it'll be done within just a couple of months.

Listen to the full episode here, and check out Flume's latest single, 'The Difference' below:

Words by Emma Jones

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