I have photographed Steven Ellison, a.k.a Flying Lotus, 5 or 6 times in the past 2 years.  It was during the first set of his which I photographed that I noticed Flying Lotus had certain, “tell”, as they so call it in poker. Just before the baseline is to drop through the floor, into the basement and most likely end up in the water table, he would pause as if floating Wylie Coyote style in mid air. Just hovering there above his Eve bitten clamshell which contains the soles of well worn Samiyam 8-bit beats and most likely photos of a black tee clad Thom Yorke.

BAABLAMM! Thesdj sonic beat traveled through me like a mislaid pipe bomb as I let the shutter fly in order to catch this fleeting glimpse of astonishment on his face. As if, not expecting one’s own creation to take such mastered form.  I would expect these things to be intrinsic for an artist of such pedigree. He is after all the nephew of one Alice Coltrane, who was an accomplished jazz pianist, harpist, and swamini. Oh, she was married to some guy named John who played the flute or something.

This occasion I crossed paths with Flying Lotus as he was finishing up a set, a sick dubstep mind you, at Hard Fest in downtown LA. He graciously lent me enough time for a couple questions and a half-assed portrait.

Dubstep, really?

Flying Lotus: Yeah man, they said that’s what we play today. So we play. Crowd seemed into it no?

True.  Is this something new you’re headed into?

FL: Nah. My focus right now is on my new release Pattern+Grid World. It’s like a soundtrack of my journey through the use of psychedelics.  Acid, Psilocybin, and some other candy.

No shit? When is it over and do you have a child seat on that bitch for a photog?

FL: (laughs) Just gonna do it till the colors come.

(pretty sure he is traveling now, lets mess with him) Anything you’d like the world to know that is not available on Wiki?

FL: I hate beans man, all kinds of beans. Never told anyone that. Ahh, hold up, maybe Garbonzo.

-Damn, always getting sloppy seconds from this “Garbanzo” guy.

Verbiage and images by Dustin Downing