In Depth: Ile Flottante

Bristol based beatmaker Ile Flottante aka Ile.Flo emerged close to a decade ago, being a musician from early before discovering and practising the art of producing. Spending his childhood in a small Welsh town called Aberystwyth, Ile.Flo then moved to Leeds at the age of 10. From there he became involved in alternative music scenes, before later studying music technology at Leeds College of Music. During these times, Ile.Flo and his close friends made a connection with Brighton based hip-hop label Yogocop Records, a friendship which prevails to this day - as they recently released Ile.Flo's album alongside Pertrelli, Gone Trying. In anticipation for the release date on August 21st, Ile.Flo spoke in depth about his come up in UK hip-hop, becoming renowned for lo-fi music, exclusive insights into Gone Trying, his upcoming beat tape, Garden Tape and much more. 

Growing up in Aberystwyth, aside the seaside there wasn’t much other outdoor entertainment. However it did have one metal skate park, which is where Ile.Flo spent most of his time up to the age of 10, before his family moved to Leeds. “There wasn't really much else to do,” said Ile.Flo, reminiscing his childhood. “We were always skating about. Then I moved to Leeds in year 5, so I basically grew up through my teenage years in Leeds, which was pretty mad to be fair.”​ After the move, Ile.Flo became entranced by new musical styles. “I kind of moved into making bassline and stuff,” said Ile.Flo, “I started using Reason - proper back of the bus bassline, I'd hear the older boys playing it off their Sony Ericsson's and stuff.” After receiving his first taste of bassline, Ile.Flo used the Reason software to regularly practice production techniques, the beginnings of his beatmaking career. Struggling to find his place in a big city however, Ile.flo also gravitated towards the more alternative scene in Leeds where he picked up the drum sticks and started performing in bands. "There was a huge hardcore and metal scene in Leeds at the time,” recalled Ile.Flo. “They basically took me in and spat me out - we partied a lot."

As a teenager living in Leeds, Defenders Of Style were artists which Ile.Flo looked up to in school - literally, they attended the same school, being only a few years older than him. “When I was in year 7, they were in like,10/11,” recalled Ile.Flo. “I was instantly looking up to them music-wise, I've been listening to Danz's beats for like, 10 years.” Later in life, Danz asked Ile.Flo to contribute to Defenders of Style’s Upper Echelon (Remixed) album, which was their first collaborative endeavour. “He's been a mentor for me as well,” continued Ile.Flo. “Something between me and Danz just clicked, then obviously I produced that track on his album for Blah Records as well - the whole album is self-produced except for this one track, which is pretty mad. That's called The Deep Field Image, the project's T.M.I.B.” 

Aged 17, Ile.Flo enrolled at Leeds College of Music to study music technology, being one of the only options that interested him after after failing his A Levels. Around this time, Ile.Flo also began attending local Sub-Dub events, his first experience of West Yorkshire’s renowned soundsystem culture. “We were making dubstep stuff around then as well,” began Ile.Flo. “Going to sub-dub as well at 16/17 years old, that's another sort of element that kind of changed my whole perception of the music world - it was pretty mind-boggling, as a 17 year old.” Back at college, a hip-hop orientated lecturer also assisted Ile.Flo’s musical progression. “Then I started working on my first project there,” continued Ile.Flo. “I actually worked with a Huddersfield emcee on the first project that I did, Eskar.” These times, Ile.Flo was becoming heavily inspired by Jehst and Harry Love beat styles -  “That kind of real conscious, dark boom-bap hip-hop,” in Ile.Flo’s own words. “So I just started carving my way into that sound, then trying to really master that sound.” 

“I feel like it's more in the way that that scene branched out to me,” Ile.Flo paused, recollecting where he discovered lo-fi hip-hop. “I'd been making my dusty hip-hop for a while, when I started really pushing my music on Instagram and stuff, it just seemed to attract that kind of crowd and fit in with that sound a little bit more.” Thanks to online services such as Splice, Track Live etc. lo-fi music has become more accessible for people wishing to practice it, bringing through a new generation of young lo-fi producers. After Ile.Flo discovered lo-fi, he realised that his music style was suited more towards that genre rather than traditional hip-hop. “I was just doing my sound,” said Ile.Flo, “Trying to be original but finessing it on the beat-pads, showing my style in that sense. Then it kind of came together and I was like 'Oh, there is a world where my music fits in.” Inspired heavily by LA based artists like Flying Lotus, SAMIYAM, Ras G, Daedalus and Mndsgn. Ile.Flo regards these artists as the lo-fi pioneers. “That was before lo-fi was even lo-fi,” stated Ile.Flo, “Then it kind of just evolved from that I feel.”

As Ile.Flo practised and perfected his beatmaking methods in college, he and his friends began networking for like-minded artists across the country. Whilst they were coming up in Leeds, down in Brighton artists such as Benaddict, Illiterate & others had formed a rap collective called Team Dreebs, co-creating their own label called Yogocop in the process. “We kind of just started chatting over the internet,” recalled Ile.Flo. “We just shouted them over the internet literally - me, Selrok, Pertrelli, we were kind of just chatting to those guys so it was just natural to work with each other, to this day we’re still working.” As well as his affiliation with rappers, Ile.Flo also participated in online discussion boards with UK beatmakers, inevitably becoming intertwined within the beatmaking community as well. “I'm always learning,” said Ile.Flo. “I learn way more just watching someone else make a beat, or working with someone making beats - I just try to suck it all up.” A particular artist who assisted Ile.Flo was Hashfinger, a beatmaker from Bradford. Initially a fan of Hashfinger’s projects, the pair began chatting a lot during what Hashfinger describes as the ‘MPC days.’ “He obviously reeled out those projects which were fire,” continued Ile.Flo. “More recently because we’re both taking the beatmaking more seriously these days, I've reached out to him and we're helping each other out a bit.” 

After receiving a diploma in Music Technology, Ile.Flo made the move to Bristol. A creative haven, Ile.Flo sought a place to practise music, leading him to find the old police cells in The Island venue. “It was basically an old interview room,” explained Ile.Flo. “We used to call it 'No Comment Studios' because that's what you'd say in interview rooms, they had panels on the walls which said 'Call For Assistance' and stuff, but they obviously didn't do anything.” The debut Ile.Flo project was the Turning Pages beat tape, featuring 18 tracks released via Soulful Chemistry’s bandcamp in October 2013. “It's a bit of a mix between boom-bap and that early... What you might now call lo-fi,” continued Ile.Flo. “That's only on the Soulful Chemistry Bandcamp, soulfulchemistry.bandcamp.com.” Soulful Chemistry was primarily a beatmaking collective begun by​ Johnny North & Ile.flo after meeting at LCM, consisting of up to 10 members which released strings of collaboration projects. Here Ile.Flo brought through accomplices such as Johnny North & Mr Slipz - Slipz being a member of Benaddict’s Yogocop crew at the time. “There's actually a tape on there which was me and Mr Slipz,” said Ile.Flo. “We made that when I first moved to Bristol. He brought the MPC down, showed me how to use the 2000XL a bit and whilst we were jamming, we pumped out a little tape.”

“The second one SPLoops was a bunch of loops out the SP-202 sampler,” continued Ile.Flo, providing insight into his second release. “I'd just copped what's basically an upgraded GameBoy looking type thing - super basic but super raw - I think there was like 12 beats, they're only short one or two minute loops. That was just from picking up that bit of gear, then putting something out which kind of encapsulates the sound of that one piece of gear - I quite like promoting the product that I'm using and the sound that it gives as well.”.

Off the back of those two projects, Ile.Flo continued to sharpen his skills on the pads over the years. In 2019 he stepped into the world of streaming services and started distributing his own music on all platforms, with projects such as The Lookout and the synth based, ambient piece Sunday Synth Beats. Throughout 2020 his streams have brought about more successes, Ile.Flo has received a great reception - landing editorials on Spotify whilst continuing to self-release independently on occasion. “This year's the first time I've been releasing with bigger beat labels,” began Ile.Flo, sharing advice regarding signing with labels from personal experience. “What you can do is offer single contracts where for example there's one track, they put it out, you see how it does with them and how much they promote it for you, then I think you can gauge it a bit more. Many people get into like, three year contracts with a label and I never recommend that - if I could give any advice, just don't sign away long-term, because you don't know what's around the corner.” Today is the age for independent artists, with the right guidance anyone is capable of self-releasing, although building a buzz independently doesn’t work out for everybody. “I guess you can use labels as your own leverage deal,” pondered Ile.Flo. “At the end of the day if they're a smaller beat label, they haven't really got that much to offer you, you're in the power position really because you've got what they want -  use that to your advantage, use the leverage that you've got.”

The latest release from Ile.Flo is Gone Trying alongside Leeds rapper Pertrelli, which dropped on August 21st through Yogocop Records. Knowing Pertrelli from his days in Leeds, Ile.Flo first heard Pertrelli spit aged 17, instantly recognising his emceeing potential. “I knew him when he was like 17,” claimed Ile.Flo. “We all knew straight away, this guy is crazy and he's going to kill it.” Having lived in Leeds and experienced the culture in Bristol, Ile.Flo realised the difference in shine artists receive in the south compared to north; a reason why Ile.Flo asked Pertrelli to come down Bristol. “I recorded that album with Pertrelli when he was living down here,” continued Ile.Flo. “Pertrelli was living with Illinformed for like, 6-7 months on his sofa, so he was just recording there 24/7.” Pertrelli was known to Illinformed because Ile.Flo had previously invited Pertrelli for a show in Bristol, then the next day they attended an open mic in which he impressed everybody - including Illinformed. “Literally, Pertrelli just walked in and slayed everything,” laughed Ile.Flo. “Then he walked out and everyone was like, what the fuck is going on?” The upcoming Gone Trying album however was actually recorded in The Island, back at No Comment Studios. “That's where we wrote all of the Pertrelli album basically,” confirmed Ile.Flo. “We did some mad sessions in there too, we were both working at the same time so we would be in there untill 5/6am.”

For album hooks, Ile.Flo & Pertrelli enlisted vocals from Jordan Nathanael, another Leeds artist living in Bristol. “He's fucking dope,” said Ile.Flo, “He's a real deep singer, we've got that on the hooks a lot. He's a real good artist, one to look out for, for sure.” To promote the project, at least two visuals for singles lifted from the album were currently lined up, as well as a studio bars video. “There's one six and a half minute long double video for two of the tracks which takes you through a whole journey,” explained Ile.Flo. “Then there's one other video that's coming out as well, so there will be a lot of visuals.” Ile.Flo then divulged how the first visual, for the single Speak To Me was shot in the snow, two years ago. “The project's been nearly two years in the making bro,” revealed Ile.Flo. “It's just been waiting for release, we were in a queue basically then it had to get mastered and pressed.” 

For vinyl heads, Ile.Flo & Pertrelli have released a limited run of 300 Gone Trying records - “Purple, heavyweight presses,” smiled Ile.Flo. “This is my first full-length album on vinyl, so it's a big chapter for me as well.” The vinyl distribution will be assisted by Yogocop, overseeing the release. “That's all through Benaddict as well,” began Ile.Flo, relieving how Yogocop became involved in Gone Trying. “Basically we just got chatting at a festival about it, he heard two of the tracks from the record and said he was really interested in signing it.” The opening single for Gone Trying is Way Before The Beginning, which features Bronte Shande and Benaddict - Benaddict’s feature was interesting, as Ile.Flo also produced the opener on Team Dreebs: Volume 1 almost eight years ago which featured Benaddict. “I was just sending them beats asking them to rap on them basically,” shrugged Ile.Flo. “Then that ended up coming out. So I am long-term affiliates with Yogocop, this project just fit, they really fucking liked it and wanted to back it.”

As well as releasing music, performing live has always been a huge passion for Ile.Flo. One of his first major shows was Trajections festival in Bristol, 2017. “That was obviously run by Ivan from Boom Bap Festival,” said Ile.Flo. “Once I did Trajections, Ivan booked me for the next three years of the Boom Bap Amsterdam Sessions, where I got to know Dirty Dike a lot more and met more of the crew.” Events were an essential revenue stream, which was stripped away by UK lockdown laws. On top of multiple UK festivals lined up, Ile.Flo also had to cancel a self-managed USA tour due in November. “I was gearing up to do a heavy summer until lockdown hit,” sighed Ile.Flo. “Live performance is something that I absolutely love, it's the best thing about making music. When I actually perform live, I play the beats live on the MPC rather than rolling tunes on the CDJ's or whatever - I'm kind of a live finger drummer.” 

Aside from Gone Trying, Ile.Flo also has a beat tape due for release September 15th, Garden Tape. “It's a standout EP,” revealed Ile.Flo. “It's basically all my lockdown gems that I cooked up in lockdown, an eight track project with vinyl, digital... I named every track after shit I've been growing in my garden during lockdown, it's kind of organic, lo-fi instrumental hip-hop. I bust a whistle on one of the tracks, I thought it sounded dope - it's nice to put a little bit of yourself on there as well.” The last instrumental project Ile.Flo released, Moments received a tremendous reception. One of the singles, entitled Flambe did exceptionally well without any official promotion. “I think Flambe is one of my best pieces of work,” said Ile.Flo  “It had my friend playing saxophone on top of it as well, it's just an honest, solid bit of music and people really appreciated it I think.” In terms of support for his music, Ile.Flo noted he has amassed a large following outside of the UK. “In the UK, I feel like it's very much more about the emcees,” mused Ile.Flo. “Similar to how it is in the US a bit. It's all kind of shifting a bit now though, I feel a lot of the producers are getting some good shine, which is nice to see.”

Ile Flottante, thank you for your time.

Words by Evo
Photography by SunCatx

Stream Ile Flottante on Spotify: HERE
www.ileflo.co.uk