CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 134: GRATTS AND ALEXANDER FLOOD ON THE ROLE OF REIMAGINED WORK AND REMIXES

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Belgian dj/producer Gratts, moved to Adelaide from Berlin two years ago. In 2023, he released the much acclaimed Sun Circles (For Leo & Ziggy), a song he penned for his two young sons featuring Nathan Haines on sax and flute and Mr. Beale on vox. It was coined "2023's track of the year" and topped Juno's sales chart for weeks. 

Now based down under, a live gig with Adelaide drummer, bandleader and producer, Alexander Flood led to the pair bonding over music and their mutual connection with Berlin and Adelaide. Flood operates on the verge of jazz and contemporary electronics and dove into the studio with a jazz quintet to record an “Adelaide live remake” of Sun Circles.

Futuremag Music caught up with Gratts (Tristan) and Alexander Flood to talk about the collaboration.

FMM: You guys recently worked together to release Sun Circles (Reimagined). It's been out for a few weeks, so how's it feel? What's the reaction been like?

GRATTS: The reception has been amazing, actually. I'm very happy that the record is out. It's a little seven-inch record, and it's been selling pretty well. I'm so stoked and honoured that Alex and his band did this amazing version of one of my songs. It means a lot.

AF: We had a great time releasing it. We got to play it out live together at a show we did a couple weeks ago. We did a duo DJ set, and that was a lot of fun to play that one out live.

GRATTS: It's quite normal for artists in electronic music to get their work remixed, so people take all the parts and the stems and they make a remix. What I like about what Alex has done, is that it's like a complete, proper remake, like a cover version. So, he didn't use any of the original parts that we recorded, but he dove into the studio with his own band, and they re-recorded everything, so it's a different vocalist. For me, it's really interesting because they gave their own spin to every element from the original, and their version is faster, and the drums are very different. I thought it was really exciting to hear what they came up with.

FMM: It brings it to new audiences as well, because when you have work, whether it's reimagined or remixed, it brings it to life again. New people can experience it, so what role does does reimagined work play in reaching new audiences?

AF: It has a different sort of live edge, and I think it translates really well to a different sort of audience because it has that live sort of raw feeling. I mean, it is a DJ track, it's a dance track, it's a track for the club. But, it essentially was recorded, like, we were performing it live and I arranged it in the same way that I would arrange something to play live. I think that it can really reach to some more jazz listeners and some more of that crossover kind of sound between, live dance music, jazz, and obviously reaching my audience and then reaching Tristan's audience as well.

GRATTS: Obviously, Alex, the reason I've asked him is because we met in real life for a show, but the reason we met for that show was because I got to know Alex's original music on Adelaide radio, on Three D radio. When I first heard Alex's original music, I was very much blown away because what he does is very fresh. It's kind of sitting between electronic music and the jazz spectrum. What's beautiful about the collaboration, in my opinion, is that he has his corner of his musical spectrum, I have mine, but there's definitely a little overlap. I think by doing this seven-inch together, hopefully the whole spectrum will get to hear it and see where our musical universes meet.

FMM: You're a fan of each other's work, but you also have that special connection over Berlin and Adelaide. Can you tell me about how you guys realised that connection and how that played into the collaboration?

GRATTS: When I heard Alex's music on the radio, I had no idea who he was, what he did, so I looked him up, had to listen to some more stuff, and then I realised he was on a Berlin label, Jakarta Records, and I was like, hold on, that's funny. I didn't know he was linked to Berlin at all. I just spent eight years living in Berlin, recording in Berlin, playing a lot of gigs. I looked into Alex a bit more and turns out he was on a Berlin label and did a lot of Berlin shows. I was like, for Adelaide, that's quite unlikely, so I think that's why I first got in touch with Alex and dropped him a line and said, hey, I love what you do and also, there seem to be some similarities.

AF: And that music that Tristan, that you would have first heard of mine, as you said on, on local radio, that was the music that I made with my band in Berlin. I've spent quite a bit of time there and did recording sessions and really found a nice little pocket within the scene, and made some great friends there who I've, over the years, returned and made new music with. It’s sort of funny that we're both in Adelaide, but the reason we connected was over music made in Berlin.

GRATTS: Yeah, very unlikely to me because Adelaide and Berlin, there's not that much connection as far as I know. One more thing I wanted to say about Alex’s music; at risk of sounding like a fanboy, but as a DJ, I just feel like there's a lot of quick-fix releases, like kind of lazy work, edits of disco stuff. Whenever I stumble upon something like Alex's music, when there's actual skill, it’s skill fresh, less lots of ideas, and it’s original music, I think it's really important that we support that music. Music from people who take the time to come up with something of value, because a lot of it's becoming so throwaway. From my background as a DJ, I still play vinyl as well, so I definitely wanted to release it on vinyl to give it that platform it deserves.

FMM: That connection is incredible because the world is so big, but also so small at the same time. What are the odds you share the connection?

AF: It's a tight knit, especially here in Adelaide. You really realise the size of the scene very quickly. I think everyone knows everyone and everyone you meet, maybe, you're one-step removed from someone through music anyway, but still, Adelaide is so small. I've only lived there two years now, but I'm actually quite amazed by how many talented people there are and how many talented musicians, etcetera.

GRATTS: And Alex and I have talked about this in the past; there's a lot of talent in Adelaide, but not everyone's music gets the attention it deserves because they might not release it the right way or put the right amount of attention in. One of the things I really wanted to do with this is make sure the world knows that we did this little seven-inch single because half of the work starts when the music is ready and you send it out into the world, and that's when you can make a difference by trying to tell as many people as you can. That’s why we’re all talking right now, Brooke, so thank you for wanting to talk about this.

FMM: Yeah, no worries at all, because it can definitely be hard. It's one thing to make incredible work, but then to have to constantly promote it and market it is like working in a full-time marketing role while also being a musician, and some people have day jobs to fund the music, too. A lot of work goes into it.

AF: There’s the tangible, physical product, and there's a thing that you've created, and there's sort of an end point to that in here's the music, it's done, we're gonna release it. After that, nothing is guaranteed. Nothing is necessarily always within reach. You just gotta do your best to market it the best way you can and use your resources and try and draw on as many different places and outlets and people as possible. The second half of the process is, that's the stinger. That's the hard part.

GRATTS: And I think a lot of artists really dislike that aspect. I mean, I don't love it myself, but it's kind of like a necessary evil. I think Alex and I are quite in agreement about that, that we were adamant that we want to give the record some attention and try to get some press and try to just tell the world we did a record rather than let it die a slow death.

FMM: I guess that's the beauty of having the reimagined piece, because you can keep bringing it to life and you can keep getting it out there. This is kind of a two-part question because we'll look at the original as well as the reimagined Sun Circles. Tristan, I understand you wrote this for your two sons. Can you tell me about what inspired the original?

GRATTS: That's a good question. I was living in Berlin at the time, in Kruzeberg, in an apartment, and it was kind of a pandemic time, so it was pretty miserable. My oldest son, Leo, was going to kindergarten, but every other week, kindergarten was closed, and then Ziggy was born and it was just like a difficult time in my life with two small kids. I wrote the original Sun Circles as a little open letter to my sons. As cheesy as it might sound, it's just an open letter to them. Maybe at a later age they can listen to it and be like, oh, that's our dad telling us everything will be fine. The main idea is to tell everyone that everything will be fine. A little hopeful message. The way I write songs is I usually, I make a sketch and then I'm not a great singer, so I would obviously not sing the song myself. I found a really great vocalist in London who sang the original one, Ellie, Mr. Beale. Then, the way I work on music is I usually just dress it up. It goes from the demo to the completed piece. Nathan Haines plays flute on it and saxophone, so it sort of ventured into a more organic, jazzy direction. That's just how it all panned out.

FMM: Sounds beautiful. As you said, as your sons grow older and it's out there, they can listen to it and be like, what other dad has written a song like this for their children?

GRATTS: They’ll probably hate me when they're twelve, but they can at least listen to the record.

FMM: Alex, for the reimagined version, mI would love to hear your process from taking a song that was personal and meaningful to Tristan and then putting your own take onto it.

AF: Yeah, for sure. It was actually really fun. I got all the stems, so each part as well as the vocal, as files from Tristan. I think in one afternoon I sat down and I just put them all in the program that I use for music production. I just bumped up the tempo, sort of shifted the tempo higher and then immediately ideas started coming. Once that tempo was increased a little bit, I was like, okay, I can hear where I can take this. I just sort of worked out which parts were going to influence the direction. Obviously some of that harmonic rhythm and the chords is still a foundation of that. Then, changing the harmony, making it a little darker, a little more minor, sort of parallel minor 9th chords, which helps it feel a little clubbier having that kind of sound. I really wanted to take it to a club sound. I mean, it already for sure is, but make a little dirtier and a little more pace on it. Then, it was pretty simple.

I put together my group, the quartet plus Kara, and they're just workshopping some stuff together, live in a room and getting that live energy out of it. We tracked the entire thing live in a very DIY sort of recording session in my little studios space. It was a very much self-directed, self-engineered, self-produced. I wanted to retain that because Tristan was trusting me with his track and gave me free rein. I didn’t want to dilute that and palm things off to someone else to mix, produce or edit. I wanted to retain that freedom and make it true to me, and still capture the original vibe in there as well.

GRATTS: I think you did great. I always find it very important for anyone doing a remix or a remake or doing something on my label to give them complete freedom, because otherwise, what's the point of asking someone? I think I had a lot of trust in what Alex was gonna deliver. When he sent me the first sketch of the direction he was going into with the chords, the main lead, I was instantly like, yeah, this is great. I'll say one more thing, maybe on the final result, but I think you can very much hear that it's very spontaneous, the way it came together. It gels really nicely. I think the process used to make it, shines through in the result. It's very organic and effortless and it's just there.

FMM: I see what you're saying about what's the point if you're not giving someone that complete freedom? But, that's also a lot of trust to have. Obviously you knew Alex’s work prior to this, but to be like, look, this is my work, please do your freedom; that's a lot of trust.

GRATTS: It's a dangerous question. You shouldn't ask just anyone, but I knew who I was asking. The beauty of running a DIY label, an independent label, as hard as it can be sometimes, it's not Alex's management talking to my management; it’s an actual collaboration between people. All the people I work with on the label are people that I actually have in my network. It's not about moving chess pieces and making strategic decisions. For me, it's more organically, connections pop up and that's how I like to work.

FMM: So Tristan, if you could have anyone do another reimagined version, who would it be and why?

GRATTS: Oh, you mean like in a dream scenario?

FMM: Yeah, if there was no barriers to who it was.

GRATTS: Like, if you would pay for it rather than me?

FMM: Yeah, let’s say hypothetically, if I was to pay for it, who would you have reimagine it?

GRATTS: I'm gonna give you a very cliche answer, but I think it would have to be Damon Albarn doing a Gorillaz version of one of my tracks, or maybe Massive Attack.

FMM: Alright, I'll save up money then, so we can get a Gorillaz reimagined version.

AF: Yeah, continue the life of this track. Just ongoing remixes.

GRATTS: I don't want to milk it either, you know? I'm very much a hater of remixes that have a year in them. You know, like, track xx 2025 remix. I'm like, nah, it doesn't need updating constantly. I think with Sun Circles, I'm very much done now.

FMM: Yeah, you don't want to overdo it and then risk losing its appeal, especially when Alex's reimagined version is incredible. You can't really top that, right?

GRATTS: That's a very good point. It's lovely and it's done, and it's beautiful, and we don't need to water it down. And, it's on a cute, little seven inch.

FMM: Looking ahead. would you guys collaborate again, or what do you both have in store for the rest of the year for your own music careers?

AF: Every now and again, we play together live. It's really cool. I jump on percussion and join Tristan's live sets every once in a while, which is so much fun. So, yes, we're definitely going to do more of that, I'm sure. But what I've got going on is a bunch of touring. We've got some Australia shows, East Coast stuff towards the end of this year, and then also heading to Europe with my band. We've just announced UK dates and some dates in Germany, some dates in Italy, and there's more on the way as well. That's going to be super exciting.

I’ve just finished up my most recent upcoming release, so just finalising some things to put that release in place, then there might be some new music from me soon; a new record.

GRATTS: So would I collaborate with Alex again? Never in my life. No, of course. Long story short, the rest of this year, I'll release two more EPs on vinyl. Another seven-inch coming, which is more disco-y another twelve-inch, which is a house track with Robert Owens, a vocalist from Chicago. And that's it for this year. The next year, I'll do two or three EPs as well. But then early 2026, I'm hopefully releasing my first album. I'm currently working on that and collaborating with some nice people from Adelaide and some people from Berlin. That's quite exciting for me because I've never done an album. I always make long tracks, kind of fitted to twelve-inch format and clubby stuff. So for me, I'm trying to make it much more pop-y and much more condensed and much more brief and to the point. It's a very good exercise for me to try and do that, so I'm quite excited about that. I'm also still DJing on weekends in Adelaide.

I played in Sydney last night, which was really fun; a lovely, little bar called Golden Age Cinema & Bar. Back to Melbourne. and then later this year, October, November, I'll have a little Europe tour as well. I look forward to Alex's new material as well. Very curious.