Photos: Cybele Malinowski / Maria Boyadgis

Yep, Flume & Gang Of Youths’ Dave Le’aupepe Were In A School Band Together

It’s a little-known fact that Aussie producer Flume (Harley Streten) and Gang Of Youths frontman Dave Le’aupepe were schoolmates once, and we’ve just heard the first juicy details about their time in the same school band.

Speaking with triple j, Le’aupepe has described how as a 16-year-old he fronted a band at Mosman High School, performing Curtis Mayfield’s ’70s hit ‘Move On Up’ (the one sampled on Kanye West’s ‘Touch The Sky’) with a little help from Streten on the saxophone.

“We met and did music together and hung out most lunch times and he’s an amazing sax player,” Le’aupepe said.

“Anyone who ever accuses electronic musicians of not being musicians needs to think about Harley, because the guy can actually play a lot of stuff – sax, keys. He’s really gifted.

“I think there’s a cynicism that people developed with EDM that it’s just a bunch of idiots on laptops but it’s not, it takes a lot of energy, talent, consideration to get where he is. He’s talented.”

Earlier this year, Le’aupepe also told The Australian that Streten was “so unassuming” at school, but “in the best way possible”.

“Not many people from school even knew he played music, outside of being the dude who played sax,” he said.

“He was pretty introverted, which hasn’t changed, and a bit secretive about it. But he knew what he was doing.”

Last year, Flume told Beats One‘s Zane Lowe (below) that Le’aupepe “always had a crazy good stage presence”, even during his school years.

“I feel like he was born for this,” he said.

Streten and Le’aupepe actually went back to Mosman High late last year to hold a Q&A session with students, so we can expect some more skilled musos to come out of the place soon enough.

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