These flutes have cut loose from the classical scene and are throwing a party.
A duo of flutists who call themselves Flutronix are spurning their classical roots in favor of electronically inflected flute tunes that sound more like scores from the future than traditional flute concertos.
“Our roots are really classically oriented,” said Nathalie Joachim, one half of the group which will perform on June 2 in Clinton Hill. “But we are lovers of more than just flute music. We’re into hip-hop and indie rock and R&B and we try to bring all those flavors into what we do. It’s flute music that’s not just for flute players.”
Not that the flutists, who compose the industrial beats they then play flute over, don’t have classical pasts.
Nathalie Joachim studied at the Julliard School and her counterpart Allison Loggins-Hull works with the Brooklyn Philharmonic — but they say that the versatility of the flute facilitates such genre crossover that is surprising for an instrument typically thought of in one light.
“The flute lends itself to lots of different sounds,” said Joachim. “There’s a particular thing about the flute’s sound waves that blend well. We really are able to recreate the sounds that electronic musicians love.”
Flutronix, which is based in Crown Heights, will play a show alongside a few other musicians — and a handful of hip-hop DJs — at Freecandy, an artspace in the burgeoning arts community around Clinton Hill, Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant, a location choice they say was conscious.
“There’s been a huge resurgence of culture in Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights but there is a void in that area of live music venues,” said Joachim.
“We want to make it a big party, because that’s what we’re all about!”
Flutronix at Freecandy (905 Atlantic Ave. between Grand Avenue and St. James Place in Clinton Hill, www.freecandy.tv). June 2 at 9 pm, $10.
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.
