Interview: KUSO Co-Writer/Director Steve (aka Flying Lotus) Discusses Taking Risks For His Directorial Debut

Earlier in 2017, acclaimed hip hop artist Flying Lotus (who is also known as Steve) celebrated the world premiere of his directorial debut, Kuso, at the Sundance Film Festival, and now, the film is heading home exclusively to Shudder today (and it also begins a one-week engagement at Cinefamily in Los Angeles too). Daily Dead had the chance to speak with Steve about transitioning from the realm of music to filmmaker, taking chances as an artist, working with his cast and more.

Great to speak with you, Steve, and congrats on finding a home for Kuso with Shudder. I would love if you could start off discussing how much your work in the music industry helped prepare you to transition to the world of film. I know you’ve been doing videos, and doing video and music work with Adult Swim too, so this seems like a natural progression for your career.

Flying Lotus: Yeah, I probably wouldn't have ever done it if I didn't have all that work on music videos, and all the stuff that I'd been doing with visuals before. After a while, I guess I just felt like I was contributing enough, so I should just really just start pursuing my own personal ideas and explore my imagination, you know? Because, I swear to God, I'd talked myself out of making a film for so long.

I think, honestly, that's a problem that a lot of first-time filmmakers come up against too, where they have doubts or they second-guess themselves a lot. And sometimes, you get to that point where you just have to rip that Band-Aid off, and go for it.

Flying Lotus: Yeah, yeah. It's hard. It's a hard thing because you can always find some reason not to. There are always elements outside of your abilities. But I was just tired of listening to that voice. I saw a project come to fruition very quickly, just before I started working on that, my buddy made this short film that I collaborated on called FUCKKKYOUUU, and you know, it was like a really natural kind of thing.

You know, he came by and listened to some music, came back with an idea, two weeks later it was being filmed, and then we went to Sundance and did all that stuff together. You know, it just felt like it was supposed to happen, and I decided it was time to go and do this.

And how great did it feel to be able to bring this to Sundance, of all places, earlier this year? How was that whole experience for you?

Flying Lotus: It was a dream come true. I think to anyone who makes a movie, especially an independent film, the idea of going to Sundance is just, like, the end game goal. So a lot of films will never make it. So to be able to do that and go there and have that experience as a first-timer, yes, it's amazing. And it was one of the most fun experiences of my life because I got to bring a lot of the cast and crew out, too, and for us, it was like the first real wrap party for us, so it was nice. We really enjoyed it.

I'm curious because when you're an artist, and you're somebody who works creatively which means you've been putting yourself out there for years now, as a music artist, how different is it, then, to put yourself out there now as a filmmaker? Is there a difference?

Flying Lotus: It's similar, but it's a lot more different because it's visual. You know, it's something you can see. It's a little bit more specific. In music, we can get lost in our imaginations as to what it all means, but when you're actually seeing what it's supposed to be, it's a bit different. And it's a bit more personal.

You know, I've put a lot of my own personal anxieties in the movie, and my own fears and things I wanted to explore. So yeah, I think it's more direct, and it's obviously a big financial risk, as well. And the idea of just making some beats after making this was real appealing to me. Because it's fuckin' hard. It's really hard to make a movie (laughs).

Undoubtedly, music is very much a fixture within this film. Can you talk about planning the sound that would sort of marry properly with all these different visuals because I know you did some of the music, and then you had some other people come in and contribute their music too.

Flying Lotus: Yeah, I knew that was going to be the most fun part of this process. I was so excited to do certain scenes just so I could make the sound design for them. I knew that it would be half the fun. Then, it was about what I could do to manipulate the sound of the dialogue or the tone and the ambience – all that stuff.

But yeah, it was really great to also just think outside of my own music and try to think of the best thing for the scene, and sometimes that requires someone else, someone who does a certain sound that I don't do. It was fun to just think about that, and not just try to make it like a music vanity project or anything like that.