Auntie Flo

Biography

Brian d’Souza is an award-winning DJ, music producer and live performer that is ‘taking World Music into the future’ (The Guardian) and who DJs under the alias Auntie Flo (an homage to his late Goan Auntie Florie).

Over a career spanning ten years, he’s played everywhere from Panorama Bar to Glastonbury, making his name as one of the most adventurous DJs around: performing in Cuba, Latin America, Asia, Africa and even the Arctic Circle. He has DJ’d extensively in Europe and shared stages with the biggest names in the industry, with memorable back to back sets with the likes of Bradley Zero, Axel Boman, Daniel Avery, Optimo and many more. He has featured on five Boiler Room’s and multiple times on BBC radio, with mixes and sessions for the likes of Gilles Peterson, Tom Ravenscroft and Rob Da Bank. He has held residencies at the likes of Sub Club and Plastic People.

He has released music on labels such as Brownswood, Disco Halal, Kompakt, Philomena/Innervisions, Permanent Vacation, Sofrito, Huntleys and Palmers and his own label’s Highlife and A State of Flo. He has remixed various musical legends such as Oumou Sangare and Baba Maal, and a variety of contemporary bands and artists including Sarathy Korwar, Crystal Fighters and Chvrches.

He currently runs A State of Flo records and blog, which is home to his dancefloor tracks, more experimental nature-based productions (as Brian d’Souza) and writings on music and the environment. A State of Flo will release the fourth Auntie Flo studio album ‘In My Dreams (I’m a Bird and I’m Free) in November 2024. The first single, Green City, has received praise from across the industry, with Luke Una calling it “A spine tingling spiritual balearic bomb – very special, magical, beautiful – it’s just outrageously good”.

In My Dreams is the follow up to the 2019 SAY Award (Scottish Album of The Year) winning ‘Radio Highlife’ (Brownswood 2018) album. The sold out Radio Highlife UK tour culminated in a main stage Saturday night headline set at the inaugural We Out Here Festival with the Auntie Flo live band. That year he was awarded ‘Scottish Electronic Musician of the Year’ sponsored by the Sub Club and Nordoff Robbins.

His influential Highlife party celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2020, and is widely recognised as introducing a more diverse musical palette to UK dancefloors and beyond. Inverted Audio stated it was ‘one of the most culturally exciting developments to happen to club culture in the UK…a prosperously based groundwork of music which will pave the way to come for artists in future years.’

He was selected for the ‘Momentum Artist’ award by the PRS in 2015, leading to his 2nd full length album ‘Theory of Flo’ (Huntleys + Palmers). It was commended as one of the Albums of the Year in various publications, including DJ Mag who awarded it ‘9/10’.

In 2020 he established Ambient Flo, a 24-hour radio station broadcasting ambient music as a means of combating stress caused due to the pandemic. Ambient Flo collaborated with the likes of KMRU, James Holden, Cold Cut, Gigi Masin, and many more. It received praise from the likes of The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Resident Advisor for its novel ‘Artist Profit Share’ model, with Loud & Quiet proclaiming it represented ‘a new kind of radio station’.

In 2022 he collaborated with award-winning tabla player Sarathy Korwar to release ‘Shruti Dances’. It was awarded Guardian’s Global Album of the Month and led to a tour of India and Nepal in 2023.

Festival appearances have included Glastonbury, T in the Park, MoMA PS1, Dimensions, Latitude, Montreaux Jazz, Havana World Music and many more. DJ appearances include Panorama Bar, Good Room, Trouw, Fabric, D-Edge, Corsica Studios, Le Sucre, Razzmatazz, etc. He has released a variety of DJ mixes for the likes of Resident Advisor, Dekmantel, BBC 6 Music and Beats in Space.