Auntie Flo

Brian d’Souza is an award-winning DJ, music producer and live performer who DJs under the alias Auntie Flo (an homage to his late Goan Auntie Florie). Over a career spanning ten years, he is renowned for ‘taking World Music into the future’ (The Guardian), ‘pushing boundaries’ (Phonica Records) and being ‘one of the most inventive talents of our time’ (Test Pressing) .

As a DJ, he’s played everywhere from Panorama Bar to Glastonbury, but has really made his name by seeking out-of-the-ordinary and adventurous DJ and live sets: street parties in Cuba, mountains festivals in Nepal, beaches in Goa, artist residencies in Brazil, rooftops in Kenya, New Year’s Eve celebrations in Japan and even Sun Rituals in 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 live broadcasts and multiple times on BBC radio, with notable mixes and sessions for the likes of Mary Anne Hobbs (who selected him for the ICONS Mix, broadcast to over 1 million people), Gilles Peterson, Jamz Supernova, Tom Ravenscroft and Rob Da Bank. He has held DJ residencies at the likes of Glasgow’s legendary Sub Club and London’s much-missed Plastic People.

The Auntie Flo live band brings together a host of talented musicians from around the world to perform tracks spanning five acclaimed albums worth of material. A unique global/electronic fusion, the band is equally at home closing the main stage of festivals such as Gilles Peterson’s We Out Here and India’s Magnetic Fields Nomads as sell out shows at the likes of London’s renowned Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott’s. The band’s rotating cast of talents includes Moncaya (Mexico, vocals), Ziggy Funk (UK, Guitar), Cyrus Atkinson (UK, Keys), Sarathy Korwar (India, Drums), Andre Marmot (UK, Percussion), Ambasa Mandela (Kenya, Vocals) and Mame Ndiack (Senegal, Talking Drum), all working alongside Brian on electronics, synths, drum machines and effects.

Albums include last year’s ‘Birds Of Paradise’ (no 5 in Disco Pogo’s albums of the year), 2024’s ‘In My Dreams (I’m a Bird and I’m Free)’, which included 2024 track of the year Green City, 2018’s ‘Radio Highlife’, released on Brownswood records to massive acclaim, picking up the SAY Award for Scottish Album Of The Year, and 2015’s ‘Theory Of Flo’, awarded 9/10 by DJ Magazine.

The 2024 single, ‘Green City’, was awarded ‘Track of the Year’ by taste making publications Disco Pogo and DJ History, with Luke Una calling it “A spine tingling spiritual balearic bomb - very special, magical, beautiful - it’s just outrageously good”.

He currently runs A State of Flo records and blog, which is home to his Auntie Flo productions, more experimental nature-based compositions (as Brian d’Souza/Plants Can Dance) and writings on music and the environment.

His influential Highlife party ran between 2010-2020, 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 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 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.