Florence and the machine first made an impact in 2008, bursting onto the UK music scene with an electrifying performance at the new music festival SXSW. Since then Florence Welch has been on everyone’s one to watch list in 2009. Backed by her ever-changing machine of musicians, her debut album Lungs crashed into the album charts at number 2. The flame-haired South London girl gave a much talked about performance at this year’s Glastonbury festival and her album was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Album Prize. She joins Q Radio’s Danielle Perry in the studio to talk about the people who have made her who she is today.
Q: Who have been the most influential people in your life so far?
Florence: Probably my dad I think. He has always been someone who is quite a free spirit and he is my biggest critic but also my biggest supporter. My best friend as well, meeting each other but not really finding each other until we were 17 in the sixth form because no one else would talk to us! The shared love of, that’s how we got into going to squat parties and going to punk bands and hanging out with the Camberwell Art College lot, 16 year olds like, “hi!”
Q: So how did you come about meeting each other then?
Florence: We both did art A-Level and we got paired to do portraits because everyone else had paired up and we were the only 2 people who no one wanted to be with! So we got put together and I drew her face and she drew mine and I looked quite severe in mine but she’s got these really beautiful girly features and big pillow lips so hers is all really beautiful and then mine was angry face!
Q: Did you know when you first met her that you would be friends for a long time?
Florence: We were bored at school and both interested in weird cinema and dressing up. We were really obsessed with Withnail and I and Party Monster, and started drinking my mum’s wedding port in front of Withnail and I trying to do that game where you have to drink everything. She’s held my hair back; it’s that kind of love!
Q: Is there anything that she’s brought into your life that you didn’t have before you met her?
Florence: I think she’s always had really amazing taste in music. I was always on the outskirts of some crowds. But then having a friend, [a] soul mate, I’d never had that before.
Q: So if there was one song that you could pick that reminded you of her what might that be?
Florence: Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart”. They used to do this night [at Camberwell Art College] and one of them was called Ride ‘Em & Booze. They would play things like Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Joy Division. Sophie was so obsessed with this song but also so wasted at one point that she went up to this boy who we were obsessed with, and he was DJing and the song was already playing but she kept insisting that he play it!
Q: You’ve said previously that one of your earliest memories is standing on top of your Dad’s trunk that was filled with vinyl, is that the case?
Florence: Yeah. He’s got a really amazing collection of vinyl. When I go and stay with him we go through it. I do remember dancing to the Rolling Stones in my school uniform on top of that wooden box. When I first got into Pulp it was something I could identify with, this is what I believe in! And I remember him coming into my room and I was sat there listening to some early Green Day and him being like, “you should listen to the Ramones mate!”
Q: Do you go to him with new songs that you’ve penned to see his reaction?
Florence: Yes, because I think in some way I’m probably still trying to please my dad. He does this impression of me song writing where he pretends to be me trying to stamp out a tune, “well you try and find a nice tune and then stamp it out!” But he is very positive and it’s nice to know because when he really does like something you know it’s for real.
Q: Your mother is an art history professor so obviously there’s a lot of art in the family as well, can you describe to me your earliest memory of you and your mum together?
Florence: She’s really good at skipping! I remember her in a bright pink, ‘80s power suit skipping in the garden. I was always being astounded at her jump rope skills! My mum, she was always who I would go and talk to, she’s a very rational person which is good for me because I have a tendency to be slightly irrational.
Q: So do you see her as the anchor of the family?
Florence: Completely, she’s like a superwoman. I’m so in awe of her, she’s really successful in her field. Then [she] comes home and I’ve got a really massive family and she’ll cook a massive meal and we all sit down. I’m always amazed.
Q: Your parents split up when you were 13, is that right?
Florence: Yeah I think so; I’m always quite bad at times and dates. But when I was 13 and we moved a couple of doors down. We all moved into one house and he had 3 kids as well, but we’d all grown up together so it was a bit weird.
Q: So suddenly your family almost doubled didn’t it in size, how did you find that change?
Florence: It was horrible at the time, it was really upsetting. We were all crammed into the same size house that we used to live in but there was kids coming out of cupboards! It was so chaotic and we were all at each others throats. I was sharing a room with my little sister and she was 10 and I was 13, just started a new school. It wasn’t great then but I think my mum had a vision! Out of sheer determination she just said it’s going to work. Now we all get along really well and I’m really happy about having a big family and it’s really nice that we’re all so similarly aged.
Q: Do you like chaos or do you need solitude?
Florence: I really don’t like chaos. I think I’m quite chaotic internally so externally…If you looked in my room you’d probably think it was chaotic but I know, it’s not messy, everything is placed in a certain way. There’s loads of stuff though so maybe that is chaotic.
Q: Who’s the person that balances you out in your life then?
Florence: Definitely my little sister, which is strange. She’s my little sister but throughout her whole life she’s taken care of me and talked me down on several occasions from whatever manic tangent I was going on! She’s quite glad that now I have other people to talk to about stuff! I think she is really proud of me which is nice. She’s one of the greatest people ever created, we’re so close, I absolutely love her.
Q: What made you choose to go to Camberwell Art College and study illustration?
Florence: I was just lazy - I live in Camberwell! Towards the end of school, I really loved English and Art, I was either going to study English Literature or see if I could get in to Camberwell Art College and I did!
Q: How did you get your big break and meet Mairead Nash, your manager and co-founder of Queens Of Noize?
Florence: I think it was a major fluke just that I bumped into Mairead. I had done stuff at squat parties they’d let me sing late at night into a microphone, but I’d never really had the confidence to do anything just by myself. I felt that I needed a band to back me, I didn’t think that I could just stand up and be me. It wasn’t until I took that chance and just tried it out, I sang to Mairead and she said, “you can play.” I didn’t have a band, I didn’t have anything. I had an hour to practice with my friend who’s a guitarist then did this gig and that was the moment when I just thought this feels like people are paying attention. It was a half empty room somewhere in Soho but it felt like something was happening.
Q: How has she impacted on your life as a person?
Florence: She’s amazing. She’s just a force of nature. It’s just an amazing coincidence that we met and we’re so lucky and we’ve done this whole thing together. She’d never managed anyone and I’d never been managed and we were both just chancing it but it seems to have worked!
Q: What are your dreams for your musical career?
Florence: I think I’d just like to be happy and keep on making music but be able to still keep my feet on the ground. Be happy, in some ways just carry on living my life.
Q: How do you go about writing your songs?
Florence: It’s very much an instinctive process! Mainly to do with enthusiasm and what feels good. If I hit a chord and I’m like (gasps), it will be like, “That sounds good! Go with that!” That’s how “Cosmic Love” happened, but that was with the worst hangover I’ve ever had!
Q: It’s been documented that you don’t particularly like talking about your boyfriend much, is it something you need to keep separate?
Florence: It’s just more for his sake. He’s a far more private person I think than I am, so it would be rude of me to speak about him.
Q: How important is your relationship with the audience?
Florence: I think it’s really important. The songs are so much about me wanting to explain how I feel rather than my opinion and trying to get across emotion. I think that if you can touch people, somehow if they can feel how I feel through music then it’s like a shared experience. It’s really important.
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