When it comes to the UK music scene, Florence Welch is in a league of her own. Last year saw the fiery songstress emerge from a pop landscape torched by the boozy antics of Lily, Amy, and the tabloids that fueled their fire. As Florence and The Machine, the 24-year-old Londoner’s debut record “Lungs” soared up the UK charts, turning the precocious chanteuse into a bona fide superstar. Instead of tawdry confessions about inadequate lovers, Florence’s songs are epic odes to love, death, and violence (song titles like “Kiss With a Fist” and “Girl With One Eye” are de riguer). With international stardom creeping up her ankles, Florence is doing her best to tear down preconceived notions (no, she’s not another Duffy) with a powerful live show dripping with equal parts bravado, equal parts spunk. In person, the electrifying performer gives way to a more restrained type who seems uncomfortable with fame, and avoids eye contact as though she were on an awkward first date. But as the interview progresses, Florence loosens up and her answers are more frequently punctuated with booming fits of laughter, especially when we discuss Degrassi, postmodernism, and her new best friend, Julia Roberts.
CORDUROY: Have you gotten used to doing interviews?
FLORENCE: It’s just talking to people isn’t it. But my biggest pet peeve is when someone starts the interview with “So I was reading about you on the Internet and…” and I’m like “Oh no!” (laughs).
So I was reading about you on the Internet. Just kidding. But I did read that piece your dad wrote about you in The Daily Mail. What a great piece.
It was nice. I think if someone’s going to write an article about you in The Daily Mail, I’d rather it be my dad than anyone else.
He’s actually a great writer. I was envious. Was his support early in your career important to you?
Well he’s always been my biggest critic and my biggest supporter. We didn’t have any money for our first tour and he saved the day by driving us around in his camper van.
Following MGMT’s massive tour bus.
(Laughs) Yeah. Chugging up German hills.
When did you realize that your voice was this powerful tool?
It wasn’t a moment of realization. I just always sung, and thought I had a strange voice. I was never picked to be a singer in choir or musicals, those went to older girls with those types of voices.
So I take it you were never tempted to audition for X Factor.
I can’t watch those shows. I’m terrified for those people and what they have to go through. For live television performances I’m always shitting myself. I’m so so scared. I don’t like being filmed, or when people are watching me from home. If people come to see me at a gig, it’s because they want to see me, but what scares me is the idea of beaming through the airwaves into people’s homes. It’s really scary. So I feel so scared for the people on X Factor.
Do you think these talent shows serve a purpose?
If you look at Leona Lewis, she’s obviously got a completely fantastic voice, and it’s someone’s dream isn’t it? Some people dream to be on X Factor. Just because X Factor exists, it doesn’t mean everyone else is going to stop making music. You either choose that path or you go down another one.
What was the Dizzee Rascal performance at The Brits like for you?
It was fun! Once I got down the stairs it was really fun. I was just like “I didn’t fall over! Yay!” I can see why Mariah doesn’t do stairs.
Did you enjoy collaborating with him? It’s not a pairing that comes to mind right away.
I did. He’s amazing and really funny. Such a strong personality. It was very unexpected and that’s why it worked so well.
Can we expect anymore offbeat collaborations in the future?
I’ve been listening to a lot of hip-hop recently. I really like Drake.
A native Torontonian.
I know! I was wondering if he wanted to come to the show.
Have you seen Degrassi?
What’s that?
It was a cheesy teen soap and Drake played a kid in a wheelchair.
No way! (laughs) That’s amazing!
What did you think of The XX cover of “You’ve Got The Love”?
It was great! It was beautiful. Everything they do is beautiful.
Have you spoken to them about it?
Yeah, we’re really good friends. We’ve toured so much together and we hang out a lot. I think we asked them to do the remix.
But it wasn’t even a remix technically.
It was a cover (laughs). It was very postmodern. It was a cover of a cover of a remix of a cover of cover of a remix of a cover!
Talk to me about this almost grandiose persona you adopt when you play live.
Well you have to connect with people, and make them feel like they’re part of something and inviting them in. It’s hard to describe. I feel like I’m trying to tell people something when I’m on stage, trying to get something off my chest, and be free with it as opposed to restrained. Although I would be loathe to call it grandiose. I just try to feel uninhibited because it encourages people in the audience to feel that way as well.
Is that easy for you?
Well you take a couple of whiskeys and you get there (laughs).
Why do you think people are so willing to embrace your brand of pop which is very cerebral and theatrical, and I hate to make the comparison, but reminds me in certain ways of Lady Gaga.
I like Lady Gaga. I’m a huge fan.
I think you two have a very performance art aspect to you, and was reminded of that when I saw the new video for “Dog Days Are Over.”
I love that video. I worked really closely with the directors on it and my main points were I didn’t want to look pretty, and I wanted exploding people. I got both of those! I look pretty scary. It was just about the idea of being alone and meeting characters from your imagination. Slowly it builds up and there’s a riot and people start exploding. I didn’t know what the song itself was about, whether it was happy, or sad, but it was always about relief, and you can always go wild with it.
Take me through the process of writing a song like “Dog Days”, which I think is the best song on the album.
That song was the second song I wrote that really captured the sound I wanted on the album. That’s when I was just experimenting. Nothing really fit. Us girls were in this tiny studio and we didn’t have a drum kit so we just used the walls for that first drum bit (starts banging the percussion for the song on the wall), and there was this art installation up by this artist Ugo Rondinone, who does these neon rainbow letter signs; there’s one in New York that says “Hell Yes!” At the time there was one in the South Bank that said “The Dog Days Are Over” and I used to see it when I was riding my bike, and it kind of incited the song. It’s a song that was just stitched together. It’s still hard for me sort out what it means.
Did you know right away that it was a special song?
It seemed special to me because it finally felt like the sound that I wanted. I just wanted to listen to it right when I got home. So many songs before that just didn’t fit, and all of a sudden it felt like I was doing something that made sense. This was at a time where no one wanted to sign me. There was a time when people wanted to sign me on the basis of “Kiss With a Fist” and have me make a whole album of garage rock, and I wasn’t really into that. The song has been really good to me and it got me noticed, but it never really felt true to what I wanted to do as a musician.
So when you performed it on Letterman did that feel forced?
Well it was the single we released at the time and it’s such a fun song to perform, but I think if I did a whole album like that I would’ve been bored.
Did you see the Eat, Pray Love trailer that features “Dog Days Are Over?”
I was really excited by it. Does this mean Julia Roberts and I are friends? It does, doesn’t it?! (laughs)
Did they approach you about being involved?
They showed me the trailer and I think it fit really well.
It’ll be a good platform for getting your music through to North American audiences.
Yeah it really helps. I think when songs get put to movies it’s great. So I’m excited about it. And me and Julia Roberts are friends!
- Daniel Barna
(photo by Adam Beck)
