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Florence And The Machine: The Weird Wonderful Wacky World Of Florence Welch

2009 may have seen an uprising of the quirky “chanteuse” in both the charts and on the live scene, but no one stands out from an electro-tinged crowd quite like Florence and the Machine.

2009 may have seen an uprising of the quirky 'chanteuse' in both the charts and on the live scene, but no one stands out from an electro-tinged crowd quite like Florence and the Machine. Lyrically imaginative and literally ‘up’ her tree, Florence invited DIY for a fairytale cup of tea in her wonderfully wacky world of forests, flappers and fists.

Hi Florence! We’re speaking to you fresh from seeing you perform at Radio 1’s One Big Weekend in Swindon last week. How was that experience for you?
It was quite a nerve-wracking experience because I hadn’t played the new stuff on the record before, except once at a club gig. We rehearsed as much as we possibly could but there’s still a lot we need to work on. It was fun, but it was strange to not have played for ages because of recording and to then go from that to playing live in front of 6000 people. I introduced the new stuff by saying a bit about it and telling the crowd, 'This is a new song… hope you like it' instead of just barraging them with lots of stuff. It seemed to go down pretty well!

You played your new song 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)', which is currently on the Radio 1 Upfront-list. Can you tell us a bit about what the song is about? It’s a reference to ‘sacrifice’, isn’t it?
Yes, I tried to make it a light-hearted song, but the lyrics became really dark. Originally I wanted the song to be called 'Offering' because I was thinking of offering of a heart or a sacrifice. At the time I felt under quite a lot of pressure toward the end of the album and I had wanted to make an upbeat song, but obviously it became about the premise of ‘What are you actually giving up?’ or if it’s not a ‘give’, ‘What is it actually taking away from you?’

I like the light-dark contrast of the music to the lyrics.
It’s like gospel!

You can tell by the power of your voice. When you sing 'Raise It Up', it’s a bit 'Sister Act'!
Oh my God – I love that film! It’s because there’s a Church near where I live and I’d always walk past it on a Sunday. I’ve always loved Gospel music and choir music. I was in a choir. But then I also listen to things like Lacrimosa [dies illa] by Mozart [from the ‘Requiem Mass in D minor’] and it’s the most epic, beautiful piece of music. Gospel and classical music have always had an effect on the kind of music I make.

With songs like 'Rabbit Heart' and 'Dog Days Are Over' on the album (the latter which has a video with you running through a forest), is there somewhat of a ‘feral’ girl in you?
I think I am slightly feral. Any chance and I’m up a tree. It’s terrible! I should grow up! But running around on the grass or going up a tree is where I’m happiest. I was also raised by wolves.

That explains it! Your songwriting comes across as almost fairytale-like. Each one of your songs seems to tell a little story – like 'Kiss With A Fist' and 'My Boy Builds Coffins'. How much of your writing is inspired by real-life characters and situations and how much is your imagination?
It’s half and half really. Real-life sparks off your imagination, like your relationships and also what you’re feeling. 'My Boy Builds Coffins' is about when my first boyfriend was in band and he had to build a coffin for the cover of his EP, so he actually was building a coffin! I think I was 16 and I wanted to go to the cinema and he said, 'I can’t. I’m building a coffin!' And then I started to think about it, and imagine it, and it’s actually quite depressing to think that you put all this love and care into something like a coffin, and then, it’s quite sad, because it ultimately gets lowered into the ground.

What about 'Kiss With A Fist'?
That was not inspired by my own life because I’ve never been in a violent relationship nor have I been around violence in a relationship. But it’s an observation about other people I know whose relationships seem to be run by anger. It’s like what they get off on and what seems to hold them together is how angry they get at each other. And it’s about the woman giving as good as the guy! It’s quite playful in a way.

Yes, it’s that whole light-dark contrast again. You’ve said elsewhere that 'Kiss With A Fist' is a bit of an anomaly on your new album, 'Lungs'. How would you describe the album’s sound as a whole then?
It’s more along the lines of 'Dog Days'. It’s like being in a room with a keyboard and banging my head against the wall to make drum sounds- and really tribal drum sounds. I can’t play guitar, so I don’t think I was ever going to make a guitar-based album. I play a lot of instruments very badly – piano, drums, etc - but not guitar!

The song I really enjoyed when I saw you live was 'Cosmic Love' for its elaborate arrangements – like the use of the harp and your vocal projection. How did your producers [Paul Epworth and James Ford] help create this huge sound in the studio?
It was like 'Dog Days' really. I did it with a Yamaha and my friend had some shitty effects. I was the most hungover I’ve ever been- lying on the floor of the studio trying to create a weird sort of piano opus. It was so complicated and rubbish, but I found these two notes [she sings them – 'ba-bum', 'ba-bum'] and then within half an hour, I did the whole song. Like the first line 'A Falling Star…' and it all just fell out of my mouth. I’ve never written a song so quickly, apart from maybe 'Kiss With A Fist'. When it came to Paul, he was trying to create a big sound around it. I really like the sound of recording on quite shitty microphones and bad computers, but sometimes it can get quite claustrophobic, so I was really looking for some air with the music and to make it sound like you were going into space! We used quite a lot of electronics and lots of weird vocals, and put some firework samples at the end. It’s an organic song, but done with a lot of electronic atmosphere. It’s got a lot of spark to it and electricity, and I think that’s what that song should have – an electric feel!

Are you quoting MGMT at us? We know you toured with them, so something’s rubbed off!
Oh my God! I just said 'Electric Feel' didn’t I?! That was amazing. I played with them at South By Southwest 2008 and then they asked me to go on tour with them. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Touring in a campervan driven by my dad as well! We couldn’t afford it, so we just went round Europe in his van. My dad’s a pretty cool dude.

I don’t know if it was intentional, but I see the album title ‘Lungs’ as a reference to your huge pipes. How did you develop your 'big' style of singing?
I listen to a lot of soul. I’d sing Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield and the whole of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. I had singing lessons and I was trying to sing like a how a blues singer would, but my teacher said 'We’re going to do the 'Arias'', so that’s where the gospel and the classical elements came together. I was also taught to sing in French and in Italian, and the 'operatics', but then at the end of every lesson, she’d let me sing a song that I wanted, so I’d sing things like Whitney’s 'I Will Always Love You' and I was also singing Nina Simone’s 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' [DIY is treated to an impromptu chorus].

You say that you have 'musical tourettes', as we can see now… What do you like to do when you’re not singing?
Drawing, dancing, walking – I’m a big walker. Climbing. Reading – I’m such a bookworm. I like to go and hang out in bookshops.

When I do, I like to sit on the floor with a pile of books.
Me too! [Laughs] I’m either outdoors or indoors with my head in a book!

Singing aside, you’re also praised for your eccentricity on stage – from your outfits to your manic drum banging. From who or where do you draw inspiration for your performances?
I look to disco or 1920s flapper/1960s go-go dancer/covered in gold leaf art installation.

Yes, I heard you once wore a dress made of gold metal on stage! How does that even work?
It was like a big gold chain. I tried to crowdsurf to catastrophic effect!

You should watch that – you’ll hurt someone and get sued!
I know right! I’m off to Germany now… they better watch out.

Have a wonderful journey. Finally, on the subject of ‘trips’, can you tell us what is the one machine in the world that Florence of 'Machine' fame would never leave behind?
The Dream Machine.

Florence and the Machine goes on a short UK tour from 22nd May and releases ‘Rabbit Heart Raise It Up’ on 22nd June.