Florence and the Machine Bio
British indie group Florence and the Machine first burst on to the music scene with a fresh new sound that was both epic and emotional, blending rock and soul. Find out more in the Florence and the Machine Kidzworld Bio!
Go with the “Flo”
The band is named after lead singer Florence Welch and an inside joke she shared with her friend and original band mate Isabella when they first started making music together as teenagers.
"The name Florence and the Machine started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought 'Okay, I'll be Florence Robot/Isa Machine', before realising that name was so long it'd drive me mad."
Florence ended up keeping the name even though Isabella left the group for a while, but eventually returned as the chief keyboardist. The other members of the group are Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Chris Hayden (drums), Mark Saunders (bass guitar) and Tom Monger (harp). Florence’s mother is a professor of Renaissance Studies and her father works in advertising and was deeply involved in the arts when he was younger. Both had a lasting effect on Florence as a performer, inspiring her distinctly romantic style and sound. Florence has said that much like Renaissance artists "we're dealing with all of the same things they did: love and death, time and pain, heaven and hell".
Florence's style and sound is inspired by the Renaissance.
Lungs
Florence originally signed and recorded with the band Ashok, but feeling that they weren’t right for her she cancelled the contract and went with her gut, sticking with her original band. Florence and the Machine released their debut album Lungs in 2009. Many of the songs were inspired by a break up that Florence has just gone through with her boyfriend at the time, and the sweeping emotion of the songs quickly created buzz in the UK and spread soon afterward to the US as well. The first two singles “Kiss With a Fist” and “The Dog Days are Over” were featured in several TV shows like Gossip Girl, Glee and Community and pretty soon everyone wanted to know who Florence and the Machine were.
Ceremonials
Florence and the Machine rose to the top of the iTunes charts after performing at the 2010 MTV Music Awards and performing on talk shows like The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The David Letterman Show. After releasing a string of singles like “You’ve Got the Love”, Florence and the Machine returned to the studio to record their second album Ceremonials which was released at the end of October 2011. Florence said she wanted Ceremonials to be similar to Lungs but "more dark, more heavy, bigger drum sounds, bigger bass, but with more of a whole sound".
Florence and the Machine has garnered praise from all kinds of music critics and fans for their inventive, romantic sound the sheer power of Florence Welch’s voice.
Check out Florence and the Machine’s “Shake it Out” below!
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