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The First Time with Florence Welch

Florence Welch shares her musical milestones with Matt Everitt in a programme first broadcast in 2015

Florence Welch shares her musical milestones with Matt Everitt in a programme first broadcast in 2015

As the voice of and songwriter behind Florence & the Machine, she emerged from the grimy East London indie scene to become a full-blown international superstar with the release of her debut album Lungs in 2009 and its follow-up Ceremonials in 2011.

She remembers a fascination for the music of Disney's The Little Mermaid and how singing in church helped shape her musical tastes. She explains how fantasy and religious imagery inspired her creativity, as well as her obsessions with Eminem, Green Day, Nick Cave and the Corrs. She recalls the first Florence & the Machine appearance at Glastonbury ("I woke up in someone else's clothes"), how she dealt with three years of non-stop touring and the huge success that followed ("It's almost like I couldn't process it while it was happening") and the pressures and expectations that surrounded the recording of her third album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.

Available now

28 minutes

Music Played

  • Florence + The Machine

    Drumming Song

    • Island Records.
  • Eminem

    My Name Is

  • Green Day

    When I Come Around

    • Reprise.
  • Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

    Jubilee Street

    • Bad Seed Ltd.
  • Florence + The Machine

    My Boy Builds Coffins

  • Florence + The Machine

    Kiss With A Fist

    • CD SINGLE.
    • MOSHI MOSHI.
    • 1.
  • Florence + The Machine

    Dog Days Are Over

  • Neil Young

    Southern Man

    • After The Gold Rush.
    • Reprise.
    • 4.
  • 叠箩枚谤办

    Unravel

  • Father John Misty

    The Ideal Husband

    • Bella Union.
  • The Chemical Brothers

    Dig Your Own Hole

    • VIRGIN.
  • Florence + The Machine

    The End Of Love

Broadcasts

  • Sun 29 Mar 2015 13:00
  • Thu 1 Feb 2018 01:00
  • Fri 5 Jun 2020 01:00
  • Tue 13 Apr 2021 00:00
  • Thu 5 May 2022 02:00
  • Tue 15 Nov 2022 00:00