20 Juil Interview – Florence Road : « Now I’m so proud of being Irish »

Hailing from Bray, Ireland, Florence Road is a four-piece made up of Lily Aron, Emma Brandon, Ailbhe Barry, and Hannah Kelly. They were in Paris for an exclusive pop-up show, and Jade, from Sound of Brit, had the chance to ask them a few questions.

SOB : People often talk about chemistry in bands. What do you think makes Florence Road work so well together?

Lily: I think it’s because we’ve known each other for so long — before we were bandmates we were colleagues, and friends, and we still are. That definitely helps with long travel days and stressful days like today and yesterday, which is great.

You’ve opened for the likes of Wolf Alice, Sombr, and other incredible artists. What are the biggest lessons you’ve taken away from watching artists on and off stage?

Lily: Honestly, for me it’s that kindness can go really far. You should treat everyone the same, no matter their role — even someone who’s just taking out the bins, someone you wouldn’t normally talk to. It’s really good to be kind to everyone because it goes a long way.

Especially in this industry, everyone knows each other. So if you’re rude to someone, what are you doing? You’re in the wrong place. It was lovely to see that their persona on stage was the same as backstage, talking to us. We’ve had such lovely experiences with everyone we’ve supported — we’ve been very blessed in that.

SOB : Was it difficult for you, if I can say, to fit in?

Hannah: Honestly, no. They’re very welcoming environments — there’ll be teams of 20 or 30 people, and then we just show up, and they’re like, « Hey guys. » So I think they made it very nice and easy for us.

SOB : You’ve played many festivals and supported so many different artists. I’d love to hear about your experience in Europe — what have these experiences across different countries taught you as a band?

Lily: It was really cool to see the professionalism of it — the same show every night. It reminded me of a theatre performance, the way the stage gets set up the same way, with soundcheck and everything.

It’s like a really well-oiled machine. It was cool to see a show work the same every single night on a big scale, and even when something went wrong, it always got resolved.

Hannah: It was also really cool to see the difference between countries — the crowds. Some are really serious, and then others, like in France, in Toulouse and Lille — anytime we said we were from Ireland there was a massive cheer, singing and dancing all night. It’s cool how you’re only traveling two or three hours, but the atmosphere is so different.

SOB : I was actually going to ask you about France — I don’t know if you noticed, but in France we come really early for the opening act.

Together: It’s always really nice, especially since we’ve been doing a lot of support slots, to feel that people are listening. It goes such a long way. People coming early, showing up, showing interest — it means so much to us. People go out of their way to support artists they don’t really know, which is lovely.

So I heard you’re Irish — I had no idea! I’m joking, obviously, but I feel like Ireland has something very unique, maybe because of the storytelling, the emotion, and the importance of live music there. I was wondering, in what way did growing up in Ireland shape the way you approach music?

Lily: At first it was subconscious. Now that we’re a bit older we see it more clearly as something tied to being Irish — I don’t think we were fully aware of how cool that was when we were younger. But now I’m so proud of being Irish. Whenever another Irish creative or band or artist comes up, we wish them all the best. There’s a community there, even with someone you don’t know personally — if they’re Irish, it’s like, « Yeah, you need to win, you know? » I don’t think that feeling exists in as tight-knit a way anywhere else.

Hannah: It’s such a small island — growing up you’d hear about Irish musicians and how celebrated they were. Everyone knows Bono and Enya. Irish music was just always so prevalent growing up.

SOB : After working with a lot of people, have you noticed a difference in the way people create or perform compared to Ireland?

Lily : I don’t know if I’ve really noticed. I think there’s something about music as a language — there’s a unity in it all, which is quite cool.

SOB : How do you manage to find common ground when it comes to songs and lyrics, especially when there are four completely different women with different personalities? How do you make sure that each person’s personality and identity can still be heard within every song? 

Lily: Collaboration is so important — honestly one of the coolest things in music. Sure, you could write a song on your own and it might be great, or it might not. But having little bits of all of us in the songs is really cool — it’s kind of like our children. It’s got Ailbhe’s eyes. It’s so nice that we all have our little bits in the songs.

Hannah : I think it comes naturally to us — we’re never fighting over things, it always just happens together.

SOB : Can each of you give me an example of an album, an artist, or a song that inspired you?

Hannah : We’ve been listening to The Who recently, the song Baba O’Riley that Lily and I were listening to made us want to write something just like it — the intro and everything, it’s so cool. It’s fun to look back at songs I grew up with and really listen to them from a songwriting perspective and think, « This is really cool, I want to do that. »

Emma: I feel like I can never narrow it down — there are just so many good songs. We saw Wolf Alice again in Finsbury Park when we opened for them, and they’re a constant for me — good music and an amazing live band.

SOB : To wrap things up, and to get to know you a little better, I’m going to ask some quick, short and funny questions.
Be honest : who’s the most chaotic one in the band?

All together: Hannah. 

Hannah: I’m not chaotic. I have chaotic energy, but I don’t goop.

Who’s the most likely to be late for soundcheck?

All together: Lily or Hannah.

Lily: I’d say Hannah.

Hannah: Lily, you’re late to every car ride in the morning.

Lily: No, I’m not! (laughing)

SOB : Who takes the longest to get ready before a show?

Lily: Yup. That’s me. But I’m never late — I’m just a star!

SOB : What’s the most « Irish » thing about Florence Road?

Hannah: Our passports. Or the fact that we speak Irish.

SOB : What’s each member’s biggest quirk?

Lily: Aw, I love y’all — I don’t think I’ve noticed anything annoying. We each have things we do, but they’re endearing.

Hannah: We’ve reached peak acceptance — nothing y’all could do.

SOB : And the funniest?

Lily: I can’t say — it’s all for different reasons, because I genuinely think we’re all funny.

Hannah: Different kinds of comedy — we’ve each got something good. Lily can make the whole group laugh.

SOB : What’s the funniest or craziest thing that ever happened during a show or outside a concert that you still laugh about?

Hannah: I got egged in Belfast.

Lily : Honestly, if they’re ever listening — I’m actually proud of them (the girls). It was a really good show, so it was just unfortunate timing.

Hannah : I was standing outside, a car went speeding past — egg, white t-shirt.

 

Don’t miss them at the Rock en Seine festival !