The Florentenes on Live Energy, Touring, and What Comes Next
Image credit: Janis Law
Charged with a live energy that feels spontaneous yet tightly controlled, the Florentenes are quickly building a reputation as a band best experienced in action. The Mancunian band – fronted by lead singer Will Train Smith alongside lead guitarist Luke Holding, bassist Harry Stubbs, and drummer Liam Fiddy – certainly know how to command a crowd’s attention. I caught up with the band ahead of their set at the Key Club last Saturday to find out what really goes on behind the scenes.
How did the Florentenes first come together, and when did you realise that you wanted to pursue a career in music with each other?
We started playing music together when we were 15. As soon as I joined high school I was like: I wanna do this! I need to find people who will help me do this – and then we all came together.
As a band from Manchester, what’s the best place for a pint?
I like The Lass O’Gowrie, or the Salisbury is pretty good.
How does this tour compare to your previous ones?
All of the dates are sold out! It’s the first tour we’ve done this year, and it’s been a slow start to the year so we’ve finally got a run of gigs.
What’s your most random or memorable moment from being on tour recently?
When we played in Wolverhampton at this festival one time, we were walking up a flight of stairs and Luke tripped up them onto his arm really bad. He’s got a bad reputation for it – he trips over all the time. But one of the members of The Ks was right behind us and we all started pissing ourselves.
Which city or show has stood out the most and why?
Newcastle or Glasgow. Every gig we’ve ever done in Glasgow has been amazing. We’ve also only ever had great crowds in London.
What makes a crowd memorable for you?
An attentive crowd. Or, when you walk off stage as a support act and people shout for an encore – that happened last night. It’s nice if you’re a support act and people actually know the words to your songs, that is pretty cool. And it means that you’ve got a good gig because there’s overlapping fanbases
Your sound sits well within the indie-rock genre – which artists or scenes have shaped your music the most?
Led Zeppelin, the kind of stuff with non-conventional song structures. When we do a song, we don’t really think about what artists we want to sound like, we try and think about what specific songs we feel influenced by, including a lot of old rock and early progressive rock.
You’ve just released your new single ‘Undiscovered Colours’ – what inspired those tracks, and what makes them different from your other releases?
It’s so good because it’s a simple song with three chords. It’s influenced by ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie, ‘The Whole of the Moon’ by the Water Boys and ‘Mind Games’ by John Lennon – specific songs that all have quite long ballad-y notes to them.
For someone discovering your music for the first time, what would you want them to know? Is there a song that you would want them to listen to first?
Behind the epic music we’re just a bunch of weird brain-dead teenagers who don’t know what they’re doing. Listen to ‘The News’ or ‘Undiscovered Colours’, they’re our favourites at the minute. We’re also playing Leeds Festival. And, we have an EP coming out soon in May – expect the craziest prog-rock record you’ve ever heard in your life, every single song is a fucking banger.
@florentenes on Instagram.
Interview by Katie Hawkins, images by Janis Law.