Florence and the Machine: Calls Weeknd 'A Hologram,' Wanted to Marry Billie Joe Armstrong, Loves Hip-Hop

Posted on Aug 20th 2012 12:00PM by Melody Lau
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Frazer Harrison, Getty

It might not be blatantly obvious, but Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine draws quite a bit of influence from hip-hop. Her ethereal pop-anthems are a far cry from the heavy beats and rhymes of rappers, but Welch assures us that the similarities are there.

"What really inspires me about hip-hop is the idea that you don't really need anything, you can just have one beat and vocals," Welch tells Spinner during Florence and the Machine's first visit to Canada since the release of Ceremonials. "R&B and hip-hop just boils down to what I'm obsessed with the most, which is rhythm and vocals, so of course it's heavily influenced what I do."

Among Welch's list of current favorites are A$AP Rocky, Kanye West and Jay-Z's collaboration Watch the Throne, Drake and the Weeknd; the latter two of which Welch recently covered and will be going on tour with in the future, respectively.

On deciding to cover Drake and Rihanna's hit single, "Take Care," Welch explains that she simply chose the song because she loved it.

"It's just an amazing song with all of my favorite artists," she says. "I was scared about the rapping, but I think I did okay -- I needed the words, though, but I don't need them anymore!"

And in keeping with The Weeknd figurehead Abel Tesfaye's mysterious reputation, Welch won't say much about him beyond explaining that the tour just came about organically one day during a conversation with the artist.

"I was a really big fan. We hung out and just figured it would be a nice thing to do," Welch says. "I don't want to want to burst that mysterious bubble of his, though so... I'll just say I've never actually seen him -- he's a hologram!"

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Welch also hasn't been shy of her love of punk-pop, more specifically Green Day. The singer recently covered Nimrod in its entirety and almost jumps out of her seat in excitement when talking about her childhood crush on Green Day leader Billie Joe Armstrong.

"I actually met Billie Joe and he told me that he had heard my covers and he liked it!" exclaims Welch. "That was such a huge deal to me because Dookie was the first CD I ever bought with my own money."

The excitement didn't end there, though, as Armstrong then went on to invite Welch onstage with him... but for no apparent reason.

"He just called me out, got me onstage and was like, 'This is Florence' and I was like [screams], and ran off! All of my 13-year-old dreams had come true all in that moment."

"When I was 11, I thought Billie Joe and I would get married," she says. "I even named a duck after him, on an adventure camping trip during school -- that's how rock 'n' roll I was."

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