Florence Black guitarist and frontman Tristan Thomas checks in as the latest breakout band from Wales undertake their biggest headlining tour so far, in support of latest album Bed Of Nails, the follow-up to 2021’s Weight Of The World.
How did you come to form the band, with bassist Jordan Evans and drummer Perry Davies?
Perry and I met at infant school and started playing music together in covers bands, but it really all began when we found Jordan. It’s taken a while, but we’re finally making some movement.
Who is, or was, Florence Black?
She was a woman from a village called Aberfan, where the disaster happened [in 1996 a colliery spoil tip collapsed, killing 116 children and 28 adults]. She used to ride around on her bike carrying coal. My dad told me about her story when we were looking for names, and we all liked it.
Has the name caused some confusion?
Maybe a little. Some people expect us to be a woman and instead they get three greasy boys playing rock music, but we still think it’s cool.
On your album there’s some serious wallop behind Don’t Hold Me Down and Bed Of Nails, but Warning Sign and The Forest bring fragility, and your vocals are a mix of clean singing and some that fall short of actual growls. It’s all about light and shade.
Yeah, I like to hear a lot of different things on an album. My taste in music ranges from heavy metal to country, pop and R&B. I try to mix in a bit of everything.
So who were the band’s earliest musical heroes?
I started with the classics – Peter Green and Zeppelin – and during my teens I moved on to heavier stuff. But my mum used to play Shania Twain as she cleaned the house, and sometimes I’d turn around and say: “That’s quite good, actually” [laughs].
Few bands can claim to have racked up more than a million streams on Spotify before even releasing a record, which Florence Black achieved.
We had a big push on Spotify during lockdown. Bird On A Chain hit six million streams.
You’ve also had two wins on Tracks Of The Week at the Classic Rock website, with Look Up and Sun And Moon.
It all helps. That’s right. Lot of people say they were fans of other bands and discovered us that way.
Didn’t you receive a personal request to open for Corey Taylor in Paris?
That was surreal. Back in 2017 we were working for Deep Purple as crew members, when we received an email from his management inviting us to play with Corey at the Bataclan. That was mind-blowing.
Benji Webbe from Skindred sang on a track of yours, and joined you on stage at Maid Of Stone.
Benji is awesome. He sang on Gunshot, which brought us a lot of attention at the time [in 2019]. He’s a big icon in the rock scene, especially now, and whenever we have a question we ask him and he replies straight away. He’s always up for giving us a hand.
You’ve toured with Steel Panther, who are a bit of a Marmite band. Where do you stand on their authenticity, or otherwise?
I’ve loved Steel Panther for years, though some people don’t get it. Touring with them was crazy, because all of their fans are girls. Some would get up on stage with their tops off.
Why do you think so much good music comes out of Wales these days?
I don’t know, but since Those Damn Crows and Scarlet Rebels, people take the place more seriously. Wales is running the show at the minute.
Florence Black's eight-date run ends in Cardiff on February 10. Dates and Tickets.
