Florence Welch

Going to parties usually makes me feel depressed, just because I have such social fear after meeting people. ”

Maybe in music you're making an auditory environment and maybe you change your environment around you to suit your own way. ”

I started off singing in church as a child. The sound of voices coming together, that was my first moment of touching something outside of myself. ”

During the songs, you transcend yourself. The best way to be in the performance is to be without pause and be essentially in the moment, in that moment of expression. ”

I think I just get excited by music, and, like, singing is a very physical thing. It releases endorphins in your body. You're using almost muscle in there, and I think that adrenaline really helps to kind of make the songs fresh every time. ”

When you play, it's like you know that there are people out there who are hearing it for the first time, and I think that's really important. ”

I am obsessed with the whole Victoriana thing, the whole Jack the Ripper London era, the grayness of it, the haunted feeling of it, all ancient and bloody. ”

I get in fights with my sister all the time. She comes on the road with me and we fight - like sisters do. ”

I'm a light sleeper. I've never been one of those people who can put their head down and suddenly everything disappears. Nighttime is the time I get most scared, anxious or worried. In those darker moments before waking or sleeping is when I feel most, I don't know, I can turn on myself, and my imagination can take me dark places. ”

If you asked me to go back to being 14 or 15, I couldn't - it was a terrifying time. I was so awkward in my own skin. I used to hide behind my hair because I was so ridiculously self-conscious. ”