Florence Smith | Music / Performing Arts

Kia ora! My name is Florence Smith. I live in Rotorua with my Dad, Grandad, and two brothers. My brothers and I often help Dad with his one-man chimney sweeping business, which has taught me a strong work ethic, a quality that has helped me excel in the arts. My mum is a Drama teacher, so acting and performance have always been an important part of my life. I feel at home on stage. Learning how to internalise emotion through acting has been very beneficial for me as a performing singer because I can embody the story in a song and make the audience connect with it. I started songwriting as soon as I could write well enough, and have been hooked on it ever since. My lyric journal comes with me everywhere I go. Everything I experience, I process through lyrics and melodies. Even when I decided to stop writing songs two years ago, they would come to me in waves. I have to make music; I have no choice in the matter.

I want to use my songs to uplift the community and influence the New Zealand music industry. I naturally write unique and experimental melodies, and I’ve already felt obligated to water down my music to make it more palatable for studio producers. However, it is much more enjoyable to compose what feels right rather than what the internet expects. Often, singer-songwriters are told that they need a record deal to make it big, which means that their music gets compromised by the industry. We’re then left with artists who don’t own their own music or profit from it to the extent they could. I want to do a Music Production degree so that I can be independent and promote the idea that artists can pave their own path in whatever unique way they please.