Floren MacDonald

Floren MacDonald, full name Florence Elizabeth MacDonald, is one of the two frontmen (along with Philip Burley) of the Cornish anti-folk band The Red Army. She is the lead female vocalist, as well as playing piano, trumpet, and more recently, kazoo and accordion. She is a professional, classically trained singer and pianist, and is best known for her fractious relationship with her co-frontman Philip.

Early life

She was born in Portsmouth on September 20th 1987, and moved location several times, living in Scotland, Birmingham, Cornwall and other parts of the United Kingdom before eventually ending up back in Cornwall in 2000. She attended Truro College from 2004-2006, obtaining a good grade in the International Bacheloriate.

The Red Army

The Red Army was formed on February 17th 2004, when MacDonald joined forces with Philip and Stephen Burley. At the time of writing, they have played over 200 gigs.

Musical Style And Influence
MacDonald's vocal technique, particularly recently, bears a lot of credit to anti-folk singer Regina Spektor. Her voice is often described as angelic, and her classical training is apparent in her technique. MacDonald has become much more of an evident songwriter in the past year, and although Burley still dominates the bands creative force, her expanse of new material could re-set the balance. For the moment, however, the majority of her songwriting credibility appears on co-written Burley/MacDonald tracks, particularly the critically acclaimed "Money Grabbing Scum".

Trivia

*MacDonald is noted for her enthusiasm for the work of Joanna Newsom.

*MacDonald has described herself as a philanderer.

*MacDonald claims to be unaware of punk music, despite composing anti-folk songs, a sub-genre of punk.

*MacDonald considers her mobile telephone number a hotline for musical and moral issues, and urges members of the public to ring her to "chat" about issues of all kinds.

*MacDonald's heroine and role model is Pippi Longstocking.

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See Also

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