Florence and the Machine, courtesy.

This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune.

She did not yet have a band or any paying gigs, but Florence Welch — whose musical experience at that point included open mic nights and tinkering with a piano in a friend’s bedroom studio — had a moniker.

“I just thought that ‘Florence Robot is a Machine’ was a cool name,” recalls Welch.

The name came from the nicknames she and her friend, Isabella “Machine” Summers, had for each other. It was later shortened to Florence and the Machine when Welch foresaw going mad with having to say the longer name over and over.

Welch said she had no idea — nor was it her goal — that her band’s concoction of gothic choral vocals, harp-picking and tribal drumming would be successful. Her debut album “Lungs” was released in July in the United Kingdom and climbed the record charts for six months before hitting No. 1 in January.

The 23-year-old flame-haired singer-songwriter has enjoyed the meteoric ride to stardom. She and her band, which includes Summers on keyboards, have won a litany of awards across the Atlantic. Her first U.S. tour, a two-week trek, concludes Saturday with a stop at Mezzanine in San Francisco.

Welch was born to a British father and an American mother, a professor of Renaissance arts in London and onetime friend of Andy Warhol. She began writing songs in school when she was in her teens.

“I would get in trouble for writing lyrics in library books,” she said. “I’ve had songs kicking around for ages.”

The early songs included the lyrics for “Kiss With Fist,” about a couple she knew who were perfect for each other, except “they were emotionally tearing each other apart.”

The song, the album’s first hit, is two minutes of kick drum-driven bluegrass with distorted guitar. In it, Welch paints a scene where lovers exchange kicks and punches and set a bed on fire.

“But I don’t think there are any victims in the song,” she said. “It’s much more ‘give as good as you get.’ “

By 21, Welch had taught herself to play the drums and the piano. She and Summers began putting music to lyrics in a bedroom studio, just for fun. But when they completed “Between Two Lungs,” an airy love song, she was convinced she could be a musician.

Welch has been compared to fellow Brit Kate Nash, but said her biggest musical influence is PJ Harvey.

“I saw her perform at a festival. She didn’t have a band, she just had three instruments on stage,” Welch said. “She just moved around these instruments and completely mesmerized me.”

Welch’s band the Machine fluctuates in size and has many times consisted of just her, a piano and a drum set on stage. She will have seven backup musicians on her American tour, including a harpist.

Björk is another career inspiration: “I like how she uses hip-hop beats on her last album (2007’s “Volta.”) I’m really obsessed with hip-hop drum beats.”

“Lungs” is a percussion-driven album. Often jubilant and euphoric, songs such as “Dog Days Are Over, ” “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” and “You’ve Got the Love” swing from indie rock to soul with gothic flourishes.

Welch might have her mother to thank for that. When she was young, her mother took her to art museums and explained the motivation and emotion of Renaissance painters.

“Maybe “… the gothic, romantic (elements) came from being taken to a lot of old churches as a child,” she said.

“Cosmic Love,” currently her favorite song on the album, was inspired by something else entirely. The dreamy mix of piano, harp and thundering drums was written in less than 30 minutes.

“That song came from nowhere “… when I had the world’s worst hangover,” she said.

The singer, who said she doesn’t yet feel like an adult, said “Lungs’” theme is morphing from a teenager into a “grown-up” and then realizing that you didn’t turn out the way you thought you would.

“Stuff happens, you make mistakes, you let yourself down,” she said. “You kind of have to build up a new picture of yourself.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.