Digging with Flo

Flo is off the plot today and in the garden of British cultural icon, Bez. Bez found fame as the exuberant dancer/maraca player for the legendary Madchester band Happy Mondays. Since his days at the centre of the Hacienda club scene, he’s become something of a national treasure - going on to win Celebrity Big Brother and is now a regular on Celebrity Googlebox. 

On Bez’s patch, the pair plant out brassicas (kale and broccol...

Flo is in the greenhouse today with Clairo, an American musician whose music encompasses elements of  lo-fi pop, soul and introspective folk. She grew up on the internet, with her viral hit Pretty Girl landing on YouTube in 2017. Three albums later, Clairo’s work feels like it’s maturing with her, but still maintains the raw intimacy and emotional clarity that her growing fanbase know her for. 

In the greenhouse, Flo a...

Flo is off the plot today and in the London garden of English musician, filmmaker, painter and feminist icon, Gina Birch.

Gina’s career spans the late 1970s and 80s when, alongside Ana De Silva, she formed The Raincoats. Through the 80s and 90s she continued to make music with Red Crayola and toured with Nirvana, as well as making music videos for the likes of New Order. Constantly evolving, her more contemporary work is in pain...

Flo is back on the allotment for another dig with pop star (and fellow NTS host) Olivia Dean. 

Olivia Dean is a British singer-songwriter, celebrated for her soulful blend of neo-soul, pop and jazz. Though she has many talents, it turns out digging isn’t one of them - but what she lacks in technical skill she makes up for with enthusiasm.

As they plants out some butternut squash, Olivia & Flo discuss song writing in...

If anyone can make weeding (a mundane but necessary part of allotment life) exciting, it’s Detroit party starters, HiTech. 

HiTech are a Detroit-based trio redefining the sound and spirit of the city. King Milo, Milf Melly, and 47Chops fuse ghettotech, footwork, techno, and hip-hop into a high-octane, genre-blurring style that’s both futuristic and deeply rooted in Detroit’s musical DNA. Their live sets, where they turn dan...

We’re back on the plot for another bumper crop of Digging interviews. 

Today Flo is joined on the allotment by Laraaji: meaning "beautiful divine sun being," Laraaji is a fitting guest for this episode, which is infused with both the warmth of London sunshine and Laraaji’s divine positivity.

Born Edward Larry Gordon in Philadelphia in 1943, Laraaji is a pioneering American musician, composer, and mystic, widely recognize...

This is the last episode of Digging for a while, and we’re celebrating with the queen of vegetables… potatoes! Flo is joined by CMAT for her favourite job on the allotment. CMAT is a fast rising singer songwriter from Ireland who has been tirelessly touring Europe and North America with her incredible live show for years now. She’s just been nominated for the Mercury Prize, adding that to her list along with Ivor Novello and Brit n...

Flo’s joined today by the godfather of Memphis rap, DJ Spanish Fly. Fly is celebrated for his influential role in the early sound of Southern hip-hop, and known for his lo fi, distortion heavy musical style. In this conversation with Flo he recalls his childhood in the church, his arrival in Memphis as a country boy from rural Illinois and his role in the development of bucking, a dance style which emerged from his DJ sets at Club ...

Off the allotment and into a city garden today with musician and composer Rufus Wainwright. Rufus joined Flo fresh from a run of shows and special events, including the performance of his Dream Requiem in Paris, performed by Anna Prohaska, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France, and narrated by Meryl Streep.  

In this episode of Digging, Flo and Rufus - with the assistance of Siegfried the dog - plant out tomatoes....

Back on the allotment today with Lias Saoudi, best known as the frontman of the heavily mythologised South London band Fat White Family. For the uninitiated, FWF are a controversial band born out of a Peckham squat in 2011: they became known initially for their riotous, electric live shows, as well as their unapologetic attitudes - depending on who you talk to, FWF are post punk heroes or “horrible little scrotes”.

Now in 2024,...

Off the plot today and into the Suffolk garden of writer, critic and lifelong gardener Olivia Laing. Laing's diverse career began with their involvement in road protests in the 1980s & 1990s where they lived completely off grid: this led to training as a herbalist, before moving into the literary world. As the deputy books editor of The Observer they wrote extensively on arts and culture, before authoring award winning auto-fic...

Today on the plot Flo’s joined by multidisciplinary artist and musician Duval Timothy. Duval’s work blends his musical and cultural influences with the piano at the centre of his practice. His work spans food, painting, sculpture, textiles and more. Recent collaborators include fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner and rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Flo and Duval talk about fatherhood, Lewisham’s Mr Pink, Duval’s commitment to the colour ...

This week Flo is joined by artist, activist and founder of Sports Banger, Jonny Banger. Jonny has taken the art of the bootleg and used it to deliver searing take downs of the status quo: his work is subversive and accessible, and encompasses themes of pop culture, politics and fashion, all undercut by a spirit of rave. 

In this episode Flo and Jonny talk about Jonny's long standing connection to pigeons, the KLF and the bu...

Flo and her guests are back on the allotment for the summer. In this first episode she’s joined by NYC based Molly Lewis, who is probably the world’s most famous whistler. 

In this episode of Digging, Flo and Molly will be planting potatoes whilst chatting about cane toads, the weird and wonderful world of competitive whistling - and Flo gets a whistling lesson. 

Presenter - Flo Dill, Producer - Lizzy King, Editing ...

This week, in the final episode of Digging Season 2, Flo is with fellow NTS host Shy One.

Shy is a producer and DJ who started aged 13 making grime instrumentals for this emerging London scene. Now a celebrated DJ and musician, she’s played in clubs and festivals across the world, and is loved for her musically deep, eclectic sets.

In this episode Flo and Shy One plant out tiny baby leeks and discuss their very different exp...

Not only are we off the plot today, we aren’t really gardening either. In this special edition of Digging, Flo is spending time with Penny Rimbaud in his garden. Penny is a founding member of the anarcho-punk band Crass and performance group EXIT, as well as a poet, writer and philosopher. In this episode Penny gives Flo a tour of the garden and ‘sheds’ at Dial House, the radical open house he established in the 1960s. They discuss...

We’re back on the plot today with Slauson Malone 1, formerly Slauson Malone, also known as Jasper Marsalis. Jasper is a painter, sculptor and musician who currently lives in Los Angeles. His work in music feels like a form of collage; of narratives, sounds and references.

In this episode Flo and Jasper are appealing to Jasper’s perfectionist qualities and planting out garlic. They discuss the music that Jasper is currently fake ...

Today Flo’s off the plot and into the garden of English musician Tirzah. One of the most enduring exponents of weird and wonderful music, Tirzah has released a string of acclaimed albums, and works in close collaboration with other musicians, namely school friend Mica Levi. 

In this episode Flo and Tirzah are planting onion seeds and broad beans into seed trays to be grown inside, until they’re ready to be planted out o...

Today’s guest digger is rising UK rapper Sainté: originally from Leicester, this charismatic artist is an accidental musician: forced to rethink his promising basketball career due to the pandemic, he uploaded a song born out of a freestyle on the bus on the way to practice, and the internet did the rest. 

In this episode Flo and Sainté plant out raspberry canes as they discuss Sainté’s career so far, his aspirations of ope...