Anohni a débuté sa carrière en tant que le leader du groupe Antony and the Johnsons. Sa voix androgyne si particulière rappelle Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald ou Marc Halmond. En 2016, elle sort son premier album solo Hopelessness.
Née en Angleterre, elle passe son adolescence en Californie. Au début des années 90, elle a 19 ans et s’installe à New-York afin de poursuivre pendant deux ans des cours de théâtre expérimental. En parallèle, elle crée avec Johanna Constantine la troupe de cabaret Blacklips qui propose au Pyramid Club des performances avant-gardistes où participent drag queen, artistes et musiciens.
« J’ai monté ce groupe après ma dernière année de lycée, en 1992. J’étais assez évangéliste à cette époque… Nous portions des casques de barbelés, des tshirts avec des messages comme « ma bite est rongée par les vers » et nous distribuions nos flyers à Wigstock (festival drag). Johanna et moi étions vraiment du genre inclassable, parce que nous voulions faire des choses vraiment hardcore. La scène gay/drag à cette période essayait de proposer des choses assez soft, mais nous deux recherchions plutôt l’apocalypse… Je n’oublierai jamais la fois où Johanna avait écrit le mot « LARVES » sur ses seins, avec une flèche qui descendait jusque... Enfin, c’était vraiment drôle. En somme, je voulais être comme elle, elle a vraiment été celle qui m’a poussé dans cette direction. Parce qu’elle était bien plus hardcore que moi... » source : Static Magazine
Progressivement, elle s’oriente exclusivement vers la musique et monte le groupe, The Johnsons qui publie en 2000 un premier album, Antony & The Johnsons. C’est en 2005 avec l’album I’m A Bird Now qu’elle se fait connaître d’un public plus large.
Do you remember the first time you heard Antony’s voice, and/or saw him perform ? How soon after did you know you wanted to work with him ?
I was in my kitchen and a friend gave me a cd for christmas of this album that hadn´t come out yet . It wasn´t until later when i had gotten to know him a little we thought of working together . I guess me and antony have mutual friends in new york so we sort of got to know each other slowly ... He came to iceland and i showed him a bit of the country side . Then we sang together on couple of occations and ended up working on couple of sketches , 2 of them ended on the album ... It´s been a gorgeous pleasure to get to know antony , he is very very special . Incredibly generous person . I feel blessed .
When did you meet Anthony Hegarty ?
We’ve got mutual friends in New York and it slowly developed. He came here to Iceland two or three years ago and did a gig. We ended up in my cabin in the moutains, singing. I never usually do that with people, really. It was just a one-off, a mutual admiration thing. But life is pretty magic like that. You just bump into people and have a lot to give to each other without any effort whatsoever, it’s just very natural.
« Cette collaboration avec Björk m’a beaucoup apporté. C’était étonnant de l’avoir pour maître, parce que c’est ainsi qu’elle agit. Travailler avec elle en studio était un étonnement permanent, j’étais émerveillée tout le temps. Je n’arrivais pas à suivre, j’étais à 300 % de mes capacités. Je passais mon temps à m’écrier "Oh la la, regarde ça !", "Oh mon dieu, cette manière de chanter, c’est incroyable !". Peut être que ces morceaux sortiront quelque part, mais nous ne l’avons pas encore décidé. Tant qu’elle n’aura pas dit que ces enregistrements sortiront sur son disque, je ne serai pas convaincu que c’est vrai. »
Anohni à propos de Volta
We had some adventures in Jamaica. It’s an incredible and volatile place. We boated through the interior. One night Björk started swimming out to sea. I was so nervous about it. Her friend said, “Don’t worry, she does this all the time !” I marvelled at her courage and sense of abandon. She had “Dull Flame Of Desire” entirely written and the melody determined. I improvised a little. It’s not in a comfortable range for me so I had to sing either too low or really high ; it forced me to up my game ! When I stood next to Björk to sing, I saw for the first time what full commitment as a singer in the studio really is. I had always been reticent in the studio and self-conscious, but she was so brave. She did not invite her inner censor ; it was like standing next to a volcano. I couldn’t keep up, I felt like a little dog chasing a horse. Her voice is Olympic in its athleticism. It’s always daunting to sing with her
because my voice is ornamental in comparison.
On “Atom Dance” she had a basic melody and I improvised and recorded many layers, with her egging me on. It was a wild session. I was trying to give my best impulses. She’s very generous and I wanted to try to give back as much as I could. She was getting into [pitch-correction software] Melodyne and she cut it all up later and tuned it into this inhuman oracle sound. She’s an amazing producer. Her mind is that of a scientist as well as an artist.
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She is amazing at collaborating with people and inviting them to bring their best impulses to the table. She offers great freedom, and yet she always finds a way to draw the material into her universe that is inimitably her own. She exercises a rigorous freedom in her approach to life that I find utterly inspiring. She is just an extremely beautiful, strong, kind person.
Anthony Hegarty
Music for me is like fact. Totally like algebra. And he’s the total opposite, Antony. He’s kind of more esoteric and feeling his ancestors singing through him - it’s more about humans. For me, it’s not about humans. In a weird way it’s about maths and physics. Sorry," she adds, sitting back down again, "I got a bit excited."
The Guardian, April 27 2007
Anthony Hegarty
Can you remember the first time you heard Anthony And The Johnsons ? Where you were and how you did it affect you ?
I was in my kitchen in New York. Someone brought me this then unreleased album. I thought it was a black woman.
Dummy Magazine, 2007
Antony Hegarty
Working with Björk was really inspiring. It was really amazing to see like a master. She’s like a master. Working in the studio was like "wow, look at that !". I couldnt keep up. It was like 300 % to my 100 %. It was like "wow oh god, look at her sing". She’s a madcap its unbelievable. She’s just so chilling. Maybe those tracks will pop up somewhere who knows we havent really decided yet. I dont know what her record..until she says its on her record I dont know if its really true.
Lydverket 25.10.2006
Antony Hegarty
She kind of rescued me at a very exhausted moment in my life. She brought me into her creative sanctuary and it was such a relief.
Antony Hegarty
I admire Björk’s career a great deal because she isn’t beholden to others, she’s so free. Everyone listening wants to be free. Everyone wants to shout out and express themselves. We listen to a singer to bathe in the truth of her freedom.
The Word, June 2007
Antony Hegarty
How did the collaborations with Antony Hegarty on your new album come about ?
Well, we have mutual friends in New York so I sort of met him and he came to Iceland to play and I was showing him stuff and he came to a club so it was the most organic musical relationship on this album. In the end we decided, with three days notice, to go to Jamaica. It’s only a three-hour flight [from New York] and we found a cheap studio on the internet. So we were swimming in the ocean and eating fruit from the trees and singing, which is the opposite of what we as northern hemisphere, white-skin-andblack-clothes people normally do.
Were you a fan of his voice ?
Yeah I was. I didn’t pick up on it immediately, but I think he has incredible potential. I think his best stuff is yet to come and he...
