Antony and the Johnsons

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Antony and the Johnsons


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Genre = Chamber pop
Dark Cabaret
Years_active = 1998 - present
Label = Secretly Canadian
Rough Trade
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URL = [http://www.antonyandthejohnsons.com/ www.antonyandthejohnsons.com]
Current_members = Antony Hegarty (vocals)

Julia Kent (cello)

Parker Kindred (drums)
Jeff Langston (bass)
Doug Wieselman (horns)
Maxim Moston (violin, arrangement)
Rob Moose (guitar, violin)

Past_members =

Antony and the Johnsons is a Mercury Prize-winning music act from New York City. The band is essentially a vehicle for singer Antony Hegarty.

Career

Their early live shows were often opened by Dr. Julia Yasuda, an intersex person, who performed the welcome in Morse code.

One theme explored in the band's music is aspects of transgender life. This is expressed in songs such as "For Today I am a Boy", in which a young boy dreams of growing up to be a woman. This song is featured in the 2007 documentary "Red Without Blue".

British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his "Durtro" label. The debut album, "Antony and the Johnsons", was released in 2000. In 2001, Antony released a short follow-up EP, "I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy", which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of "Mysteries of Love", a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and "Soft Black Stars", a cover of a Current 93 song.

Producer Hal Willner heard the EP and played it to Lou Reed, who immediately recruited him for his project "The Raven". Now gaining more attention, Antony signed to US-based record label Secretly Canadian, and released another EP, "The Lake", with Lou Reed guest-performing on one of the tracks. Secretly Canadian also re-released Antony's debut album in the United States to wider distribution in 2004.

Antony's second full-length album, 2005's "I am a Bird Now", was greeted with positive reviews and significantly more mainstream attention, winning the Mercury Music Prize for the best album of 2005. Rival Mercury nominees, and favorites for the prize, the Kaiser Chiefs suggested that Antony got in on a technicality; despite the fact he was born in the United Kingdom he spent much of his time in the US - although they later apologized for the suggestion that he wasn't a deserving winner.

He appeared as a prison inmate, performing an acoustic version of the song "The Rapture" in Steve Buscemi's movie "Animal Factory". He also made an appearance in the Sebastian Lifshitz movie "Wild Side" performing the song "I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy". In the Wachowski brothers' screen adaptation of "V for Vendetta", the main characters dance to Antony's "Bird Gerhl" from "I am a Bird Now" as it plays on V's illicit Wurlitzer.

In November 2006 Antony and the Johnsons performed a successful European tour of 'Turning', a multimedia collaboration with video producer Charles Atlas, which focused on themes of transformation and metamorphosis: [http://artipedia.org/artsnews/exhibitions/2007/01/24/antony-and-the-johnsons-with-charles-atlas-european-tour-of-turning/] .

Antony gave a break-out performance in the 2006 concert documentary, "", a star-studded tribute to Leonard Cohen that was later released on DVD along with an accompanying soundtrack. Antony's interpretation of "If it Be Your Will" was considered one of the highlights of the show.

The 5-song Another World EP was released on October 7, 2008. Antony and the Johnsons' third album, "The Crying Light", is anticipated on January 21, 2009 [http://www.antonyandthejohnsons.com/news/news.html] . Additional details have yet to be made known, but Antony has described the theme of the album as being "about landscape and the future". [ [http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=121&csid2=844&fid1=31459/ Exclaim! News: New Antony and the Johnsons Album out in September] ]

Band members

Current members include:
* Julia Kent (previously of Rasputina) - first chair cello
* Parker Kindred - drummer
* Jeff Langston - bassist
* Doug Wieselman - horns
* Maxim Moston - violin, arrangement
* Rob Moose - guitar, violin

Discography

Albums

* "Antony and the Johnsons" (Durtro, 2000; Secretly Canadian 2004)
* "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian, February 2005) #5 UK
* "The Crying Light" (Secretly Canadian, 2009)

EPs and singles

* "I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy" (Durtro, January 2001; reissued on Rebis Music, 2006)
* "Calling for Vanished Faces/Virgin Mary" 7" (Durtro, May 2003) (Split single with Current 93; Limited to 500 copies)
* "The Lake" (Secretly Canadian, November 2004)
* "Hope There's Someone" (Secretly Canadian, June 2004) #44 UK (charted in 2005)
* "You Are My Sister" (Rough Trade, November 2005) #39 UK
* "Another World EP" (October 7, 2008)

Live albums

* "Live at St. Olave's" (Durtro, May 2003)

References

External links

* [http://www.antonyandthejohnsons.com/ Antony and the Johnsons]
* [http://www.secretlycanadian.com/artist.php?name=antony Secretly Canadian artist page]
* [http://onlyangels.free.fr/treasures/antony.htm The Voice of the new century]