Anthonie has crafted a unique style of performing to incorporate his stellar vocals, guitar and keyboards on stage. Based in Auckland, he’s considered to be one of NZ’s finest emerging talents. In his teens he was on track to becoming a history teacher until he, by chance, bought a how-to book on learning guitar chords. After teaching himself a bunch of David Bowie numbers, he started writing songs and became hooked. Starting off as a purely pop-based artist, Anthonie saw himself slowly transforming into an artist that embraced electronic elements.
Playing a show as a solo artist is radically different to the energy of playing in a band, and one of the most important elements to his show is the interactivity he has with the audience. He does this by incorporating performance art elements to, “Create this force field with the audience.” Rather than write about more insular concepts like individual relationships, Anthonie is more concerned with social observations in a larger context—all of which he does while ensuring he sets aside a regular working day of 9-5 for his songwriting. For Anthonie, getting paid to be a musician is like getting paid to breathe, and says of the business he’s in, “I think it’s a wondrous, crazy industry that by all rights shouldn’t exist and it does and that’s a miracle.”
ANTHONIE WEARS: THE 512 SLIM TAPER
"It's really good to work in different scenarios, different types of bands, different instruments, different people everyday. Same Levi’s® though. It’s good to have that constant."
@anthonietonnon