Antony And The Johnsons - The angel's blue ecstasy

In a national exclusive for OndaRock and Il Fatto Quotidiano, Antony Hegarty opens up.

It's surprising to find him here in Sanremo, Antony, who welcomes me at six in the evening in his hotel room. He had arrived from New York only a few hours earlier. Wrapped in a pitch-black tunic that covers his entire body, he sits shyly on the sofa, legs crossed and drawn in close to him. Given the situation, I betray a mix of shyness and apprehension. As the minutes pass, though, the atmosphere loosens up and Antony opens up.

Here is the interview he granted us; thanks go to Spin-Go and especially to Micro for their patience and complete availability.

It seems you've recently developed a real rapport with symphony orchestras — I immediately think of your recent performances with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Sanremo Festival is also famous worldwide for the importance of the orchestral arrangement that accompanies each competing song, giving them a distinctive and recognizable character. Is there a connection between your recent forays into the classical symphonic world and your current presence at the Festival?

Actually, I was invited to this festival to sing one song, and it's obviously an honor for me to be here. It's also, of course, a fantastic opportunity to share my music.

I've now been touring and performing with orchestras all over the world for three years. It's one of the things I love doing most. Every evening you connect with different people, and on stage with them you have to find a feeling, an attunement, a synchrony. The best concerts are the ones where all that shared feeling comes together as one.

Why did you choose "You Are My Sister" for your performance?

I chose "You're My Sister" because it's a very simple song, it's about my relationship — made of love and respect — with my late sister. It honors women, and it's a kind of summary of everything I've done, holding within it what I hold most dear.

What has stayed with you from what you learned at the School for The Performing Arts in San José? How useful has that training been to your music?

It was hugely important, it made me who I am, open to new worlds. Starting with exploring my own body, with understanding that there's no difference between matter and thought. It's all one thing, and that's my nature, made up of opposites that nonetheless coexist.

My soul is the result of all this, and what matters to me is finding a constant balance. Over the last fifteen years I've gradually become more "extreme"; the physical and psychic worlds interpenetrate.

So it was fundamental to your spiritual growth?

Yes, for me it's hugely important to seek out the connection between things, that certain something that links emotions and mind. I don't think I could make music without that empathy. I was born into a Catholic family and so raised with a Catholic upbringing. But then things changed and I realized my mind was in a cage.

As a boy I was completely split between body and mind. After all, I was raised in a Catholic context, so it was inevitable that this would happen. Then, during my studies at the School for The Performing Arts, I discovered dance.

Dance?

Yes, I know it might sound strange, but it really was the missing link toward that sense of unity I was talking about. It let me understand my body, it created the connection that made me realize I was alive and vital. And that I could express myself.

What's your relationship with the Church? What do you think of the "outgoing" Pope?

The problem isn't that there was one like him, but that there will be another one no different. These are figures with great power who don't use it, who propose ways of life and thought that have nothing to do with conduct that actually helps people.

I'm referring to Africa dying of hunger, to the issue of homophobia. They perpetuate silence on issues that shouldn't be silenced. My judgment of them is that they're nothing more than disgusting old men.

Your voice is so unique and distinctive that one sometimes wonders whether it should almost be preserved. Lately you've done a lot of collaborations with all kinds of different artists — aren't you afraid this might in some way water down your voice?

David Tibet is one of my best friends, and being that is a responsibility for me. So many artists, and I'm honored by this, have publicly shown appreciation for me. Him, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson — it's something that fills my heart. Their freedom speaks for itself.

When I work with someone, I only do it if I know there's a special bond, something that unites us and that we share. I don't feel overwhelmed by collaborations in that sense, since I only "grant" them to people I truly believe in.

I was struck by the result of the "symphonic" rearrangement of your songs on "Cut The World", since they sound sparer and more focused on your voice than the studio versions. Does the choice to release a live album reflect a need for a change of direction in your music?

I have no plans. I'll keep playing and keep working in the visual arts. A new album? I honestly don't know — when it comes, I'll release it. I don't feel any kind of pressure, I never have and I never want to.

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