No leaving love out of Womad
Whanganui musician Anthonie Tonnon, whose accolades include the Taite Music Prize, is one of the headliners for Womad New Plymouth.
From Marion Bates Realty – a sly commentary on the housing crisis – to his Wicked Game cover, Tonnon is a dynamic artist. His latest album, Leave Love Out Of This, reflects on transport, the environment and relationships.
What makes Womad a special event?
It’s a festival with mana, loyalty and hard-won experience, taking place in a treasured site. I performed at the lineup announcement and even that was an amazing event.
Which local artist would you most like to see perform?
I would love to see Strawpeople. I’m fascinated with the local electronic movement that they were at the forefront of. After growing up with that era of music, I did the opposite when I first picked up a guitar, but I’ve been coming back to it lately, and their new album has been great timing for me to revisit their work.
And what about an overseas artist?
A few of us are really excited to see Witch, which looks like amazing psychedelic rock out of a different time and context but with so much that appeals to me. I’m also really interested in the work and career of Gilberto Gil and it will be a privilege to get to see him.
As a former resident of Whanganui’s Durie Hill, I love the public underground elevator and see it as a model of public transport. It’s cool that you are operating it. Give me your pitch ...
The Durie Hill Elevator is a frequent public transport service that opened up housing for development on a steep hill in Whanganui. I and a team of seven other part-time operators run the lift, and we can take a trip every five minutes. We see everyone from the woman and her dog going to buy a bottle of milk, to international cyclists on Te Araroa trail. It happens to be a great attraction with amazing views of Whanganui but what I love about it is that it’s real, living public transport, and it has much to show us about how we build and move around our cities.
Do you play music, and/or think about music, while operating the lift?
I keep them quite separate. On public transport, you should always be able to mediate your own experience – whether that’s putting your headphones on, talking, or just sitting in quiet thought, which is why I think buses shouldn’t have the radio on! But my work in public transport has something in common with music – both disciplines use mathematics creatively to try to improve reality.
What do you want your Womad performance to accomplish?
We’ve built a set we’re really proud of through our tours in the last two years, and we hope to do the best version of that we can, and start to veer towards where the next album is going. We’re really lucky to be there and we hope to honour the stage we’ve been given.
What dimension does performing live bring?
It’s really a way into understanding that you just can’t replicate any other way. There have been so many times when a band I haven’t clicked with has made me a fan through a live set. I’m really excited for Womad because there will be music and performance styles that I lack context for – but live, I know some of it will transcend that gap.
How do you keep your edge?
It’s great to go to something like Womad, or Camp A Low Hum, to see how people are trying to push the envelope of performance.