An interview with ANIKID Written by Meghan Scott

I’ve seen ANIKID perform a few times now, her energy on stage and tenacious voice draws you in, the way she communicates with the audience gives you a feeling as though you were up there with her on stage, feeling what she feels. Her most epic performance I’ve seen so far was when she performed Kleerup's "Let Me In" on stage with some of Sweden’s hottest acts at the Stockholm Music & Arts Festival last summer. It was magical and she stole the entire show. I recently saw her at an intimate gig in Stockholm, she and her band played zsome of her new songs, was such a cool and organic vibe. Annie Conner aka ANIKID is a very charming human, full of wit, honesty, bravery and compassion. Her impervious and cool, yet effortless style tells a story in its own. Her street smarts, which I’m gathering come from being brought up both in Glasgow, Scotland and Botkyrka, a suburb of Stockholm, and her business smarts together check all the boxes for a guaranteed memorable moment with this girl period. I met up with ANIKID at one of her locals in her neighborhood in Stockholm. We were both running a little behind, which is kind of a ritual we have together, no stress! We order some wine on the heated terrace, light up our menthols like two ol’ grannies and catch up on our busy lives. After a bunch of laughs about funny situations we’ve experienced since our last hangout, five segues later and another round, we eventually get down to business. We chat about her first EP, KILL YOU DOWN, BOOM, which has four songs subsequently called 'KILL, YOU, DOWN, BOOM'. You will never hear ANIKID singing about material goods, how much things and stuff one has, or poppin' bubs in tha clubs. Her catchy hooks on top of cool beats with an upbeat tempo always have a message. Lyrics are everything for ANIKID.

M: In your song "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM". Your first verse starts with “Everywhere you feel our fire and we’re gonna make the flames reach higher, from our streets to your empire... keep on pointing fingers and Imma break ‘em off, one by one your choke on our smoke ‘til you can’t breath…”, sounds sinister and I love it. What does this mean?

A: I wrote this song a few years ago during the so-called riots in the suburbs of Sweden. The media and government were painting a picture of immigrants and still are, with very little trace of any responsibility of the situation. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable” - a quote from JFK. People have been pushed into segregation and given limited options whilst media are using fearmongering as a tool for governmental schemes. And if you look at the leading parties throughout not only Sweden, but the world, it’s working. What they don’t realize if they (sic) don’t help the people and just point fingers, they will get what they are pointing about, it will get worse. We are in a time where we all have to help our brothers and sisters if we want society to live peacefully.

M: So true. It’s so great that you are sending these messages out. You also have

started a charity to help women, ‘#Iamsister’, that is so amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

A: In my opinion, all forms of negative energy can and should be turned into positive change, or at least the beginning of it. #Iamsister, simply put, is a campaign to back each other up, for women to delete the preprogrammed mentality that we are one another’s threats and instead to embrace the power of an alliance with a mutual goal. In this case the mutual goal is to help create funds and awareness for existing foundations who work with topics surrounding women's equality, safety and rights. This is not a question of one group vs. another. We are all here together, and we all do better when we all do better.

M: That’s great. This negativity energy is prevalent in the music industry too, have you experienced a situation as a female artist you could share with us?

A: Oh yes, this one time, in band camp (laughs), I attended an event and I was interviewed by a publication covering the event, and her second question to me after asking how I was “I hear you are married, is your husband ok with you being here tonight?”, like what the fuck? There are other ways to ask about family and personal life. Would somebody ever ask a male musician if his wife was ok with him being out, never. And the pressure to be half naked or overtly sexual to sell records is ridiculous, if I want to wear my trackies on stage, I will. And I will give the same energy and performance to my audience. I don’t need to ‘shake it’, when actually a great message for aspiring female musicians would be, ‘If you don’t feel like it, don’t shake it. If you do, then do.’ Period.

M: For sure, and also the issue of age for females in almost any industry. What do you think about that?

A: I think there is so much pressure in society in general, this ‘too old’ and ‘too young’ thing, who cares how old or young somebody is when they are doing something they love and they’re doing it well. Change it if you don’t like it anymore. My next single “Time” is basically bringing this topic up. “Time is something that they stole, with made up rules in rabbit holes…”, that somebody, somewhere along the lines of human evolution, decided that there’s an age limit for life to be lived as you feel it. As long as it beats, follow it.

M: You seem to be a humanity driven person, I’m assuming you have an environmental sentiment as well.

A: Yes, I try to be conscious as much as possible, and I’m still learning, and I think it’s great that the information and options for a better way of life are growing out there... I try not to waste and over consume, and I’m an unconscious on- and-off vegan, whatever that means (laughs). The meat and fur industry is totally fucked and the value of life has been completely forgotten.

M: It’s tragic. On set for this shoot, you had a lovely Wilhja jacket made of fur. At Odalïsque, we are opposed to using fur, but this one became the exception of the rule. Tell me about the jacket?

A: It’s from Wilhja, this amazing Swedish designer with a great message. She doesn’t support any kind of animal breeding for the sake of human interests. The jacket is made from the skin of a reindeer who passed naturally or may have been roadkill. She

shaved into the fur and made an insane piece of art, it’s so beautiful. She believes all furs, as all lives, are unique. It’s great with brands Johannes Adele, Dagmar and Remake, the younger generations of designers are forcing the industry to change.

M: I love that, and the jacket! You can wear it with pride and kind of have the soul of the animal with you.

A: Exactly.

M: Let’s go to that party we were going to go to.

A: First, one last fag.

M: Haha, of course!

If this concrete kid is not on your playlist yet, she sure will be after having a listen, check out her new album, out soon!

Photography by Sandra Myhrberg / The New Agency Stylist Meghan Scott Hair & make up Linda Sundqvist / Adamsky Management Photographer’s assistant Annica Zion On-set fashion assistant Dahlia Celestina Special thanks to Lilla Paris