FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT
Musicians in Residence - Anthonie Tonnon Ponsonby is full of musicians these days. There are two or three on every street corner, and many more behind closed doors strumming away and writing new songs. Anthonie Tonnon is one of those musicians. After moving up from Dunedin in 2010, he has made our suburb his new home, working the bars and venues, all the while crafting his latest offering, Successor. The first album under his own name, previously going by Tono and the Finance Company, the songs that make up Successor have been written on the road and present a different tone and style from his previous records.
“People talk about process, I really like the way [Haruki] Murakami talks about process. He says, “Always stop when you’ve got a little bit left to write, so that you know where to start the next day.” This idea of process is one Tonnon thinks about a lot. He spends two days a week in a studio dedicated to writing his music and thinks hard about how this works.
Tonnon has worked hard, has a long portfolio of part -time jobs, that have kept him afloat while he writes songs that mean something, and stories that draw you in, time and time again; Songs from Successor like ‘Water Underground’ about manipulation of the system during a time of crisis, or the decline of a family man due to drugs in ‘A Friend from Argentina’.
“I have a keyboard and a guitar, a bunch of effects and amps and things, and a computer. I’m generally using lyrics as my template. It’s really hard to figure out what makes it work. I do lots of cataloguing, I catalogue all the ideas I’ve had during the week and I see what seems kind of live, and I generally try to work on something that feels like it might go somewhere.”
Among references to the Beach Boys and the Kinks, the wry sense of humour is still evident in his lyrics, even if it is slightly harder to find than in previous albums, and it is clear that Successor is one of the best albums to be released in 2015.
He discusses an idea John Cleese has mentioned, “One thing I always try to do is start with an hour and a half of clear space. I just have to have the internet off and have to be working, just focusing and trying to make things happen. It gives you a bit of a buffer for the day, the engine gets started.”
Successor is full of current events, social issues, news stories and almost reads like an investigative journalism piece. “I do go on a research hunt, a little like journalism, if I come up with a good subject and it’s got a real life to it. I’ve worked as a journalist, but the great thing about song writing is I don’t have to tell a story that is true in a fact checking journalist way.” He still writes the occassional piece for Radio New Zealand, but has found himself in a nice phase the last little while where he can concentrate on the music.
Tonnon has cut himself a wedge of New Zealand music, he’s worked at it for a long time, labouring away as his own manager. Dealing with publicists, venues, other musicians, he’s persisted and this has paid off, organising sold out shows, not to mention the success of Successor. However, there’s no rest for Anthonie Tonnon yet, Successor is to be released in the United States. on 30 June, as well as Australia. A tour of Australia looms in August, and a large task ahead of Tonnon is getting a visa for the States. You can find him on the door at Golden Dawn some nights, or on 7 June at Freida Margolis as part of the First Sunday Sessions. Tickets for this will be available through Under the Radar. (FINN MCLENNAN-ELLIOTT) F PN www.facebook.com/anthonietonnon www.anthonietonnon.com
Tonnon reads a lot, as is clear from his music and the way he thinks about his music. He always has a list of reserved books at the library and is a big fan of long journalism, reading the New Yorker, longform.org and Pantograph Punch among others. He’s moulded a week for himself, which allows for time to research, read and write. He books gigs for Golden Dawn’s new venture Sherwood in Queenstown, having graduated from working the bar for three years when he arrived up in Auckland.
Finn McLennan-Elliott has a Bachelor of Science Honours degree specialising in human geography at Auckland University. In his spare time, Finn plays clarinet and guitar in an orchestra and a folk music group. He is hosting ‘Folk at the Old Folks’ on the first Sunday of every month at the Auckland Old Folks Association Hall, an intimate afternoon concert of folk music.
CREATIVE GRAPHIC DESIGN phone 021 354 984 arna@cocodesign.co.nz www.cocodesign.co.nz
The World Belongs to the Dissatisfied
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PONSONBY NEWS+ June 2015
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