Self Biography extracted from the Ant website: www.antpop.com
I began writing my own songs way back in the summer
of 1988 in my bedroom on the Isle of Wight.
Nine years later with over one hundred songs recorded
on a small four track, the best of which fill a five volume cassette ANTHOLOGY,
I eventually played my first solo shows in London at the very intimate
12 Bar Club, supporting the wonderful RHATIGAN.
Shortly afterwards I began the first of many fruitful
recording sessions with Suzanne Rhatigan and her cat, in her living room,
with John Morrison and his Fender bass on the sofa. The recordings were
done on an old reel to reel, quarter inch, eight track, for Cushy Productions.
Also around this time, HEFNER, the band I played
drums in, signed a record deal with Too Pure.
1999
In 1999, I was lucky enough to have my own little
record released. A double A sided 7” single on Evil World Records (SIN
1) the label of Jen Denito (LINUS) and Darren Hayman (HEFNER). A catchy
little disco number called “I hope you’ll always be there” twinned with
the more melancholic ”Not sleeping the same way” (two of the songs from
the Cushy sessions with Suzanne Rhatigan singing and playing Wurlitzer
and John Morrison playing bass).
In November 1999 my second single was released,
this time in Sweden on Fabulous Friends Records (Friend 01) the label of
Roger and Anna (NIXON). I had met Roger when HEFNER played the Emmaboda
Festival in Sweden. It was a CD single limited to just one hundred copies
each with a numbered sleeve, featuring three slices of gentle acoustic
pop: “Where happiness begins”, “The queue to your heart” and “Your heart
got bored”, also from the Cushy sessions. This time with Menlo Parks Johnny
Viola Greswell (violin and viola) joining Suzanne Rhatigan (drums, Wurlitzer
piano, keyboards and singing) and John Morrison (bass guitar).
2000
After a very busy time Hefnering, I got to release
my first mini album called ‘Cures for broken hearts’ in the summer of 2000,
on my new friend Hendricks’ label, ‘Fortune and Glory Records ‘(FORCD104),
based in Moseley, Birmingham. Five songs: “You’ve lost your appeal”, “Tongues”,
“The cure for broken hearts”, “Fly on your wall” and “Spoil”, were all
taken from the first few sessions I did with Suzanne Rhatigan and are still
my favourite recordings. They too featured Johnny Viola on violin and viola,
John Morrison on bass guitar and Suzanne Rhatigan on Wurlitzer piano and
backing vocals. If you listen very carefully during “Tongues”, you can
hear Suzannes' cat Bobby making a subtle entrance through the catflap!
Also in the summer of 2000 I returned to the rainy
woods of Rasslebygd, Sweden and the Emmaboda Festival, this time to play
as ANT on the small stage. The show was recorded by P3 Radio and the highlights
were broadcast a couple of times over the next few months. Back in England
I was also lucky enough to record my first session for the John Peel show
on Radio 1. Having spent many teenage hours listening to his show and being
inspired by the music he played, it was a huge thrill to be a small part
of it myself. The four songs, “History”, “Any girl can make me smile”,
“Maybe love will return” and “The trick” were broadcast on the 12th October
2000. The session was recorded in Maida Vale 4 by Simon Askew (in about
four hours) on the 26th June 2000.
I also had two songs released on compilation albums
in the year 2000. “Easy” featured on a compilation CD called C188 which
was given away free with the Papercuts fanzine (issue 4) in London. It
was another song taken from the Cushy sessions, this time featuring the
tiny Mary Richards on cello alongside Johnny Viola on violin and viola
and Suzanne Rhatigan singing and playing Wurlitzer piano. “Not sleeping
the same way” made it’s second outing, this time on the ‘Brumario’ compilation
CD on cool Spanish label Acuarela Discos.
2001/2002
2001 must have been a very busy HEFNER time as it
wasn’t until April 2002 that my first full length album was finally released:
‘A long way to blow a kiss’ on Fortune and Glory Records (FORCDALB107)
featured eleven new songs, including new versions of the four used in the
John Peel session: “The trick”, “Maybe love will return”, “Any girl can
make me smile”, “History”, “When I need you to”, “Waste the days away”,
“A long way to blow a kiss”, “I always hurt the one that I love”, “Every
drop of rain”, “Today as yesterday” and “April rain”. This time I recorded
the songs at home, alone, on my new digital eight track, during 1999 and
2001, whenever I had a few days off from all things HEFNER and mixed it
late 2001. Once again John Morrison played perfect bass across the album
(he came over and did all his parts in one afternoon) and I took my studio
around to Suzanne Rhatigans, where she transformed the title track with
her old, hissy Wurlitzer piano and her beautiful voice.
Having upped sticks and moved to Sweden in May
2002, I had a new song, “That shining smile” released in June, on a compilation
CD called ‘Hit music only’, on a small, new Swedish label called ‘Heavenly
Pop Hits’ run by Tommy and Marie. The song was another of my digital eight
track home recordings.
In August 2002 I returned to the Emmaboda Festival
this time to play on the main stage, in the blazing hot Swedish sunshine.
2003
A new mini album called ‘Floating on the breeze’
was released on the very cool Homesleep Records (Homesleep Rec 2015) of
Bologna Italy in March 2003. Six songs: “The silence has broken”, “Floating
on the breeze”, “Cry your little eyes out”, “There are grey clouds in this
sky too”, “White swans on the water” and “Blame it on the language”, were
all recorded at home on digital eight track. This time I made good use
of the HEFNER drum kit (which now stands in the corner of my front room)
and I tried my hand at playing the violin for the first time (sorry violinists!).
May 2003 saw my first shows in Italy, a three date
tour of Milan, Bologna and Ancona. I also did a live radio session in Bologna
for Radio Citta Del Capo (“You’ve lost your appeal”, “Cry your little eyes
out”, “The queue to your heart”, “The silence has broken”, “I always hurt
the one that I love”, “Not sleeping the same way”, “The cure for broken
hearts” and “any girl can make me smile”).
Then I was back in England to play the GoJonnygogogogo3
Festival, where “The trick” was used on a limited edition compilation CD
on sale only at the gig. Then some outdoor summer festivals, two in Malmo
(We and You Festival and the Malmo Festival) and one back in Italy (the
Homesleep Festival in picturesque Ancona).
November 2003 saw the release of two old songs,
newly recorded, “Mountains” and “Breathe my name” on a limited edition
split 7" EP with Swede Airliner, called the ‘Imprints of emotion ep’ released
on two Swedish labels, Zenith Recordings of Gothenburg run by Arnar and
Smudgey Records of Malmö run by Åse (Zen 04/Smudge 01). It was
then licensed in England by Fortune and Glory Records as a very limited
autographed edition. Both songs were recorded at home on digital 8 track.
2004.
I was back in Italy in May 2004 for two shows and
another radio session for Citta Del Capo Radio where this time I did “When
your heart breaks (into many little pieces)”, “Blame it on the language”
and “A long way to blow a kiss”.
In July 2004 “The trick” made its fourth outing,
this time on the cool and very indie Swedish compilation CD, ‘This is popkonst
and we love you’ (Popk02) released by Niklas and Marie from Popkonst.
In late August / early September 2004, I was lucky
enough to spend 8 days recording a new album, ‘Footprints through the snow’,
in the Alpha Dept Studios in Bologna Italy, with Homesleep Records. Giacomo
Fiorenza recorded and mixed it, with additional help from Francesco Donadello
and Matteo Agostinelli. The release date was planned for 2005/2006.
‘Sad to see it’s morning’ (Forcd114), the 13 song
compilation CD, was released in October on Fortune and Glory Records. A
collection of the three singles with all the b-sides and all the compilation
tracks released to date, plus a few extras. The complete tracklisting is:
“Where happiness begins”, “Your heart got bored”, “I hope you’ll always
be there”, “The queue to your heart”, “I always hurt the one that I love
(the machines remix), “Breathe my name”, “The trick”, “Easy”, “Not sleeping
the same way”, “That shining smile”, “Mountains”, “Pathway” (previously
unreleased) and “You’ve lost your appeal (live)”.
Late 2004 saw the release of an old song, “All
these important pictures i paint in my head”, which was especially rewritten
and recorded for the ‘Acuarela Songs 3’ (Nois 1043) double compilation
CD on Acuarela Discos of Spain. The song was originally written back in
1995 and is one of the songs featured on the ‘Anthology’ four track tapes.
2005/2006
2005 was a quiet year for releases (not my fault),
December 2005 seeing only the release of “Those memories (acoustic demo)”
on the free download only christmas album ‘Have yourself a filthy little
christmas’ on Filthy Little Angels (little 004p). But I did become a father!
In January 2006 ‘Footprints through the snow’,
my second full length album and first studio album on Homesleep Records
was finally released in Italy. 13 new tracks: “When your heart breaks (into
many little pieces)”, “In your dreams”, “Slipped away”, “She’ll be home
soon”, “Spent too long walking with no heart to follow”, “This goodbye
kiss”, “Look how time flies”, “Those memories”, “Change with the season”,
“Up sticks and go”, “Haven’t you got anywhere left you can run to?”, “We
didn’t move a muscle” and “Heading home”, were recorded in the Alpha Airbase
studios in Bologna Italy in August/September 2004. Giacomo Fiorenza recorded
and mixed it, with additional help from Francesco Donadello, and Matteo
Agostinelli mastered it in May 2005.
In March 2006 I was back in London briefly to play
a show and record a live session for Resonance FM and The Glass Shrimp
Show. I performed 4 songs: “When your heart breaks (into many little pieces)”,
“In your dreams”, “Haven’t you got anywhere left you can run to” and “Up
sticks and go”. The following day I recorded another 4 song session this
time for BBC6 Music's Tom Robinson Show. I did “Haven’t you got anywhere
left you can run to”, “Those memories”, “Change with the season” and “We
didn’t move a muscle”, to be broadcast at a later date.
In late March/early April 2006 I returned to Italy
for a short tour to promote ‘Footprints through the snow’ and I did my
third live session for Giovanni Gandolfi at Radio Citta Del Capo in Bologna.
Five songs: “Change with the season”, “Those memories”, “Haven’t you got
anywhere left you can run to”, “I couldn’t remember the dream” and “Your
heart got bored”.
April 2006 saw the release of “When your heart
breaks (into many little pieces) (acoustic demo version)” on a split
7" with “Swede” THE ODD FIDDLER on Let's Expect Art Records (Sweden) limited
to just 100 copies.
July 2006 saw the release of the free download
only album ‘Down to grease on holiday’ (Little 006), on Filthy Little Angels,
featuring my first cover version, “Those magic changes”, originally done
by SHA NA NA. The track was recorded on my mp3 player.
Late summer 2006 saw the release of a new song,
“I couldn’t remember the dream” on another limited edition split 7", this
time on Black Candy Records of Italy with Italians PECKSNIFF.
November 2006 saw my first solo tour of Germany,
taking in 7 shows organised by Antistars: Trier, Esslingen, Kassel, Berlin,
Koln, Frieberg and Munich.
ANT is the Antony Harding solo project. He used to play drums with HEFNER, and here we have the answers to our questions...
1. Which memories do you keep
from the HEFNER age? You seemed to feel very happy when you played live,
smiling and drinking a lot of beer cans while playing the drums ;-)
Yes, it was a great time,
probably the best time of my life ;) we had a lot of fun playing together
and I guess that showed on stage! We took full advantage of all the trimmings
that came our way :) I can't get drunk anymore beause it takes too much
alcohol and I'd probably die trying! I think we all drank too much but
we were younger then. ;) A really great time, and we managed to fulfill
nearly all of my musical ambitions. The highlights, probably playing a
live radio show from John Peel's house and headlining the small stage at
the Benicassim festival.
2. By reading ANT's biography,
it looks as ANT was even before HEFNER, as you had some songs written a
time before HEFNER started... when did you start writing and recording
songs?
Hmmm, I think around the age
of 18 on the Isle Of Wight, I recorded hundreds of songs on a little 4
track machine, songs about girls mostly, unrequited love, those were lonely
days... I still have about 100 of the recordings on an 'ANThology' cassette
;) very twee.
3. Which things make you write
those beautiful songs? What are the lyrics about?
Girls, love, jealousy, loneliness,
feeling blue... regrets, hopes, fears...
4. How are your gigs? do you usually
play alone? or do you play with Suzanne (RHATIGAN) and/or John Morrison?
I mostly play alone, very
occasionally I'll be lucky enough to have one of my friends playing with
me. I did one show with Suzanne R singing, and a few shows with Johnny
V playing viola. I hope to have more guests when I play in the future,
but usually it's just me and the guitar.
5. It seems that Suzanne (RHATIGAN)
and John Morrison have been very important in the ANT story. Tell us something
about them...
Well, I first met John and
Suzanne at an early HEFNER gig (Darren singing and playing electric guitar,
me playing percussion); their band RHATIGAN were playing too and were really
great, Suzanne offered us some gigs at her residency at the 12 Bar Club,
and that's how we got to know them. Darren thought John was such a great
bass player he just had to steal him! So he did :) Suzanne also recorded
both Hefner and myself on her 8 track home studio (‘Hello kitten’, all
the ‘Cures for broken hearts’ stuff); she was very important in bringing
me out of my bedroom and away from the 4 track and onto a stage.
6. Have you thought of forming
a band? or do you prefer to play alone?
After HEFNER I couldn't possible
play in another band, it would be such a disappointment. And it would be
too heartbreaking to create a great band and then watch someone walk out...
no, best to stay alone I think. Only yourself to blame then!
7. Why did you move to Sweden?
I fell in love with a Swede,
and HEFNER stopped, so it seemed the perfect thing to do.
8. How is your relationship with
the HEFNER fellows, this is, Darren, John and Jack? What do they do now?
We are all still good friends,
although it's hard to see much of each other these days, everyone's busy.
I guess I'm much closer to Darren as we go back along way. Darren and his
lovely wife come and stay with us usually once a year. Darren is making
great solo records (‘Table for one); Jack made a beautiful English folk
album (‘Practical wireless’); and John is making obscure film soundtracks!
9. Do you prefer recording or
playing live?
Oh recording definitely. For
me it's always been about writing and recording. Playing live is something
you have to do to sell records (unless you're very very lucky!). I do enjoy
it when it goes well, but it's hard work sometimes, in a noisy room, with
just an acoustic guitar! ;)
10. Can you name your favourite
band from the 50's, from the 60's,... well, from each decade? (yes, you
can name 2 or 3 if you want ;-))
Best of the 50's: ELVIS? Was
that the 50´s?
Best of the 60's: NICK DRAKE
(well late 60's / early 70's)
Best of the 70's: LEONARD
COHEN.
Best of the 80's: THE SMITHS.
Best of the 90's: Sorry, I'm
stuck! Can't think of any!
Best of today's: ANTONY AND
THE JOHNSONS? I like that guy. Beautiful voice.
11. As almost no-one lives on
music nowadays, what do you usually do in a normal day? which are your
hobbies?
I change nappies, push a pram,
feed the baby, do the laundry, do the shopping, cook the meal ;) Hobbies,
I still draw, I'm trying to make a children's book for Leo about a lion.
12. Which is that amazing record
that you are listening to lately and can´t stop listening to it?
JOANNA NEWSOM (the first one)
at the moment...
13. Which is your favourite ANT
song? and your favourite HEFNER song?
HEFNER? “Stole a bride” I
think. My own songs? I still like “Tongues”.
14. Which spanish bands do you
know? Which ones do you like best?
VACACIONES!
15. When are you planning to release
a new album?
I'm hoping to do a limited
edition home recorded album of just voice and guitar (recorded in a weekend)
this year and also I hope to have a 5 song EP ready for Acuarela this year
too... I've been meaning to do one for Acuarela for years but have never
got the chance to finish it!
16. Which are your plans for 2007?
A tour of Italy in March,
hopefully a London show in May... that's it so far.
17. When will you come to tour
Spain?
Hopefully when I get the Acuarela
EP finally finished and released!
18. If you want to add anything,
feel free...
Muchos gracias Rafa! Hope
you all have a great 2007.
