Tim Warren plots with a revolutionary musician
Anthonie Tonnon has never been an artist content with the traditional path. Not satisfied with moving from dive bar to dive bar with an acoustic guitar, Tonnon seeks to build musical universes. From chartering passenger trains with audiences for his Rail Land show to running historic public transport infrastructure, he blends social history, performance art, and bespoke music technology into single, immersive experiences.
His latest show Cinematographer, brings all this together. A multi-sensory tour de force fusing Y2K-era electronic production with revolutionary 1960s philosophy, with Tonnon himself as the revolutionary guide-narrator. Intrigued? I was. I sat down with him to trace the thread from his earliest musical memories to the creation of this complex new work.
“My first memories of music were my mother, [she was] very keen on me learning piano. I’ve got a very early memory of me just banging keys and deciding that I was making a movie soundtrack. It was terrible.
“I discovered that I could write songs and I didn’t want to do anything else. I relentlessly pursued that… I’ve always been, in my heart of hearts, a kind of folk singer. However, I’ve never really chimed with acoustic guitar. So it’s more of an urban folk kind of thing.
“[Dive bar gigs] didn’t feel quite like I’d found my thing… I’ve always called myself a songwriter and a performer. Songwriting is why I get up and do it. That’s the catalyst and the fuel. [… ] anything can be the vessel [for the music], whether that’s making a better home for the music or doing something incredible with people with the music.
“Cinematographer, is the culmination of everything I’ve learned, really. It’s an immersive show. It’s a story as well as a live music show. In this show, I am telling the story of the Situationist International, who were a revolutionary art group in the ’60s. Largely in Paris, famous because they were a big force behind the 1968 riots.
“…part film, part performance lecture with this kind of Francophile feel… and then part disco club set. …I am restarting Situationist International in Whanganui. I am your revolutionary guide…. like going to a nightclub in 2004 and a revolutionary meeting in the ’60s at the same time. I’m your DJ, your singer, your documentarian, and your revolutionary guide.”
What makes Tonnon’s such a compelling story in is his blending of genre and eras. Cinematographer is more than a gig, it’s an exercise in creative disruption. Crashing together historical oddities and neo-vintage-electronic soundscapes, Tonnon taps into nostalgia, intellectualism, and the physicality of music. It promises to be one of the most distinctive theatrical and musical moments of the year – and i’ll be first in the queue.
The Cinematographer tour kicks off in October before heading overseas. We can’t wait, and you can find out more at https://www.anthonietonnon.com/
Photo Credits: Belinda Merrie and Daniel Blackball
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