Anthonie Tonnon and the Leave Love Out Of This band to play WOMAD in 2024

The band and I are ecstatic to join the line up for WOMAD New Zealand, 15-17 March 2024, in New Plymouth.

Among our peers, this festival is legendary and it's such a treat for us to be involved and see this year’s artists

I recently travelled to Ngā Motu to play a couple of songs for the line up announcement at Tui Ora. I think it was the best press event I've been to - the Womad team really know how to do an event - even a small one, and I can only imagine what we're in for in March.

Join us and get your tickets from https://womad.co.nz.

NZ Live with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ

The band and I joined Jesse Mulligan for the much-loved NZ Live slot recently. You can hear the session at this link, and watch Lockheed Bomber below.

The Leave Love Out Of This band

The Leave Love Out of This band includes hybrid electric/acoustic drums by Stuart Harwood, bass guitar/synthesized bass by David Flyger, synthesizers and samples by keyboardist Brooke Singer (French for Rabbits) and electric guitars and percussion by Sam Taylor (Nadia Reid), as well as Malcolm Ibell on sound, and Wendy Clease on lights.

Leave Love Out Of This wins the Taite Prize

The team and I were honoured to receive the 2022 Taite Music Prize for our album Leave Love Out Of This - Independent Music New Zealand’s prize which celebrates the album.

Thanks to our co-producer, writer and performer Jonathan Pearce, our band and players, and our many collaborators and friends who made this record what it is.

Leave Love Out Of This is available now on Vinyl, CD, Digital, or as a Deluxe Edition LP, with a bonus 7” record. Buy it here at the store, from slowtimerecords.com, the Flippin Yeah store in Australia, or at your favourite record store.

All physical and digital download editions of the album come with additional music, including an extended version of Entertainment, and the final track,‘Lockheed Bomber.’

You can stream the album via bandcamp below, and you can also find it where you get your music here:

Tracklisting:

1. Entertainment

2. Two Free Hands

3. Old Images

4. Leave Love Out Of This

5. When I’m Wrong

6. Christopher

7. Peacetime Orders

8. Mataura Paper Mill

9. Lockheed Bomber (LP/CD/Bandcamp only)

Videos From Leave Love Out Of This:

Reviews for Leave Love Out Of This:

"Tonnon's gift is the astute juxtaposition of the personal and the political, where social issues revolve around people up against family, lovers, corporate entities or bureaucracy. But at heart, love is the pivot." – Graham Reid, New Zealand Listener 

"Instead of picking the low-hanging fruit of writing love songs about the end of the world, (Tonnon) uses character sketches and historical fiction to illustrate the melodrama of the present mundanity… Tonnon writes with charm about callous corporations, the way our society devours the sacred altruism of the young, and the shifting sands of optimism and pessimism within each generation." – Lizzie Manno, Paste Magazine, USA

"When he approaches subjects like a toxic workplace or the uncertainty of the future job market, he does so with the same dramatic passion and intensity other musicians put into broken hearts. Tonnon makes music for a broken world." – Alex Behan for Stuff.co.nz

Karlya Smith has made a new double lined cotton sports sock to go with Daniel’s artwork for the album. Along with T shirts and Mataura Paper Mill Socks - they can be found at the store.

Leave Love Out Of This album credits:

Produced and recorded by
Jonathan Pearce and Anthonie Tonnon

Anthonie Tonnon - vocals, synthesizers, guitars, piano, deluge. Jonathan Pearce - synthesizers, guitars, piano. Stuart Harwood - acoustic drums, octatrack on 2. David Flyger - bass guitar. Tristan Deck - acoustic drums on 3, 6. Charmian Keay - violin on 5, 9. Matthew Bodman - string arrangements on 3, 4, 6. Charmian Keay, Nick Dow, Nathan Pickney and Kathleen Tomacruz - string quartet on 3, 4, 6, Anna Coddington - vocal on 2. Nadia Reid - vocal on 3 Elizabeth Stokes - french horn on 2, 4

Songs 1,4,7 and 9 written by Anthonie Tonnon and Jonathan Pearce
Further songs by Anthonie Tonnon. Mixed and mastered by Jonathan Pearce. Artwork by Daniel Blackball Alexander. Insert Portrait by Belinda Merrie.

Thank you to all involved, and to Karlya Smith, Nadia Reid, Jeff Betten, Darren Hanlon, Emily Crowther, Tom Healy, Emma Neale, Reuben Bonner, Marty Jones, Malcolm Ibell, Rohan Hill and Ian Jorgenson at Synthstrom, Tim Julian, Bob Frisbee, John Baker, Kat Derham, Stephen Marr, Paul Doran, and Dayne Johnston at Zambesi.

Rail Land

Rail Land is a theatrical show and experience that celebrates public transport and passenger rail.

Over three years of shows, Rail Land took myself and audiences to community venues by rail or other public transport.

Rail Land may return in some form at a future date. Until then, you can see more at the Rail Land page, including the music video for ‘Old Images.’ The video tells the story of the Dunedin Rail System - the last suburban train network in the South Island. The process of researching and filming this video eventually led to the idea for Rail Land.

You can also hear the EP, Old Images/ Songs from Rail Land, which came out of the first year of the show. It includes the singles, ‘Old Images,’ my version of the Chills’ extraordinary 1990 song, ‘Submarine Bells,’ and three live songs from the first Rail Land show. You can purchase the CD or digital copy at the store.

A Synthesized Universe

A Synthesized Universe is an immersive experience that combines live music with a flight through the known universe, custom animations, and mixed reality. Originally developed for a modern planetarium with animator Andrew Charlton and the Otago Museum, we’ve also expanded the show to work in traditional performance spaces, with the help of video and mixed reality artist Erica Sklenars - a.k.a Lady Lazerlight.

About this website

I aim to make this website, and the mailing list my first portals of communication. Joining the mailing list or visiting the site means you don't need to use social media to know about new releases or performances.

I have pro-technology philosophy, as long people are using the technology, not the other way around. Above all, I respect your time. This is why I have no comments, like or share buttons on this site, and why I send a maximum of four emails to the mailing list a year.

But if you’d like to get in touch, I welcome correspondence - details are at the work section.