Biography

The world is full of singer-songwriters, but few of them forge the kind of paths that Anthonie Tonnon has. His work has developed into a unique blend of music, art and advocacy, and shows that are creative works in themselves. Tonnon performed under the name Tono and The Finance Company in 2008, while studying in Dunedin. By the time the EP, Fragile Thing was released in 2010, he had settled in Auckland, and his 2012 album, Up Here For Dancing was full of the stories of a young person making his way in that city. After the album and a New Zealand support tour with Beirut, he retired the band name and went out as Anthonie Tonnon on tours of Australia and the USA, while recording with bandmate Jonathan Pearce (The Beths) as producer. The resulting 2015 album, Successor, earned him an APRA Silver Scroll nomination for 'Water Underground' - a song exploring water rights and Machiavellian politics. Tonnon used support tours for Nadia Reid, The Chills, and The Veils to rework his stage show, incorporating new electronic instruments like the Synthstrom Deluge. As well as a series of singles and EPs, the new approach led to the immersive shows, A Synthesized Universe for planetariums, and Rail Land, which took audiences to distant venues by rail. Over this period, Tonnon moved to Whanganui, while Pearce toured full-time after the success of The Beths’ first album. Despite this, the pair completed a third album: Leave Love Out of This, which the won the 2022 Taite Prize.