We've been playing Antigone's single More Man Than Man constantly this summer. So we thought, what better way to show our support and appreciation for such a talented artist than to ask if she'd oblige to a brief interview. And ta-dah!

Read on below for a bit behind who and what Antigone is all about, including ideal concert experiences, saving tigers and why she chooses the remixes and songs we all know and love.




1. Who is Antigone and how did you come to the point where you decided "this is what I want to do"?
Antigone is some broad who's just taken over my life lately, really she has. The disturbing thing is that you asking me who Antigone is, and me answering in the third person, is normal for me these days - such is the mindset of the self-released artist. I decided to pursue music as a pro when I could no longer suspend the disbelief in myself as an academic. Enough is enuff. But it had always been there, it was more that I just came out of my Narnian closet.


2. Did you have musical roots growing up?
Totally. My parents had eloped after meeting in a jazz band, so even though they weren't playing professionally when I was growing up, there was still always loads of amazing music around - mainly jazz. I have 7 brothers and sisters so summertime was spent making bad family bands and jamming in the dark cool house on hot summer days over Thriller. I learnt piano from 7, jazz piano and voice from 13 and did loads of bad musicals at school - it was all a bit Mr G really (watch 'Summer Heights High' on BBC's iplayer and you'll get the idea!).


3. Do you have a dayjob?
Well I live in London innit - most creatives I know here have to do other shit to pay the bills, which is good in the sense that there's little stigma attached to it. Bits and bobs, certainly not full-time - I work on sustainability stuff for an international design firm part-time and do the odd session, but I definitely spend most of my time myth-making in AntigoneLand and now running my own label.


4. How do you approach and pick those to remix your songs: Is it the artist, the song, or how much they're able to leave a distinct branding on the song?
It varies. With More Man Than Man I had recently met the Bassmonkeys in a writing collaboration, so they were an obvious choice. But I'm learning that when you run your own label it gets tricky because you have to divorce yourself as an artist from your material with remixes and put your marketing head on. For some tracks I certainly have particular peeps in mind though - for Funky Dancers I'm set on Mr Scruff and am currently in the throes of fish pie/mix tape seduction... have a sniff!


5. Here in the states, there's minimal talk about you (although I'm working on changing that!). However, in London/UK, your following seems to be very dedicated with a niche group. What are your ultimate goals with your music career?
I want to be able to experience all that a major artist does, really grow and become the best I can be, but at the same time challenge myself and my industry to do this in a way that doesn't fuck up the planet and also brings attention to causes that matter to me like the conservation of wild animals and habitat. I'm obsessed with tigers - check out my buddy's cool tiger page on myspace for a fun introduction to the cause.


6. Are you influenced by pop culture/mainstream radio? Does popular media make you decide to go one way or another with song choice, etc...?
By pop culture of course, but to be honest I don't listen to mainstream radio that much, never have. But I think the positive thing about them both is that they have become so decentralised that their influence is less easy to classify and identify. One person's pop culture and mainstream radio is genuinely not anothers, even if they live in the same city, because those of us who have broadband are now becoming masters of our own content to an extent (or we think we are). In terms of making A&R choices? Harder to say because I'm so close to it. My producer and I pretty much A&R'd our whole record but I couldn't really pinpoint how our decisions were made. Is it a good song? Does it work? That's all you want to know when you're making music and it's very intuitive and personal.


7. If you had the opportunity to play any venue, who's opening for you and where are you playing at?
I saw a brilliant documentary about Piaf recently and it detailed how difficult it was for her to break New York, but finally she became an international star in Carnegie Hall. So that would be exciting. With someone innovative and talented for support who needs the break and who is also just threatening enough to keep me on my toes, ha! Maybe Seaming? Check her out on my top friends - she's kooky, theatrical and mysterious...

*(We didn't give this the attention it deserved at first...thanks for nothing internet problems! But here, we're reposting, complete with the hi-def video for More Man than Man. God, how much do we want to rock a Pucci catsuit now!)