FEATURE: Spotlight: Antony Szmierek

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Antony Szmierek

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FOR this Spotlight…

I am staying with solo artists, but here is someone that might be quite new to many people. The tremendous Antony Szmierek is a wonderful talent who many are predicting big things from. There are not many interviews online from him – I could only find one recent one -, but I hope that changes in the next year or so. I guess his career is still building and developing. How best to describe Szmierek and his sound? Such a compelling, promising and original artist, this from Primary Talent is a pretty good overview:

“Antony Szmierek is a spoken word and indie hip-hop artist making unique moves by blending his poetic, often introspective lyricism with undeniably smooth riffs and nostalgic beats. Hailed by Lauren Laverne as "the best thing I've heard all year" and described as "Mike Skinner spliced with Simon Armitage" - his track 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Fallacy' spent 4 weeks on the 6 Music B-list, as well as being featured on Jack Saunders' 'Future Artists' show on Radio 1. The same track also bagged the high score on Steve Lamacq's legendary Round Table. Support continues to pour in from the likes of Craig Charles, Steve Lamacq, Nemone, Mary Anne Hobbs and Chris Hawkins”.

I will end with a bit of press about a recent song. Before getting there, here is an interview with Skiddle. It is from September and, as it seems, press sources, music magazines and radio stations are starting to recognise the music and brilliance of Antony Szmierek. I think that 2023 is going to be a big breakout year for him where he plays a lot of festivals and bigger stages:

“This year has been a bit of a wild one for you so far, it would be fair to say. Heavily playlisted by the likes of Spotify and BBC 6 Music, and with adulation coming from some of the biggest names on the airwaves, the likes of Lauren Laverne and Craig Charles - it must feel incredible to be receiving so much appreciation for your work. How’s the experience been so far?

"I like ‘wild’ as an adjective and have been using it a fair bit myself. It’s been unexpected for sure. I keep trying to pinpoint the specific moment it changed but can’t decide when it was. I’m a big fan of 6music anyway so to hear my name read out by these disembodied voices that are a stable of my life is really strange in the best possible way. And then they become real people and you’re suddenly on Zoom with Craig joking about Robot Wars or sending voice notes to Lauren Laverne and trying not to freak out about it. Let’s stick with wild until I find anything better.

Where and when did your journey in music begin? How did it all start?

"I’m one of this new wave of lockdown musicians, I think. I’ve been writing for ten years – novels at first and then short stories and eventually poems. The performance aspect of that was what became important and being heavy into music and experiencing it live - it was just right there in front of me and seemed an obvious next step. I bought a couple of these little Volca synths and started bashing out rudimentary stuff on audacity, which is free, and then Ableton, which is also free for 60 days. So I had 60 days to make something. That became ‘Giving Up for Beginners’ which my now producer and live keyboard player Robin Parker helped me get over the line."

The release of your most-listened-to-track to date, ‘Hitchhikers Guide To The Fallacy’ marked a watershed moment for you, in terms of breaking through to a wider audience. What do you think it is about this track that resonates with music fans?

"I did sort of know it was good, but it was only supposed to be the intro to the next EP and not a proper single or anything. I think I’d have been tempted to overthink it and include a hook or something but I’m really glad I didn’t now as it’s informed a lot of my writing since."

"I honestly couldn’t tell you. Everyone seems to have their own favourite line and the house beat bubbles along nicely in the background. I’m a big fan of the little guitar motif that runs through it from my brother, Martin, who is also in the live band. I think that’s the glue. The secret sauce."

How do you approach writing a song such as ‘Hitchhikers Guide To The Fallacy’? Do you have a particular process?

"It was the title first with this one. Just a notes app thing. We were working on this song called ‘Last Train Back’ that never quite made it so moved on to another song to cleanse the palette and I just started reading things out from my notes. It got a laugh from Dean (producer based in VIBE Studios, Cheetham Hill) and that was enough of a thumbs up for me. Hitchhiking as a concept is quite desperate and yet there’s a hopeful optimism to it. And so I just applied that to how I was feeling, which as it turns out was quite jaded”.

I am just going to finish off with an article from CLASH, who looked ahead to the release of Szmierek’s new E.P., Poems to Dance To. I am writing this on 25th October, so I have not got any of the reviews from it yet - though the ones that come out are likely to be terrific. I would recommend you check it out, along with phenomenal recent tracks like Working Classic. A terrific talent who is going to go very far:

“Antony Szmierek knows that communication essentially boils down to words and music.

A word-of-mouth hero in his native Manchester, he melds together spoken word lyricism with hip-hop, adding in a dash of soul for good measures. Literate and worldly wise, he also packs a punch – there’s romance, there, but also grit.

New EP ‘Poems To Dance To’ is out on October 28th, and it represents a neat encapsulation of his methodology. The project is led by superb new single ‘Working Classic’, matching his word play to aspects of UKG.

Digging into a classic UK sound, ‘Working Classic’ is a point where Antony’s approach merged with music, his two loves sparking into one. He explains: “It has these hyper specific references but also these ambiguous, gut-punch universal truths that come in when you’re starting to have too much of a good time. The UKG influence is there to amp up the nostalgia.”

A fantastic starting point, ‘Working Classic’ feels like life in the UK right now – under grey skies, fighting to survive, but somehow managing”.

Go and follow the remarkable Antony Szmierek. He is someone who is unlike anyone out there. With his incredible E.P. out in the world, there will be more eyes and ears his way. His blend of Hip-Hop and spoken word lyricism has, as CLASH said, grit alongside heart and depth. It is an intoxicating blend that…