Interview with Anna Iachino
Anna Iachino is originally from Montreal,Quebec, Canada and now lives in the Faroe Islands.
She is a songwriter, vocalist, rapper, spoken word artist, poet, dancer, storyteller as well as co-creator with her husband, Arnold Ludvig, of the band MonkeyRat.
Anna is presently doing her Master Programme in NEW AUDIENCES AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICE (NAIP).
She grew up loving to move and dance. She dreamed of becoming a dancer. However her strict Italian father and her Roman Catholic upbringing put an end to that dream as her father did not not approve of dancing as a worthy career. This was the beginning of her journey in finding herself.
I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Anna on her passion for music, words and creativity.
How did you discover your passion?
I started dancing at a very young age. I naturally felt the rhythm and just knew how to move to the beat of the music. My survival was based on anything related to music. Then I met my husband, who is a bass virtuoso and composer; we were destined to be together. That’s what got me to the Faroe Islands.
I guess I wouldn’t be where I am today without my parents. They were my first teachers. I had to go through the fire in order to survive. My father did not approve of my dancing as it was not deemed a respectable career especially for a good Italian girl. I loved to dance and was dancing all the time. I started off dancing the Calabrian Tarantella and then entered dance competitions but had to abandon any form of dancing as my father tried to protect my virginity and marriage opportunities. He ended my dream of becoming a professional dancer with beatings, physical domination and then trauma ensued.
Having been stripped of my dream, I discovered poetry. Like music, words have a certain rhythm. I started writing poems but for fear of my father finding out that, I would sneak away into the bathroom or the closet to write poetry. It became my lifeline to expressing my emotions. Creativity became a means of survival.
After writing the poems, I would tear up the paper and flush them down the toilet just in case my father would find them. The only poem that survived is called The Child.
At 45, poetry became my song writing with MoneyRat. At 60, I added on technology with Ableton Live. At first it was difficult but it became easier with a lot of effort and help from my husband. It was like learning another language. I’m always learning and to my surprise I even took an introductory course on music theory, which was very difficult for someone who doesn’t play an instrument. I was very determined to succeed and crack the code.
We’re all creative beings. Sometimes, our life circumstances lead us to find that spark of creativity as it forces us to dig deep. From dancing to poetry, I now had to learn how to sing. Even though it was difficult in the beginning, you just need to keep pushing yourself. My husband taught me ear training which was really helpful.
Calabrese are known to be stubborn; I don’t give up very easily. I had something to say.
There’s an African quote that says “if you can talk, you can sing, if you can walk, you can dance.”
Tell us about your latest project of storytelling through electronics and poetry.
My teacher, Kurt Uenala, introduced me to Laurie Anderson, a versatile, eclectic multimedia artist and musician. I love her work and everything she does. In her video, she is in a white suit and hitting herself with sensors all over her body. It gave me the idea of putting sensors underneath my shoes. When I told my teacher, about this, his eyes lit up. We went to the store, right away to get the equipment and I now perform with sensors underneath the taps of my tap shoes, wires coming out of my pants that go into my soundcard, which goes into my computer, and into the console.
All of this takes place while the sounds/music that I recorded and manipulated on Ableton Live get triggered by a plugin called ApTrigger3. The triggering happens both on my tap shoes and voice while I move my feet and speak the words of my poems. This is added by a pad I created for each poem, forming a soundscape creating the tone, and setting the mood for the meaning of the words.
The use of Ableton Live with sensors underneath the tap of my tap shoes triggers sounds on my voice as I speak and triggers sounds on my tap shoes as I would move.
Who is your inspiration?
Miles Davis, James Brown, Prince, Rage Against the Machine, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder to name a few. Although the music came mostly from men, my favourite singer is Meshell Ndegeocello from the 90’s. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock.
Like me, she couldn’t find singers to sing her lyrics. She became a singer by default and so did I. Meschell is like a combination of my husband and I, bass and spoken words.
It was challenging to learn music but poetry came very naturally to me.
Another one of my mentors is Laurie Anderson. She’s an awesome artist, a creative genius and a great human being.
There was also the Spanish Romani flamenco dancer and singer, Carmen Amaya, the greatest and most passionate flamingo dancer ever. She was the first internationally renowned female flamenco dancer and the first one to wear pants, a symbol of her strong character.
So you can see that my hero is any woman that overcame adversity and made it against all odds.
If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
Speed. I would run all the time so that I would be fast enough to save myself and others.
I also always wanted to be a KungFu master so I can kick ass and if I fall, keep getting back up.
Someone once told me that I have a strong will. Now that’s a superpower!
What are some of your life lessons you’d like to share?
1. This too shall pass, essential for surviving life’s ups and downs.
2. There will always be lessons around the corners, can’t wait to see
what’s next!
3. The older I get, the more compassion I have for all kinds of people
and things.
No need to be judgemental, just seek to understand and be fair.
After all, we are all here to learn.
4. Stay away from negative people; don’t waste your time. I’d rather
be alone and enjoy my own company and my time.
5. Dare to be different. The Scandinavians practice the Law of Jante; basically, it is a social attitude of disapproval towards expressions of individuality and personal success. The small town mentality puts you down as they don’t want you to do anything different. It is much easier to be like everyone else. In North America, it’s called the Crab Bucket Syndrome.
6. Finally, a good sense of humour is truly the best medicine.
What is a basic healing tool we can all use?
To survive, we all need to love and be loved.
So big kind love is what heals. It’s about unconditional love, accepting yourself and others.
If your life was made into a movie, what would it be called and what would the soundtrack be?
I would call it, “Never Give Up”, preferably with happy music that I composed.
It’s important to just be yourself, be honest and be authentic. Heal thyself. And don’t forget humour, it’s all in how you see things, even from tragedy comes comedy.
Great News!
After 45 years of writing The Child, it was read at my mother’s funeral.
Unbeknownst to me, my husband found the poem and composed music to it solely on Ableton Live.
Kurt Uenala, Grammy nominated producer of Depeche Mode, did the additional mix and mastering. It was released on March 17th, 2022 to great reviews, here are a few:
MonkeyRat ft. Anna Sofía Skoradal: lança o single “The Child ft. Anna Sofía Skoradal”; confira
Check out Anna Iachino and her work at:
https://open.spotify/artist/2AL2RQ54OMH3K75jb6Bwwo
https://www.monkeyratmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/monkeyratmusic
https://www.instagram.com/monkeyratmusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuldWvVTxyFf5WdhrIfXe6Q
“I just try to tell a story with a song, and be able to try to transmit the emotion to you. That’s all I’m really trying to do.” Meshell Ndegeocello
“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.” Pablo Casals
Antoinette Giacobbe
