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“I’m definitely not into goth music, I don’t even really know what goth music is” says Anna Calvi, the precociously talented singer and guitarist incorrectly tarred with the black brush by many in the past few months. In a voice so delicate you barely dare question her, she adds: “The whole goth thing is strange to me as it’s just not something I know about. I don’t feel I have to live up to anything, you can’t help people seeing what they want to see.”
Such is the quietness of Anna Calvi's voice it's easy to wonder just where the dominant figure, as seen with red-lips and a thousand yard stare in photos, comes from. The 28 year old Londoner says she essentially has a split personality and that the confident musical performance side of her emerges when she sets foot in front of an audience. “When I’m on stage I feel that I can express a different side of me that I can’t in day to day life.” she says tacitly. “I feel stronger and braver on stage, it feels very natural to me. People who know me can get a bit of a shock when they see me on stage.” Surprisingly however, Calvi is not at all nervous before live shows. “When I played my first ever show I was really scared but once I got up there I enjoyed it so much that any nerves went away. I don’t get nervous at all any more.” Though she does admit that “Sometimes I wish I could be the person I am onstage when I’m offstage.”
With her debut, self-titled album in shops this month, Calvi has found herself on the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll and won plaudits in both Brian Eno and Nick Cave. It's not hard to see why either as the lust-filled guitars and enigmatic croon combine, gifting her music both class and danger. Seen by many as the natural heir to P.J. Harvey's crown, Calvi herself says she is influenced more by Jimi Hendrix and, more often than not, subjects from outside of the obvious. “When I play guitar I like to imagine it’s a different instrument than the guitar and play it in a different way.” she says. “ I’m very inspired by orchestral music and I tried to show that on my album. I feel very connected to my guitar, it would be hard to put it down.” Calvi's unique thought processes have led her to a style of playing she says is far from traditional, claiming: “In terms of guitarists I’m inspired by Hendrix but I like imagining my guitar is something like a piano or a string section. I think that helps make more original music than just copying old idols.”
Anna Calvi - 'I'll Be Your Man' (live).
Inspired primarily by cinema, Calvi says things like “I like the idea of painting pictures with sound” at regular intervals and is a self-confessed perfectionist. Her album is packed full of drama, passion and a mannered sense of restraint. Calvi agrees, saying that the right amount of space in her music was a key element in creating the album. “I love space in music and it really means something to me. I’m like that in life as well, I speak when I have something important to say and I feel my music is the same.”
Calvi says she has learned a great deal through her friendship/ mentor relationship with Brian Eno, though the biggest compliment he ever payed her was when he refused to produce her album. Recalling the conversation, Calvi explains: “He said, 'You have your vision and you know what you’re doing so I don’t feel I can bring anything by producing you.'” Eno did however introduce her to Nick Cave at a dinner party where Cave duly invited her to support his band Grinderman. Asked what meeting, never mind eating with, Nick Cave was like Anna bashfully says, “Intimidating but very fun.” In a world where a web of online paper trails can reveal everything about an artist up to, and including, their eating habits an enigmatic and interesting character like Calvi is more necessary than ever. Her stories lie in her music, not her Twitter feed, as she creates a myriad of images and stories with just one stroke of her guitar and a burst of her potent voice. As she says herself, “I like a bit of mystery.” and who are we to disagree?
