Anna Phoebe - Interview

by Dan Worth

Shooting the breeze with a violin Goddess

"In the end the music is what it is. It can be played to 20,000 people or it can be played in a small pub in London accompanied by just a guitarist and it can have the same impact on people. That’s what makes it so exhilarating, that’s the inherent power of music."

The violin is an instrument on the up. From Operator Please to Los Campesinos! it can be heard at the forefront of many bands sound. So with the violin enjoying a proper rock revival New-Noise decided a chat with violin maestro Anna Phoebe was in order. Her music is built around her epic violin playing and as such features no lyrics – instead the sounds create dramatic, almost theatrical, pieces that are finished with interesting drum patterns and out and out rock drums. New-Noise enjoyed the irony then that the interview was conducted in Lyric Square, Hammersmith.

New-Noise: Hi Anna how’s it going? For people who might not be aware of what you do, could you give us a bit of a biography?

Anna: Hello New-Noise! Well I play the violin with many different bands – Jethro Tull, Oi Va Voi, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra – all over the world, and have done session work for the likes of Liberty X and Ronan Keating (yeah, less cool, but still!). I’ve played on stage as a backing musician at the Brit Awards and released my own work on a short EP entitled ‘Gypsy’ and I’m about to start recording my first full-length album.

I released ‘Gypsy’ a while back because people kept saying I should release my own stuff. It’s about 30 minutes and has an Arabic and middle-eastern sound that really gives it a different edge. But at the same time I made sure the pieces retained elements of the classic song writing structure, you know, intro, chorus, verse, middle eight, and so on, that people would recognize and be able to identify with so that it would be accessible to the listener. It’s very rocky though, several people have told me they often find themselves driving a little too fast when they listen to it!

NN: Do you think playing instrumental music and forgoing lyrics makes it harder to become noticed?

Anna: Possibly, but I think it has its positive too. The human voice can put people off sometimes and by not using words you’re letting the music capture people’s imaginations and that means, regardless of their background or beliefs, or even just their usual tastes in music, they can get into something that might seem inaccessible if a voice were to start singing.

NN: So is there enough scope for purely instrumental music in today’s music scene?

Anna: I think so. I love all that very instrument-driven music from people like Hendrix, The Doors, Zeppelin and although they did have lyrics lots of their songs featured long solos, that were in effect instrumentals, within the songs. However, you do have to stay in control of the pieces – when I was making my EP, or albumette as I call it, I was conscious of the need to make sure it was digestible to the listener and didn’t just feature endlessly long solos or over-the-top orchestras but that it stuck to a formulae people could identify with.

NN: Tell us a bit about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra you mentioned earlier.

Anna: Well I’ve been with them for about five years now and basically it’s this huge show that travels across America, (not Russia), playing a mixture of classical music, rock songs and popular pieces, but with a real theatrical bent. We have huge lights, lazers, amazing singers and guitarists, even the elevator stand that KISS used on their tour! It’s an absolute phenomenon in the States, and we regular play shows to 20,000 people.

NN: How come it’s not that well known in Europe then?

Anna: I don’t know. It’s strange because it’s one of the top 15 grossing shows in the world, up there with The Rolling Stones, and this is only touring for three months a year. The Americans really go for it but hopefully in time it will grow over in Europe too.

NN: What’s it like then, playing violin to 20,000 people, knowing they are watching your every move?

Anna: It’s the best thing in the world! Seriously, it’s the biggest adrenaline rush ever.  I was talking about this with Tom Morello (from Rage Against The Machine) in Berlin a few weeks back. He was saying when he’s playing and watching 60,000 people jumping around he’s thinking ‘this is so fucking cool’, and that’s exactly right really. It’s very addictive.

NN: What are your plans now then?

Anna: Currently I’m just about to start recording a new album of my own work in Holland and so I’ve been working on new pieces for that. I’m really looking forward to it – it’s going to have more of a heavy-metal edge than ‘Gypsy’ and it gives me a chance to get some great sounds from the violin - there’s even a heavy-metal version of The Godfather theme that we worked on which is pretty cool.

New-Noise was treated to an exclusive listen to this piece and can confirm it was indeed ‘pretty cool’.

NN: Having listened to that, and modesty aside, just how good are you at the violin?

Anna: Ha, well yeah I am good, I mean really good, but I’m not this untouchable virtuoso. I hate it when people compare me to classical violinists, I can’t do what they do, in the same way they couldn’t do what I do. In the same way I’ve heard people call me ‘the Jimi Hendrix of the violin’ which is a load of nonsense really. I am myself, like every musician out there, so while it’s a flattering comparison, it doesn’t mean much.

In the end the music is what it is. It can be played to 20,000 people full of lazers and lights or it can be played in a small pub in London  accompanied by a guitarist [Anna often plays around London with flamenco guitarist Byron Johnston] and it can have the same impact on people, and that’s what makes it so exhilarating, that’s the inherent power of music.


Anna Phoebe is playing a free gig at The Bedford Bandstand on Clapham Common on Sunday August 17th alongside a host of other artists.

Photo by Steven Jones
Joey said on August 14th 2008 [report abuse]

Anyone who has not seen or heard Anna Phoebe should definitely check her out. She is an incredibly talented and original (and beautiful) artist, musician and performer. In my opinion, she is the highlight of the mind-blowing TSO show.

Jeremy Worth said on August 15th 2008 [report abuse]

I have seen Anna at two recent Jethro Tull concerts and she is mesmerising! She brings exactly the right kind of high energy addition to JT which re invigorates their music (which, by the way is still as good as it gets). Ian still leaps about as he always has but you can't beat being young! I also chatted to her on both occasions and she is very gleeful and has an effervescent quality about her.

Steve Jones said on August 16th 2008 [report abuse]

It's been a privilege to have met, and slightly get to know Anna over the last two years. Everybody should go and see her play - it's a tomic, and the energy and vitality she brings to everything she touches is infectious. It's a true joy of living, a gift only given to a few.

Greg Wanee said on August 21st 2008 [report abuse]

Anna is an amazing talent and has the energy that mesmerizes audiences. How she is able to do it for 70 shows during a 3 month period is quite remarkable. She is a delight to talk to(and look at) and she always takes the time to talk with her fans. She doesn't settle on what she has done, but pushes herself to be better. We look forward to seeing her every year.

Cayce J. Walker said on November 9th 2008 [report abuse]

Anna you are great at playing the electric violin. I am in my schools strings alive and i'm playing the violin and one of my dreams is too become a great violinist like you. I went to your consert last night and I couldn't take my eyes of you. your music rocks my world. ps. i'm only nine

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