Antony Harding is an English

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

and musician from

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

. He grew up on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. He is best known as the drummer in London band Hefner, and has also played independently as ANT and now performs solo as Antony Harding.

Biography

Harding first appeared on stage in 1997 at the intimate

12 Bar Club The 12 Bar Club was a music venue in London that opened in 1994 on Denmark Street – known as Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" – just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho. Some of the most famous musicians and groups to play at the 12 ...

in London supporting 'London's best unsigned band' Rhatigan on a monthly residency. In the year 2000, Antony's first CD, '' Cures For Broken Hearts,'' came out on Fortune & Glory Records (UK) to positive reviews: "Likeable delicate stuff" said

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

, "An unexpected Joy", said

Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in Hoodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Mojo'' (2017 film), a 2017 Indian Kannada drama film written and directed by Sreesha Belakvaadi * '' ...

. The CD received airplay on

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hi ...

, leading to a solo session for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

in the summer of that year, featuring four acoustic versions of songs that would later appear on his debut album.Ant's official website The debut album, a collection of London home recordings called '' A Long Way To Blow A Kiss'', was quietly released in 2002 on Fortune and Glory Records. It was also warmly received: "Ant proves a delicate little joy", said

Teletext Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipped television sets. Teletext sends data in the broadcast signal, hidden in the invisible vertical blanking interval area at the to ...

, and "Scruffy, gorgeous notes-to-self" was how

described it. After relocating to Malmö, Sweden, ''Floating On The Breeze'', a

mini-album A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...

of home recordings was released on Italian label Homesleep Records (2003): "Charmed mini-album of ringing acoustic pop" said Uncut, "Pleasing bedroom rock" said the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

. Ant's first compilation CD of rarities and b-sides, ''Sad To See It's Morning'', emerged on Fortune & Glory in 2004 to positive words: "Beautiful acoustic nuggets" (

), "Sweet, charming, piquant pop gems" (

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

). The second album, '' Footprints Through the Snow'', was recorded in 8 days one hot summer in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Italy in 2004 and released in 2006 to rave Italian reviews: "Close your eyes and breathe it in", recommended ''Subba-Cultcha''. After a break of some years, another mini-album of home recordings, this time aided by friends, entitled ''These Long Dark Country Roads'', came out in 2009 on cult Spanish label Acuarela Discos: "Gorgeous lo-fi, acoustic pop songs" said ''Rock Feedback''. The third album '' The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me'', recorded with his old Hefner bandmates

Darren Hayman Darren Hayman (born 1 December 1970) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the writer, lead singer, and guitarist in Hefner. Since Hefner disbanded in 2002, Hayman has embarked on a prolific solo career releasing ...

, John Morrison and

Jack Hayter Jack Hayter is a British musician. He is best known as a multi instrumentalist with Hefner but is also an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter in his own right."", PLAYBACK:stl, 6 December 2005, retrieved 2011-07-06 Hayter also played with alt-co ...

, was released in March 2012 on Italian label ''We Were Never Being Boring'', and was hailed as "the album of the year 2012" by

Dandelion Radio Dandelion Radio is an internet radio station founded in June 2006 with the aim of pursuing the musical legacy of the popular and influential BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. The station takes its name from the record label Dandelion Records foun ...

's Mark Whitby. It was followed by a mini-mini-album of instrumentals entitled ''Only Pipe Dreams in the Pipeline'', in 2013, once again on the WWNBB collective of Italy, described as "A feast of frothy folk" by Soundsxp. Harding's fourth full-length album, ''By The Yellow Sea'', and his first under his own name, set sail in June 2015. Another instrumental release, ''The Goldfinch and Other Instrumentals'', came out on Christmas Day, 2017, on Black Candy Records and the long-awaited 'best of' ANT album featuring 15 tracks, ''Cry Your Little Heart Out'', was released in December 2019 on the WWNBB Collective. Antony has toured in England, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and China, where he celebrated his 100th solo performance in 2011. In 2018, Harding contributed a cover of ''Mother Sea'' to ''The Desperation Club,'' a tribute album to

Cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...

, which was released through

Audio Antihero Audio Antihero is an independent record label founded in October 2009 with a South East London base, now located in New York. They have been the subject of several radio BBC, PRI and international radio stories. The label has released titles f ...

Antony Harding discography

* ''A Soft Place'' (Split 7-inch single with

Black Kitten Records, Italy 2009) * ''Only Pipe Dreams in the Pipeline'' (Digital mini-mini-album, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2013) * ''(This is Just) the Calm Before the Storm'' (Digital single, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2014) * ''Walk With No Real Place To Go'' (Digital single, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2015) * ''Once You Had A love (But The Love Refused To Grow)'' (Digital single, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2015) * ''By The Yellow Sea'' (CD album, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2015) * ''True Love (Under Sheets Of Rain)'' (Digital single, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2016) * "The Goldfinch and Other Instrumentals" (Digital album, Black Candy Records, Italy 2017)

ANT discography

* ''I Hope You'll Always Be There'' (7-inch single, Evil World Records, UK 1999) * ''Where Happiness Begins'' (3 track CD, Fabulous Friends Records, Sweden 1999) * '' Cures For Broken Hearts'' (CD mini-album, Fortune & Glory Records, UK 2000) * '' A Long Way To Blow A Kiss'' (CD album, Fortune & Glory Records, UK 2002) * ''Floating on the Breeze'' (CD mini-album, Homesleep Records, Italy 2003) * ''Mountains (Imprints of Emotion EP)'' (Split 7-inch EP, Zenith/Smudgey Records, Sweden 2003) * ''Sad to See It's Morning'' (CD compilation album of singles and rarities, Fortune & Glory Records, UK 2004) * '' Footprints Through the Snow'' (CD album, Homesleep Records, Italy 2006) * '' Footprints Through the Snow'' (CD album, Avant Garden Records, Taiwan 2006) * ''When Your Heart Breaks (Into Many Little Pieces)'' (Split 7-inch single, Let's Expect Art Records, Sweden 2006) * ''I Couldn't Remember the Dream'' (Split 7-inch single, Black Candy Records, Italy 2006) * ''These Long Dark Country Roads'' (CD mini album, Acuarela Discos, Spain 2009) * ''When The Morning arrives'' (Digital album of out-takes and rarities, Antsongs, Sweden 2009) * '' Footprints Through the Snow'' (CD album, Pocket Records/Sounds Good, China 2011) * ''Kisses on a Plate'' (Digital single, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2011) * '' The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me'' (CD album, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2012) * ''Cry Your Little Heart Out'' (Digital best of album, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2019) * ''Kisses On A Plate'' (CD EP, We Were Never Being Boring, Italy/USA 2021) Ant's official website discography page

Radio sessions

* 12/08/2000 - P3 Live

Sveriges Radio P3 Sveriges Radio P3 (P3) is a Contemporary hit radio, semi-mainstream CHR/CHR Alternative-formatted station operated by Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio. The P in P3 originally stood for Program (''Pro ...

. Live in concert at the Emmaboda Festival, Emmaboda, Sweden: ''You've Lost Your Appeal/The Queue To Your Heart/Where Happiness Begins/Not Sleeping The Same Way/The Cure For Broken Hearts/I Hope You'll Always Be There/Fly On Your Wall'' * 12/10/2000 -

John Peel Session John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. Producer: Simon Askew. Engineer:

Ralph Jordan James Ralph "Shug" Jordan ( ; September 25, 1910 – July 17, 1980) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He served as the head football coach at Auburn University from 1951 to 1975, wh ...

. Recorded at

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

4 on 26/07/2000:''History/Any Girl Can Make Me Smile/Maybe Love Will Return/The Trick'' * 05/2003 Giovanni Gandolfi, Radio Citta Del Capo, live session, Bologna, Italy: ''You’ve Lost Your Appeal/Cry Your Little Eyes Out/The Queue To Your Heart/The Silence Has Broken/I Always Hurt The One That I Love/Not Sleeping The Same Way/The Cure For Broken Hearts/Any Girl Can Make Me Smile'' * 05/2004 Giovanni Gandolfi, Radio Citta Del Capo, live session, Bologna, Italy: ''A Long Way To Blow A Kiss/Blame It On The Language/When Your Heart Breaks (Into Many Little Pieces)'' * 2004 - Krister Bladh, Tandem Pop Radio, live song & interview, Lund, Sweden: ''Haven't You Got Anywhere Left You Can Run To?'' * 04/2006 - Giovanni Gandolfi, Radio Citta Del Capo, live session, Bologna, Italy: ''Change with the season/Those memories/Haven’t you got anywhere left you can run to/I couldn’t remember the dream/Your heart got bored'' * 08/03/2006 - The Glass Shrimp Show,

Resonance FM Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians' Collective (LMC). The station is staffed by two permanent staff members, including Chief Executive Officer Peter Lance ...

live session, London: ''When Your Heart Breaks (Into Many Little Pieces/In Your Dreams/Haven’t You Got Anywhere Left You Can Run To/Up Sticks And Go'' * 09/03/2006 -

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

BBC6 BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

session, London: ''Haven’t you got anywhere left you can run to/Those memories/Change with the season/We didn’t move a muscle'' * 03/2007 - Jean Luc, Radio Onda D'urto, live session, Brescia, Italy: ''Slipped Away/Up Sticks And Go'' * 03/2012 -

Mark Whitby Mark Whitby (born 29 January 1950) is a British engineer, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (2001-2002) and former Olympic canoeist. He co-founded the multi-disciplinary engineering practices Whitby & Bird (later known as whitbybi ...

session:''Hand-Me-Downs/Light This Love And Watch It Burn/Where’s My Love (Caroline cover)/Fireworks In This Small Town Tonight''Dandelion Radio website * 05/05/2012 - Minimal Radio, Mini Cat Radio session,

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China: ''Black Swans On The Water/When The Robin Spreads His Wings And Sings/Oh What A Day (Oh What A Night)''

External links

curesforbrokenhearts official websiteHefnet Hefner official websiteAnt's myspace pageJohn Peel Sessions BBC Radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Antony English drummers English male drummers English male singers English male songwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people)