There’s an interview with Anni Rossi up on Tiny Mix Tapes today where she talks about going from playing chamber music on her viola to making pop/rock music of her own, and how her tastes evolved:
I’ve always loved pop music more than classical music, from when I was little. But I think that’s natural. I mean, that transitional point when I really started writing music and transitioning out of classical music was when I was playing chamber music, like quartet music. I really liked Bartók and more contemporary composers. Then I discovered Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk — that was maybe like 5 years ago. My musical taste now has really ranged from somebody like Modest Mouse — I really like their recordings — and, like, Black Sabbath I’ve been really into lately.
Anni’s musical career has been fairly unconventional, and she does things by her own plan–viola is her central instruments, she plays it by plucking and tapping it more often than she does with a bow, she performs solo and keeps time by stomping, she built her following by touring constantly, playing acoustic shows in houses and non-club spaces, and until recently, she released her own albums. Her new album, Rockwell, is on 4AD.
Here’s her covering “Creep” by Radiohead
and here is her performing outside in the winter time: