ANOHNI Discusses Surprise Oscar Nomination

Photo by Inez & Vinoodh

Among the surprises of this morning’s Oscar nominations was the Best Original Song nod ANOHNI (f.k.a Antony) received for “Manta Ray,” her collaboration with J. Ralph from the documentary Racing Extinction. (The film, directed by Louie Psihoyos in collaboration with the Oceanic Preservation Society, explores humanity’s role in mass extinctions.) Pitchfork hopped on the phone with ANOHNI to discuss the nomination. Asked if she had any idea it was coming, ANOHNI simply said, “No, I didn’t know.”

Pitchfork: How did you first get in touch with the filmmakers, and how did this song come from that? 

ANOHNI: The songwriter Josh Ralph asked me to write a track that he did for a film by the people that made The Cove, and I was a fan of the film The Cove. I felt lucky to be doing something on this subject matter, because it’s one that is close to my heart. He showed me some footage from the film, and I thought it was quite provocative—about how manta rays have been, in the last two years, hunted for the Chinese traditional medicine market, for their gills. It was kind of a provocative section of the film that he showed me, and then I just responded with the lyrics and the melody.

JG: The themes are very similar to what you’re going to explore on your upcoming album Hopelessness, it seems. Did they feed into each other?

ANOHNI: I’ve been working on both of them over the last year. Obviously, ["Manta Ray"] is much closer to the aesthetic of my previous work. “4 Degrees” is also about global warming, but it’s with a very different point of view. 

JG: The song soundtracked some footage of the film that was projected onto the Empire State Building this summer. Were you able to see that? 

ANOHNI: I saw a lot of documentation of it, but I wasn’t there when it was up. It was really cool.

Pitchfork: Have you been approached to perform or attend the ceremony?

ANOHNI: No, I really don’t know much about it.

Pitchfork: Do you have any feelings about the Oscars in general? 

ANOHNI: I really liked the Mad Max remake—kind of cool to see that nomination. I don’t know that much about the Oscars, to be honest with you. I come from a really different world.

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