Q&A: Antony Hegarty

Antony Hegarty was born in Chichester in 1971. He moved to the US with his family, and studied experimental theatre at New York University. In 1992, he founded Blacklips, a collective of radical performers with a residency at East Village's Pyramid Club, but then decided to concentrate on music and formed Antony And The Johnsons. Their debut album was released in 1998, and the follow-up, I Am A Bird Now, won the Mercury Music prize in 2005. Their new album is called Swanlights.

When were you happiest?
In 1977-78 my family lived in Amsterdam – that's when my life turned from black and white to colour.

What is your earliest memory?
Being in my parents' garden in Chichester and finding a dead bird and burying it in the sandpit.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I say things more than once.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Rage-aholism.

What is your most treasured possession?
A stone water fountain I bought for $25 on eBay. I drove out to Bellafonte in Pennsylvania and picked it up from someone's garden. It was crumbling and covered in wolf spiders.

Where would you like to live?
Among the Chumash along the California coast, circa 7000BC.

If you could bring something extinct back to life, what would you choose?
The Boskops.

Who would play you in the film of your life?
Someone transgendered. I am sick of how the movie industry has interesting gay or transgendered people (Harvey Milk, Allen Ginsberg, Candy Darling) played by heterosexuals. It feels like another kind of minstrel show to me.

What is your favourite smell?
Mossy redwood forest.

What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
Goth teenage girl.

What is the worst thing anyone's said to you?
When I lost my voice in 1997 and they couldn't tell me if it would come back.

What do you owe your parents?
Determination.

To whom would you most like to sorry, and why?
Two kids I teased in sixth grade.

What does love feel like?
A tremendous relief.

What was the best kiss of your life?
From a boy when I was 25 and working at Limelight. He was a very tough kid from the suburbs who liked to cross dress. When he kissed me, it was like being kissed by a cool fresh spring of water.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I used to say "horse's tits" a lot. It's similar to "poppycock" in meaning.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I would have been nicer to my family members as a pre-teen.

If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I would like to see Manhattan Island before it was sold to the Dutch.

How often do you have sex?
Twice.

What song would you like played at your funeral?
Half-Gifts, by Cocteau Twins (the BBC version!).

What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Jesus is a girl.

Tell us a secret.
People would sooner watch the natural environment collapse than transfer the responsibility of governance from men to women.