Acclaimed spoken word artist Antony Szmierek to appear in Bradford at Contains Strong Language festival
Antony Szmierek has had an interesting couple of years and what can legitimately be described as a meteoric rise. Just 18 months ago the critically acclaimed spoken word artist and musician was still a full-time high school English teacher working at a college for school leavers with special educational needs.
In February this year his debut album Service Station at the End of the Universe was released to rave reviews, over the summer he appeared at a number of festivals including both Hay and Glastonbury and next week he is one of the headliners at Contains Strong Language, the BBC’s annual celebration of poetry, performance and spoken word which this year takes place in Bradford as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
“I think of all this as a complete accident,” says the 34-year-old Mancunian who, when we chat over the phone, is relaxed, self-deprecating, funny and eloquent. “I loved teaching and as far as I was concerned, I was going to be a teacher forever. I’m not a mega celebrity but things have changed and you do give up elements of your anonymity. It’s been a lot to take on board.” He still lives in Manchester – “well, that’s where my stuff is, I’ve been mostly living in Travelodges,” he jokes – and has no plans to uproot any time soon.
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His spoken word pieces are lyrical nuggets of perfectly distilled emotion, exploring the profound and the everyday with a deft lightness of touch. Themes include grief, loss, heartbreak, love but also graffiti on the M60 and the fate of the Stockport pyramid building, all laced with a nice line in dry Northern humour and sometimes a touch of surrealism. These resonant, relatable missives from the modern world are set to propulsive dance music and have a wide appeal, speaking to a diverse audience of all ages. Szmierek started out on the gig circuit, then gained a huge following on social media; he has also appeared on TV on Later… with Jools Holland and his work is played regularly on BBC Radio 6 Music. He sees a continuum between his former career and what he is doing now. “They are both different kinds of performance,” he says. “Especially with a live show you are trying to do the same things as teaching a class – it is about communicating with people.”
While he admits that the recent attention he has received can be a bit overwhelming at times, he says he feels “very lucky” for having found himself in the position he is now. And he has his feet firmly planted on the ground. He is glad that he found fame relatively late. “I don’t know how I would have coped as a 19-year-old,” he says. “I know that this could be taken away from me at any time, so I’m just trying to enjoy it and stay in the moment.” Being out in nature is helpful. “When I am back at home, I go for a walk every day by the river. There is a heron I go and talk to – metaphorically and sometimes literally. I don’t listen to music while I am out walking, I try to listen to the birds and the sound of the water. A lot of my songs are about slowing down and living in the present, so I remind myself of that.”
His first EP had the title Poems to Dance To which is a pretty accurate description of what he does. “That was reclaiming the poetry,” he says. “It would be difficult to classify them as a song or a rap. I have been working on writing the second album and a few of them are a bit ‘songy’. This is my constant battle – between it being a song or a poem, but I quite like that they are incongruous.”
Szmierek has been genuinely moved by the response to his work. “At Glastonbury the love from the audience was pretty amazing, it was really emotional,” he says. “I came off stage in tears which is something I do fairly regularly. Hearing all those people singing your words back to you felt very special. It’s something I will remember forever.” He says that people contact him often to tell him how his work has helped them through a break-up, a loss or bereavement. “There is something in the songs that brings them comfort. It is a responsibility but that’s the point and it’s really nice that it connects with people on that level.”
Antony Szmierek is performing at St George’s Hall, Bradford on September 19.
He also appears in the live recording of Front Row, St George’s Hall, September 18. Contains Strong Language runs September 18-21. Tickets bradford2025.co.uk