Janel and Anthony

JANEL AND ANTHONY are a Washington D.C. based duo whose elegant experimental music has been featured on NPR and the BBC, and have gained the attention of some of the worlds most important improvisers and musicians. Established in 2005 in Vienna, Virginia, they recorded their debut album “Janel and Anthony” in 2006 and have sold thousands of copies at the countless shows they've played since. After exhilarating and exhausting years on the move—touring, collaborating and recording—the pair has finished their second album “Where is Home,” an ethereal effort soaked in the apprehension and excitement of wanderlust.

“Where is Home” was recorded over three years to two-inch tape at The Brink, an analog studio outside Washignton, D.C. It was engineered by Mike Reina and Mixed and Mastered by Mell Dettmer in Seattle, WA. Additionally, Janel and Anthony worked with Nick Anderson at Inner Ear Studios and Kevin Gutierrez at Assembly Line Studios. The album represents a departure from their first record, featuring compositions intermingled with improvisational work, more evocative of the style of their live shows.  As Janel puts it, “Where is Home is symbolic of a kind of crossroads for us. We finally settled on a studio to work and create in, and Anthony and I were stretching beyond our musical reach in this period, which was a beautiful and sometimes painful experience.” Anthony adds, nodding, “We really took our time in developing the material on this album and took every measure to make sure every idea was very clear. We also allowed ourselves to mature as musicians so our voices on our instruments were developed further.” Though the themes of the album are restlessness, homesickness and feelings of disorientation, the music itself is deft and focused—a vivid, dynamic offering that shimmers with the consummate professionalism of two expert musicians.

Janel and Anthony is the collaboration of cellist Janel Leppin and guitarist Anthony Pirog, two extremely prolific musicians in their own right. A classically trained cellist, Janel has worked with Kyp Malone's touring band Rain Machine in Europe, Oren Ambarchi on his upcoming solo album for the label Touch, and Eyvind Kang on an album to be released on Steven O'Malley's Paris-based label Ideologic. She has worked in very versatile situations from touring with a Croatian vocalist, playing in hundreds of stone and wooden churches around the world to recording with Carla Bozulich's band Evangelista to being invited twice to perform at the international experimental music festival High Zero in Baltimore, MD. Additionally, Janel studied Hindustani classical music in Delhi, India and in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She also studies and performs classical Persian music and improvisation in various styles including jazz, free improvisation, and experimental genres. Furthermore, she plays electric bass in rock, ambient, and surf genres.  A lifelong musician, Anthony is a Jazz guitarist by training, educated at New York University and The Berklee College of Music. He has studied and performed jazz, country, fingerstyle guitar, old time music, experimental music, free improvisation, free jazz and surf. Anthony has performed with Elliot Sharp, Mary Halvorson and recently released an album with ex-Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in their collaborative rock group Skysaw. Anthony started Sonic Mass Records in 2009 to document his work as a solo artist and has since released 5 recordings.

Playing as Janel and Anthony, the two have played extensively in the Washington D.C. Area, particularly at Galaxy Hut in Arlington, VA. They've embarked upon tours of both the East and West Coasts as well as the Midwest and in October 2010 enjoyed a residency at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn. They've shared bills with such acts as Fennesz, Andrea
Parkins, Kyp Malone, Eugene Chadborne, Susan Alcorn, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzman, Marshall Allen, Mary Halverson, Jessica Pavonne and they collaborated with visual artist Tom Parsons and Liquid Light Lab's Steve Pavlovsky of Brooklyn, NY.