The Audacious Life of Anna Domino
Born on a military base in Japan, Anna Dolory (born Anna Taylor) took an unlikely path before landing across the street from me in Los Angeles. A musician by trade, Anna experienced considerable success as an indie rock and pop artist in the 1980s, performing under the stage name “Anna Domino.”
Anna spent time in both Florence, Italy and Ann Arbor, Michigan as a child before moving to Ottawa, Ontario as a teenager. It was during this time that she discovered her passion for music. She cites Patti Smith, Brian Eno, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Tom Waits, T. Rex, and Gary Newman as major influences.
Despite this, her suffocating teenage years in conservative Ottawa ended in her expulsion from high school. In response, Anna took off hitchhiking across Canada, the US, and Mexico. She briefly worked towards a sound engineering degree at the Ontario College of Art and Design before winding up in New York City in 1977. During this time, she worked a number of odd jobs including plumbing and hat-making. She also rubbed shoulders with great artists of the time including the late Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In 1983, Anna put together a cassette which caught the attention of independent Belgian record label Les Disques du Crépuscule. After a short recording trip in Brussels, she returned to New York. The music from this trip later became her first studio release, the 5-song East and West (1984). The EP contains career highlights including a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Land of My Dreams” and “Zanna,” a collaboration with Belgian artist Luc Van Acker.
For the next several years, Anna would regularly return to Brussels. More releases followed, and soon she had gained a significant following in both Europe and Japan. In the same year she embarked on her first live tour, in Japan, along with other Crépuscule artists.
She followed this up with her first full-length album, the self-titled Anna Domino, in 1986. The album became one of the “major independent successes” of the year, buoyed by the popular single “Rythm,” and Anna embarked on a summer tour of Europe.
While in Europe, Anna met her future husband, Belgian producer and musician Michel Dolory. Along with well-known British sound engineer Flood (of U2 fame), the two collaborated on her second full-length album, This Time (1987). The album was the peak of her commercial success.
After the high production value of This Time, Anna chose to return to a smaller studio and put out a record with Michel as her only collaborator. “That felt better,” she said. The result was the 5-song Colouring in the Edge and the Outline (1988), which she cites as her favorite of her many records. She and Michel relocated to New York City full-time followed up with what was to be the final Anna Domino record, Mysteries of America (1990).
Unfortunately, Anna, like many other talented young artists, was the victim of a greedy and incompetent record label. She was never fairly compensated by Crépescule for much of her Anna Domino material and spent years trying to make things even before letting it go and, in her words, “choosing life.”
Rather than continue to record as Anna Domino, she and Michel trained their creative sights on a new venture, the experimental-folk duo Snakefarm. During this time, they briefly relocated from New York to the Mojave Desert. Released under a new label, the first Snakefarm album, Songs from My Funeral (1999), was recorded both in NYC and the desert. The influence of the desert is palpable in all aspects of the record. After realizing the desert was not for them, the couple relocated to Los Angeles in 2000. A decade later, they followed up with My Halo at Half-light (2011).
In the past decade, Anna has revived the Domino moniker to release multiple singles. She and Michel continue to record, and a rumored third Snakefarm album is in the works. Most recently, they recorded the song “She Keeps” while quarantined at her home in Los Angeles. The song is a cover, originally written by Anna’s friend John Hood, and is expected to be included on a planned re-release of her first album, East and West.
Below is a timeline of selected discography (so far) by Anna.
Anna and Michel have no plans to retire from music. Anna’s main goal for the future is to “finish something.” There is more Anna Domino material waiting to be released, as well as a full third Snakefarm album.
