Anthony Collins
He started with skateboarding. Then at 18 he walked into a record shop and never fully left. Paris to Brooklyn, decks to label co-founder — he still sounds like someone who's been in the record shop all day.
"I came to a point in my career where I felt I needed to start from scratch and have total control of my identity and music. So starting a label was the best way to achieve that."
Born to an American father and French mother, raised between New York and southern France — Anthony Collins got his first taste of music in his father's jazz recording studio in Los Angeles. But it was teenage France that changed everything.
Discovering electronic music as a teenager in France, he acquired his first pair of decks at 17 and played his first gig the following year. The move to Paris came soon after — quickly establishing himself on the scene, booked regularly at the city's most prestigious nights, then taking his talents to Berlin, Ibiza, New York, LA, and beyond.
Collins describes his style as a mix of deep house, minimal, and deep tech. In 2009 he released his debut album Doubts & Shouts on Freak N' Chic, to the acclaim of Loco Dice, Raresh, Ellen Alien, and Shaun Reeves. His remix work has taken in Ricardo Villalobos, Lee Foss, Cesare Vs Disorder, and Bruno Pronsato.
In 2011 he co-founded Scissor & Thread with Francis Harris in Brooklyn — a label born from the need for total creative control and a clear vision he couldn't find anywhere else.
"When I discovered vinyl record shops — I would basically go there for hours every day when I was around 18. From there it's been a chaotic but inspiring journey."
What was it that first got you into music?
When I discovered vinyl record shops! I would basically go there for hours every day when I was around 18. From there it's been a chaotic but inspiring journey.
And house music specifically?
That was when I was 18 — before that, some punk rock and old-school hip hop. As I was big into skateboarding, my second passion was the soundtrack to that scene.
What was the catalyst that made you realise you were destined to produce?
Greatest inspirations or influences?
Huge fan of rock — loving the new electro rock pop scene (The xx, Husky Rescue etc.). On the non-music side: street culture, skateboarding, street art, a bit of a fashion freak. And a giant food freak — Paris is pretty much heaven for that.
Most memorable sets so far?
Always at Panorama Bar Berlin when I end up playing for hours and hours and hours. And the sets played at DC10 Ibiza — what a crazy place.
Best labels in your opinion?
Too many to mention — so much good music out there.
You started Scissor & Thread in 2011 with Francis Harris. What made you decide to enter the fragile world of running your own record label?
Favourite sites, blogs? Plans for summer?
Hate to admit this — but since I travel a lot and spend so much time at airports, I'll just say it's Facebook and sites like Resident Advisor. For clothing, I like to check directly at shops like Colette or L'Eclaireur Paris, Opening Ceremony — shit like that, you know.
Summer: too early to tell — but there will definitely be a lot of Ibiza.
Anything else you'd like to share?
Thanks for wasting your time reading some stuff on me — I wouldn't have done it myself! And as lame as this may sound, it's pretty much my ethos in life:
Always see the bright side of things. Trust me, there's always one. Life is so much easier that way.
"Always at Panorama Bar Berlin when I end up playing for hours and hours and hours." The room above Berghain. The room that tests everything you have.
"What a crazy place." Open-air, agricultural, legendary. The sets at DC10 are the ones that get told as stories for years.
"Always see the bright side of things. Trust me, there's always one. Life is so much easier that way."
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Antakly Projects is an independent platform dedicated to artists, musicians, photographers, designers, and thinkers at every stage — from emerging voices to established masters. Every interview is selected for depth, not reach.
"I had a clear vision of what I wanted for myself but could not find elsewhere."
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Photo Daniel Vesco