ABOUT
Multi-media Artist, Performer and Trader
Starting out
Self employed since the early ‘00s, Anto has diversified beyond his own expectations. Graduating from Norwich School of Art & Design in 1999 as a Graphic Designer / Illustrator. Work in this chosen field was not forthcoming. After only a couple of illustration jobs he was forced to take a more practical position as school caretaker, where his line manager was a great guitar player from Dublin in Ireland.
As Anto’s parents were Irish and he played a bit of guitar and liked to sing they got on well and Anto was encouraged to learn some traditional Irish folk songs. This was a point of no return for Anto and he has never looked back! His passion for performing traditional folk and the punk and pop songs he grew up with became his full time job.
The musical journey
He released his debut album ‘Never Had To Shout’ to critical acclaim in 2013. 2015 saw the release of ‘Patriotism Is Not Enough’ (The Edith Cavell Story) A five song CD, sung in the unaccompanied folk tradition. This work was picked up by Norwich Cathedral and the BBC, and Anto was asked to perform the opening song at the Cathedral for the Edith Cavell Centenary Service which was broadcast live as part of the BBC Radio 4 Morning Worship programme.
When offered some free studio time in 2016 and having nothing prepared he decided to just record some old songs he had written but never had the opportunity to record properly. He went in and literally rattled them off as he had performed them live with just acoustic guitar, then he had the idea to send these songs out to friends to overdub their ideas. The result was his ‘From The Vaults’ album which was released in late 2017.
A combined love of Folk & Punk
This combined love of Folk & Punk has been brought together in a number of ways by Anto and between 2016 and 2019 he
performed a small number of gigs (including Folk In A Field Festival and Kings Lynn’s Folk in The Town Festival) with ‘PunkFolkers’. A basic guitar, bass, drums line up with a classic 1977 Punk Rock sound, but using Traditional Folk melodies, lyrics and subject matter.
Punkfolkers have recorded an album due to be released sometime during 2026 or 2027 commemorating the 50th anniversary of the London Punk Movement. The album will be released on Vinyl & CD and all copies will have original one-off upcycled covers.
Reigniting a passion for creating Art
The pandemic changed so much for so many, and Anto once again was fortunate. He defaulted back to his Art School training and started to produce artwork he could sell online as well as upcycling old clothes and T-shirts with a very 70’s retro Punk aesthetic. In recent times, Anto continues to perform live, upcycle clothes and make Art that he sells through shops, Galleries, at Craft fairs and even car boot sales, maintaining the punk ethic that ‘If it ain’t cheap it ain’t Punk! VIEW ART
Folk festivals and events
Central Norfolk has been home to Anto since the late 90’s and in the village of North Elmham he has organised a number of festivals the last being The FAR (Folk & Acoustic Roots) Festival in 2019. This brought together folk artists from the London folk epicentre Cecil Sharp House and Local Norfolk artists and although a very successful weekend event Anto chose not try and repeat it in 2020 which turned out to be very lucky!
Anto has been loosely involved with Cromer’s ‘Folk On The Pier’ fringe festival for several years and in the past couple of years, has met a record dealer there. Anto has been a Vinyl collector for as long as he can remember, and so was invited to sell some of his collection at a record fair. Anto really enjoyed the inter-action with fellow collectors and so another ‘string to his bow’ was added.
The record dealer was involved with Cromer Community Centre and his wife decided to start promoting concerts at the centre. The acts she booked to perform there were legends from the Punk era. Now often performing solo on acoustic guitar,
Anto was the perfect warm up act . This has led to Anto having the pleasure of opening for some of his teenage favourites such as Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols, Edward Tudor-Pole also of the Sex Pistols and Tenpole Tudor, TV Smith of The Adverts and J.C. Carroll of The Members. VIEW UPCOMING EVENTS
That Little Norfolk Shop and Studio
About 5 years ago, Anto was invited to perform at a number of events being hosted by (a then) new Community Interest Company called ‘Clear Company’ based in Wymondham. This Company went from strength to strength and now boasts a community hub called ‘That Little Norfolk Shop and Studio’ where Anto performs regularly and sells a whole array of Art, crafts and music memorabilia and of course, records on vinyl, cd and even cassette tape.
Anto works in ‘That Little Norfolk Shop and Studio’ every Friday. During term time on Fridays at 2pm there is an after school club and the local High School kids descend on Anto’s domain to play pool and darts. In August 2024 Anto had the tip of his finger bitten off by a sausage dog! This put an abrupt stop to his guitar playing for several months, but not one to let the grass grow he started a guitar free band. Always wanting to do something different at his annual Folk in a Field weekend Anto Morra & the Kingdom performed for the first time in July 2025.
