Full discography: 26 singles, from Rédemption: Un Voyage À Travers L'Inconnu (2024) to Five Movements, Fourre Tout, SBC Sweet Black Cock and Cages You Can't See (November 2026), on every major platform: Spotify · Apple Music · Amazon Music · YouTube Music · Deezer.
New & coming soon
new singles · full listen · tap a cover to play · tap a title for lyrics and sharing
You can also open individual lyrics using the lyrics & share button beside a track, where available.
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About
~/about
Jonathan Anderson is a singer, songwriter, lyricist and writer. The written word is at the centre of the work: lyrics are drafted as text before they become songs, and the same voice runs through the music and the prose.
Early in life, Jonathan worked as a model and extra for Orlando Galletta in Montreal in 1984.
Jonathan's first time on screen came as a teenager, in the National Film Board of Canada documentary series Listen to Us… (1991), directed and produced by Sally Bochner and Wolf Koenig.
Jonathan also owns PVT Hostel, a grassroots hostel in Montreal: a meeting point for travellers that also feeds the stories in 101 Ways to Die in a Hostel.
Outside music and writing, Jonathan works in software and brings an engineer's precision to the craft: structure, revision, and nothing wasted on the page.
Coach · clothing & costume designPeter Defreitas, his coach and the designer of his clothes and costumes
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Timeline
~/timeline
How the story got here, in photos and milestones.
Before 1981
His parents · Restored photo-booth pictureHis parents · AI-styled portrait from a photo-booth picture
1981
1983Birthday, with his cousin Linda · Restored photo
1984
Model and extra for Orlando Galletta, Montreal.
1986
His father died of cancer.
1991
On screen in the NFB documentary series Listen to Us…. Watch the film ↓
1990s
Lip-sync technician, audio dubbing and post-synchronisation, at Softimage in Montreal (later Avid Softimage). A brief job.
1990s
ADR director at Cinélume, Montreal: audio dubbing and post-synchronisation.
1996Circa 1996
1998Fort Worth, Texas
1999–2003
Business Administration, Audrey Cohen College (now Metropolitan College of New York).
2001
Before 9/11: the innocence of that life was blissful, with its growing pains.
28 August 2001 · Restored photo28 August 2001 · Restored photo29 August 2001 · Restored photoAudrey Cohen College, New York · 13 October 2001 · Restored photo After surviving the 9/11 attacks, he chose to stay and build his life in New York.
2004His mother with Michel Louvain, the popular Quebec singer · Restored photo
2005I ❤ NY
2006
His niece, Skye Whitman, died at 18 when her car struck a collapsed section of road in Worthington, near Sudbury. The grief broke part of the family apart.
2009Running Explorers House on the Upper West Side, New York, and pursuing the arts
2011Practice: singing at home, 2011 (30 seconds)
Date unknownWith Karla, a guest who reminded him that life is worth laughing at
2023
On 23 August 2023, on the Plateau in Montreal, he survived an attempted murder. He cut three tendons in his hand taking the knife from his attacker. Playing the piano and string instruments became much harder, so he turned to his voice.
Recovery. He turned the suffering into art, taking survival and death to another level of existence: he dictated the stories that became 101 Ways to Die in a Hostel.
2024With Fahd Berbiche, co-producer of his first three songs, Longueuil, Expulsion and Queue de Poison, and of his first release, Rédemption: Un Voyage À Travers L'Inconnu · July 2024
After a decade of writing lyrics and songs, he decides to release the bulk of his work, convinced by his coach Peter Defreitas that he is ready.
2026
Every Rhythm released on Impact Narrative Records.
2026
The first four books of 101 Ways to Die in a Hostel are scheduled for publication through IngramSpark, available to order worldwide through its network of more than 40,000 retailers and libraries.
101 destinations, 101 deaths, and a world of bad ideas. A darkly funny thriller series for anyone who has ever chased a cheaper bed, a wilder night or a story worth telling. Written by a Montreal hostel owner who knows exactly what can go wrong.
103 books in all: 101 deaths, plus a series hub and a grand finale. Editions rolling out through 2026–2027.
status: store links (Amazon, Kindle, Books-A-Million, Audible) are added as each edition goes live.
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Book Jonathan
~/booking
Available to speak at conferences, festivals and special events, and to perform.
Licensing, publishing, casting, press and rights enquiries use the same form, so nothing gets lost.
Keynotes, panels, workshops and private events. His central talk is a survival story: in 2023 he survived an attempted murder, cutting three tendons in his hand as he took the knife from his attacker. Playing the piano and string instruments became much harder, so he turned to his voice, and during his recovery he dictated the stories that became 101 Ways to Die in a Hostel.
Other talks draw on the craft behind the work: writing as the foundation of song, the voice as instrument, and what code and lyrics teach each other about structure and revision.
travel: available across Canada, Europe and South America · languages: French, English, Spanish
Conference keynote
Panel / fireside chat
Workshop / masterclass
Special event / performance
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News
~/news
Updates on music, books, film, and performances.
Inside Cutting Board: exploring 20 stories for the screen
The first twenty books in 101 Ways to Die in a Hostel form a slate of potential screen adaptations. Explore the stories, discover storyboard studies for books 1–4, and view producer pitches for the first five projects as they become available. Live action, animation, and hybrid approaches remain under exploration. Explore Cutting Board →
No Safe Country enters pre-production
No Safe Country is in pre-production, with a target release in 2027. Further creative and production updates will follow as the project develops. Explore Film & Visuals →
Official site launched
jonathanandersonproductions.com is now the official home for A. Jonathan Anderson's music, lyrics and writing.
26 singles since 2024, 23 of them in 2026, including If I Stand Still My Demons Catch Up and Toujours Dans Mon Coeur. Apple Music ↗
Every Rhythm: first listen
The album: eleven songs written and directed by Jonathan Anderson, produced, mixed and mastered as President Anderson. Released on Impact Narrative Records. Impact Narrative Records ↗
Sugar Daddy, Except I Can't Breathe, Just to Say I Love You, Just Wanna Be A Kid, Mirrorball Circuit, New York to LA, Sorry, Spin Me Like a Ballerina and Stupid Games (Reworked). Listen in full
Film, photography and animation. Each project's credits say how it was made: conventional, AI-generated or a combination. Appearances are listed apart from acting roles.
Film
Film projects
in pre-production:No Safe Country, a film · target release 2027.
On screen
documentary appearance · 1991 · 31 min
Telling It All
Listen to Us, Part 1 · National Film Board of Canada
Teenagers from diverse backgrounds open up to an on-camera counsellor about the realities of growing up. Jonathan Anderson appears in the film.
Potential screen adaptation · Format under exploration
A Portuguese-era villa on the cliffs of Goa, fourteen gas cylinders under the terrace, and a New Year's Eve vindaloo cook-off streamed live to millions.
Potential screen adaptation · Format under exploration
A six-storey trekkers' hostel in Kathmandu, twenty-two smart gas heaters, a yeti made of laundry, and a farewell party on the coldest night of January.
Potential screen adaptation · Format under exploration
A black-tiled party pool, a smart cover that seals it in ninety-four seconds, and a lifeguard who can't put her face in the water, in the week of Bali's Day of Silence.
Potential screen adaptation · Format under exploration
An 1896 Budapest tenement, a hundred and twelve motorised heritage windows, and a grand facade unveiling with an influencer standing on a pink chalk X.
Potential screen adaptation · Format under exploration
A 1961 stilt hostel under the busiest lightning storm on Earth, a brand-new copper art roof that leaks, and a storm-chaser who wants to sit right under the hole.
Cartoon illustrations of hostel life — the chaos, the characters, the stories.
Hello, Wi-Fi!Travel light, pack everythingFearless, the hostel's night managerFully booked, bigger clipboardThe volunteer chefA Cat-Signed Dinner BoardThe Suitcase Shopping BagThe Shopping List Takes OverHostel group chat chaosTwo hands, one hungry guestThe Cat Knows the WayDinner in a Teal SuitcaseBaguettes, Backpacks, and a Giant SuitcaseThe Hostel's Secret SauceThe Supervisor's Empty Treat JarThe seating plan unravelsFully booked, fully taggedA very unrelaxing playlistThe Napkin Swan LessonFour weather apps, one rainy planPlan B: Warm Lights, Shared DinnerA multilingual dinner mix-upThe Timer's Big MomentOne Pot, Four Ways to StirThe Fourth OpinionThe Cat Claims the ChairThe Hostel Cat TreatyThe speech can wait—dinner's readyThe Last Piece's Moving JourneyA quiet dinner says everythingTravel tales, one unexpected connectionFearless takes top billingHostel cleanup crew volunteersCheckout requires management approvalA Router Selfie SouvenirFully booked, fully connectedAfter-dinner group photoFully booked hostel chaosHostel life
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Passions
~/passions
What feeds the work.
// acting
The stage and the screen
A singer is already an actor: every song is a character with something to say. Acting is a passion Jonathan is drawn to for the same reason as lyrics, which is telling the truth through someone else's words.
on screenListen to Us… · National Film Board of Canada documentary series, 1991
// film
Story in pictures
Film is where writing, music and performance meet. It shapes how Jonathan thinks about a song: scenes, cuts, and the moment the music changes the meaning of the image.
in pre-productionNo Safe Country, a film · target release 2027
// dance
Rhythm in the body
Jonathan studied tango in New York City at Paul Pellicoro's DanceSport, the studio whose founder choreographed the tango in Scent of a Woman. A singer who has trained as a dancer hears a song differently: phrasing, tempo and the space between beats are things the body learns first.
// software
Building things that work
Jonathan builds software, including Phoenix and Bunkmate. Code and lyrics have more in common than people expect: both reward economy, rhythm and ruthless revision.
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Ventures
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Alongside the music and the books, Jonathan founds and runs companies, several of them large, long-term builds under constant development.
Works and credits by role with ISRC, ISWC and ISBN codes, his identifiers (ISNI, BOWI, artist profile IDs) and cross-references in public registries are on one page: Works, credits & identifiers ↗
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Find the work
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Music, books, the label and the software, all in one place.
status: store and streaming links going up shortly.