Andy has been playing since a young age (yes
he was young once!) and started out playing piano. He quickly moved
to the guitar as the piano was too heavy to lug
around.
Andy went through a baptism of fire by joining a show band
professionally for a year. Fed up with playing other people's
material, he left and formed a number of bands, mostly playing
original material he'd written in conjunction with different
lyricists.
Andy retired from playing for almost 5 years
in the early 90s. He was persuaded back to playing to raise money
for Great Ormond Street Hospital via a band made up of
work
colleagues in London with the snappy name of The Old Spice Boys. After numerous changes (Andy is the only original member), this band
eventually became the Maniac Street Cleaners!
Andy's influences are extremely varied and
range from classical, through jazz and right the way to goth metal.
He really enjoys playing the wide range of material covered by
The
Maniacs and more importantly, the audience focused approach of the
band. A Maniacs gig is all about the audience having a great night
out and not an ego trip for the band (oh really???? Ed)!
Andy also plays in a rock band called Q.
Since 2005, Andy has started writing again and
has written and recorded a number of songs. In August 2007 he
completed a concept piece based on the novel The Bridge by the
author Iain Banks. To see more about The Bridge and to hear
samples of the music
CLICK HERE!
