ANDY GOODWIN
JULY ARTIST FEATURE
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JULY ARTIST FEATURE 〰️
If it wasn’t prior to today, you may know Andy for his cheeky, naughties-inspired indie pop tracks - suitable to soundtrack all your favourite romcoms). However, reflecting on the first few years of his career, Andy gives us an insight into how he feels both himself and his music are evolving, into something more exciting and experimental than ever.
Just two days before heading down to Worthy Farm to perform at Glastonbury with Spotify, Andy dropped by our studio to perform an exclusive cover and acoustic rendition of his upcoming single and have a chat about all things life, music and Manchester.
So andy, how has life been since the release of fred perry girl?
Andy - ‘Good, Cool. It’s kinda put me in a position where I can be seen as a musician, rather than just a lad, whose writing tunes. Maybe taken a bit more seriously? Done loads of shows, been in way more sessions, been writing loads more songs. Taken a year off to re-define what I want my music to be and sound like - and now I’m ready to just come back with a bang.’
we first saw you supporting balancing act at the deaf institute a few years ago, on your own without a band. if you could give your then self some advice, what would it be?
Andy - ‘Stick at it… You’re on somewhat of a path… It might not be the right path but follow it. There will be an avenue that will suit you eventually - take that. Keep going. Keep your head down, and have fun (mainly). Oh, and look after Balancing Act, because they’re good friends… Have a good time.’
‘The early shows when it was just me with a guitar had so much less production, a lot of the shows were carried by me telling stories about these songs or like trying to have a laugh, alongside the music. But now, the production value of the show is so much better as I play with a full band, but I’ve still got elements of the talking and the chattiness and the anecdotes (that you only learn from the shit one-man shows at the start). You really cut your teeth and figure out how to play to a crowd.’
How do you think moving to London helped / hindered you as a musician?
Andy - ‘It’s a bit of both really. I can’t live at home anymore; I have to work all the time to be able to pay my rent. But also, I think without moving to London, I wouldn’t have played the shows or met the people that have put me in the position that I’m in now. So as much as it’s fucking rough sometimes, and lonely, and because you’re always skint and then working and rehearsing all the time – it’s a very love-hate relationship. But I still love Manchester. I want to move back to Manchester eventually.’
Obviously, you had the opportunity of being younger and experiencing the music scene in Manchester at the time, how do you think the music scenes compare in London to Manchester?
Andy - ‘Nobody wants to go to gigs in London anymore. Well, I think they do, but it’s not treated the same. Like, I remember going to gigs in Manchester when I was younger and we’d have a proper night out and everybody would jump around and get really fucked and that would be the point in going. But I’d say London gigs are cool, but Manchester crowds are unmatched. ‘
Is there anywhere in particular you could see yourself playing a headline show in Manchester?
Andy - ‘Up here? Anywhere probably haha. Actually, maybe Gorilla? It’s quite big though. Or maybe even the Ritz? I did the Ritz with The Twang and it was great. But that’s like way further down the line.’
Holly - ‘Who would you have as your like dream supports if you were to headline the Ritz?’
Andy - ‘Haha, just my mates. I don’t know who I’d pick, this is a big question. I’d definitely get Madame Claude on. And then, it would probably be Balancing Act, but they’d probably be way bigger than me haha.’
If we go back to the first EP, you had the success of Fred Perry Girl following your every move and it felt like everyone was growing impatient for a larger body of work to be released. How important was it for you to be able to give your fans that?
Andy - ‘It felt like I was proving that it [the success of Fred Perry Girl] was backed up and there was an actual body of work to show off. It’s not just potluck, there’s not just one thing and it’s not just TikTok. There is hard work, and I could turn out 20 minutes of work. And then the next EP basically came from playing the previous EP live and figuring out some of the songs didn’t quite carry over to sounding good live or like getting a good reaction from the room. Whereas the second EP was written more with the intention of gigs being great and getting people jumping around and singing back to me. I can’t remember who said it to me but someone said “if you want to play to big rooms, you’ve got to write big songs”, which I kinda took into this EP, and the songs feel way more like stuff you’d grab your mate with and shout and dance. The music I write is very much appeasing my younger self and writing tunes I would’ve enjoyed as a teenage going to gigs.’
‘Peace was the first gig I bought a ticket to with my own pocket money at Academy 2, and I remember that being the best night of my life when I was younger. It’s so different now. Tickets are too expensive, bands can’t afford to go on tour anymore, so it’s just a once in a year opportunity. And then if you don’t have the money at the time you can’t go. I don’t know if people are making as many bands or playing as many gigs anymore. You can’t just walk into a random pub and there’ll be a band on, and I feel like that used to happen all the fucking time.’
‘I think TikTok and Instagram are both huge helps and I would not be where I am without them. But you know you’re being filmed. It’s almost like you’re asking people to be fans instead of letting them chance walking in and making their own mind up, which is always a weird thing to navigate. But I don’t know, we’ve done gigs where people don’t know who I am and still seem to enjoy it. Social media is obviously a huge fucking part of the industry now, so you know. I’d love to just be on tour all the time and that be the way of gaining fans, but it’s just not like that anymore.’
Thinking about the new EP, what can people expect?
Andy - ‘The songs are much more authentic to me, I think. I’ve taken time to sit back and realise what I liked about the first EP and then what I would’ve wanted to chance. It’s all just been much more thought out and written with more intent. Also, from playing loads of live shows we’ve been able to figure out what works well and what doesn’t. I want people to come away from an Andy Goodwin gig and have had fun and be really sweaty from jumping around, so to get those gigs you have to write the songs that match that energy. But also, they’re a lot more introspective and meaningful to me, which if they mean something to the singer, the crowd resonates way more. It’ll be nice to show people a new side to me, as well as the old stuff.’
Do you think it’s important to please your audience or satisfy yourself as the artist?
Andy - ‘Please yourself as an artist, I think. Definitely. If you’re not getting excited about what you’re doing anymore and you feel like you’re doing it for someone else, you’ve lost it. And I also feel like if you’re putting out something that’s more true to you and your fans want something else, they shouldn’t be your fans. Your fans should be there to support your direction and ultimately you. I feel like the second you start writing with the intent to please people and not yourself, you’ve lost your way. Which is kinda why I took this year off, as I felt I was going down the path of doing what other people wanted me to do and not what I wanted to do.’
As we are called Pass It On, we ask all of our artists to pass a question on to our next interview.
Your question is from the guest list, they asked: What is your least favourite song you’ve written?
Andy - ‘Funemployed. It was just something where I thought I was doing it for something else and not me and it just flopped haha. I was young and stupid and it was one of the first songs I wrote. At the time I thought writing music was just this whole having a laugh sort of thing. But, if I hadn’t had the hate on that song, I wouldn’t have taken that step back and started writing songs I wanted to write for myself, which are way more introspective. So, I kind of credit it for where I am now, whilst not looking back at it that fondly haha.’