Andy Laird
The Blurb:
Andy can be described in one simple word: writermusiciansingerjourneymanamateurbowlingenthusiast. His music has been played on MTV and radio stations across the country including New York’s WFUV and WERS in Boston, which featured him as Artist of the Week. He has found himself in front of audiences in the US, Europe, and recently in a bar in Leon, Nicaragua performing his original music between singalongs of a genre most accurately identified as ‘Revolutionary Classics’.
The Bio:
Starting out as a singer, Andy decided to branch out from the lucrative A Capella market by teaching himself over the years to play the guitar and piano. His writing draws on a background that has always involved music but has incorporated many other interests and pursuits. He has spent time as a photographer in the Middle East, a street performer in Paris, and a classical actor performing Shakespeare and contemporary works across the country with several Tony award-winning companies. He has played the lead roles of Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Berowne (Love's Labour's Lost), the title roles of Hamlet and MacBeth, and performed with the original cast of Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project. For a year and a half, he assisted in the recovery efforts of The September 11th Fund, working with survivors and victims’ families. With a diverse background, Andy approaches music with a similar drive for exploration. His voice conveys a bare emotional intensity that is both powerful and vulnerable at the same time. Through intricately crafted songwriting he explores the themes of lust, loss, hope, insanity, and the common experiences of connection and isolation. After playing both as a solo artist and alongside some of the best musicians from the NYC jazz, avant-garde, funk, and alt-rock communities, Andy has a rotating lineup that can manage to fall off any size stage.
The Influences:
Andy and the band have been influenced by a varied assortment of artists both musical and beyond. They include Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Coltrane, Bill Withers, The Band, Sly Stone, John Bonham, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charlie Parker, Fela Kuti, Michael Ventura, Tom Waits, the film 'Baraka', David Bowie, Paul Erdos, Richard Wagner, James Brown, Henry Miller, Mos Def, Talking Heads, Sergei Eisenstein, Charles Mingus, Michelangelo Buonarroti, John Zorn, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Arvo Part, Richard Feynman, Elvin Jones, Lenny Bruce, U2, Patty Griffin, Prince, Friedrich Nietzsche, Peter Tosh, Buster Keaton, Stevie Wonder, Egon Schiele, Radiohead, Glenn Gould, Alan Moore, Jimi Hendrix, The Verve, Yo La Tengo, Marvin Gaye, and William Shakespeare.
The Playback:
‘A Portrait of 4am’ is Andy’s first full length album. Entirely recorded and mixed in the sleepless hours, Andy and Ziv Ravitz lost track of all time in Ziv’s small rehearsal space in Brooklyn. It was literally difficult to fit any other musicians into the room, so as others became involved, they each brought the tracks home with them to add their sections. Sometimes homework can feel more like recess.
‘Step Out Of Line’ is a 5 song EP recorded a few years back. Andy approached producer Dana Leong with a handful of songs he had been playing at solo gigs throughout the east village. Assembling some amazing musicians from the local scene, the band recorded five tunes in three days and still found time for being late.
The Favorites:
'Here, My Dear' by Marvin Gaye
'Fresh' by Sly and the Family Stone
'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere' by Neil Young
'Living With Ghosts' by Patty Griffin
'Quadrophenia' by The Who
Led Zep's first album
'Urban Hymns' by The Verve
'Gaucho' by Steely Dan
John Coltrane at The Village Vanguard 1961
Radiohead 'Kid A'
'Animals' by Pink Floyd
'In a Silent Way' by Miles
Al Green 'Call Me'
My Bloody Valentine 'Loveless'
Hall & Oates 'Abandoned Luncheonette'
Anything produced by Craig Street and Husky Hoskulds
Spearhead 'Home'
The Current Dig:
Betty Davis
Bon Iver
The Clientele
The Court and Spark
Tinariwen
The Long Winters
Mogwai and Isis
The live My Morning Jacket album
Roky Erickson
Sandy Denny
Roy Buchanan - the most honest guitar player I've ever heard
Best Concert Ticket Stubs:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Roseland
Joanna Newsom at BAM
Elvin Jones at Yoshi's
Radiohead at Giants Stadium
The Clientele at Music Hall of Williamsburg