Andrew Roachford is an accleimd singer and piano / keyboard player, who aside from fronting his own outfit Roachford, is also an in-demand session musician and core part of the current line-up of Mike and the Mechanics. Before he hit Australia for a tour, we caught up with Andrew for a chat on all of...
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(00:00):
and a lot of people don't quite understand it like you play that night after night it'sjust an energy that gets me fired up and a glass of champagne
Hello and welcome to the Keyboard Chronicles, a podcast for keyboard players.
I'm your host, David Holloway, and I'm pumped as always to be here with you.
(00:24):
This episode, I had the huge pleasure of talking to Mr.
Andrew Roachford.
Now, Andrew had some limited time, but still managed to fit us in.
It is one of the shorter interviews, but we do pack quite a bit in.
If you're unaware of Andrew's work, he has had a highly successful career as a soloartist, part of the act Roachford, which is essentially Andrew and some other musicians.
(00:46):
but also Andrew plays keys and does vocals with Mike and the Mechanics and has done awhole range of other collaborations over his career as well.
And we cover a little bit of that in the 20 minutes we do have to chat.
So yeah, Andrew was an absolute gem.
I think you'll enjoy this a great deal and I'll let you jump in.
(01:17):
It's an honour and a privilege to have you on the show, sir.
How are you?
Um fantastic, fantastic.
A bit knackered from literally just getting back from Mechanic's nearly 50 day tour.
And tell us just very briefly about that.
mean, 50 Dates is a big tour by any measure.
So how did it go?
(01:37):
I know you always get a huge reception with that band, but tell us about what that waslike.
It was amazing.
I've been working with Mike and the band for 14 years, but this was definitely by far thebest tour as far as how the band sounded and the audience response.
(01:57):
It was just amazing.
That's great.
And just very briefly, because we're going to move on to your tour right now, but yourkeyboard rig with Micahm the Canix, how's that set up for you?
I know you do a lot of playing throughout the show.
How's that set up for you?
Well, initially, because when I started working with Mike, I started co-writing andstraight away we got working together.
(02:20):
I was on the keys and he was on the guitar and he just liked my playing.
And when we got to playing live, we got another keyboard player in who I thought would bedoing, you know, most of the stuff, but Mike just liked my sound.
And so uh I'm pretty much playing through most of the gig with the other keyboard player.
(02:41):
the central parts like some called let me fly which is around the piano when there's apiano and a vocal and i'm singing it's i'm just playing the main piano and the other guy
is doing like strings and the the stuff on top if you know what i mean yeah so i'm igenerally play like electric piano piano sounds and all the more synthier stuff and
(03:02):
stringy stuff as the other guy mostly
Yeah, and we're zipping through these questions, but your musical upbringing, Andrew, asfar as what was your introduction to keyboards and led you into a career in the first
place in a sort of short and sharp way?
Well, in a short and sharp way, I come from musical family and my uncles and my dad andeveryone used to rehearse in a living room.
(03:24):
There was always a piano.
Wherever I lived, there was always a piano.
And by the time I was young as four, I started plonking away on the piano.
And my mum said, yeah, he obviously wants to do this.
Let's get him some lessons.
And it started there.
I started out with a private classical tuition for years, actually.
And then I got
(03:45):
I wanted to improvise and then that's when my uncle took me under his wing and did alittle bit of work with him, which was kind of like jazz and blues.
But the 12 bar was big part of what that was about.
No, amazing.
so let's talk about your tour.
Roachford are coming out to Australia starting next week, believe it is.
I know I'm coming to the Sydney show Saturday week.
(04:08):
It's been a while, I think, since you've been to Australia.
It's been a few years, it's been a few years.
I I've done like the odd thing over there.
I've even done some writing in Sydney and did a bit of co-writing with Jimmy Barnes of allpeople.
So I like going over, but I haven't been there for some years now, especially not with mymusicians that I'm bringing over.
(04:36):
really doing some of the older stuff.
I was doing a lot of my more newer stuff as well when I was there the last time.
So this is going to be interesting.
Yeah, look, and let's talk a little bit about the tour and obviously it is a Greatest Hitstour, but your most recent album, Then and Now, I find it amazing.
The continuity between your original work and this album is amazing.
(04:57):
You revisited versions that brought a whole new depth.
How did you actually approach the recording of that album and how are you sort ofapproaching this tour as far as that album goes?
Well, we approached it, you I was in the studio thinking, well, yeah, I want uh to revisitsome of the old songs, but with a new head, because some of those songs are like 30 years
(05:19):
old and, uh you know, a young Andrew, naive to the world and the experience that I havenow, be interesting to hear me singing it with, you know, my life experience.
It makes complete difference and uh with my band as they are now.
um
So yeah, that was part of the thinking of that, but also to tie it in with where I'm atnow, because I think writing me is about a creative process and not just sort of sitting
(05:48):
back and just playing the hits forever and ever, amen, you know?
And so it was tying those things in so that people got an idea of who I am now as anartist, you know?
So that's what the main mission was.
And we recorded it in a studio that had analog capability onto tape.
And just to give it...
uh bit of warmth, you know.
(06:08):
Yeah.
And look, let's use the song twice in a lifetime as an example.
I know you've mentioned the analog equipment, so you use lots of vintage equipment andtape.
How did that affect your playing compared to the modern methods you would have used backin the 90s when you were recording, I assume, digitally?
Yeah, well in the 90s I was still doing a bit of both.
(06:28):
I mean in the early 90s digital was still quite new and I remember I recorded an album GetReady and it was mostly digital but it was on a machine called a Mitsubishi and you know I
recorded two songs on tape and they're still my favorite like Get Ready was recorded ontape, the title track and I looked back on that and went I wish I'd done the whole album
(06:54):
still analog because
Digital is still early days and it was crunchy, you know, ah and 16 bit, whatever it was.
But, you know, and this is something about tape when you you go away from it for years andthen you start to appreciate it again for what it is because you at the time you looked at
its limitations, you know, the fact that it took so long to rewind the tape in the studioand you lost the top end and blah, blah, blah, the dynamic range which digital had.
(07:24):
But
But then now you start seeing the pluses of the actual warmth and the fact that when youlisten to something that's analog, you can listen to it over and over again and it just
has that same feeling, you know.
Exactly.
And you've done quite a number of collaborations over the years.
Are there any standout collaborations or other session work you've done with other artiststhat you've particularly enjoyed?
(07:46):
There's been a few that are just sort of turned up and I'm like, how did that happen?
Cause it's just kind of random.
Like I remember getting a phone call once from Jeff Beck of all people, the late graysavvy, passed away, you know, ended up in the studio and I didn't really know that much
about him.
That's why it was weird.
Cause it wasn't like I couldn't lie and go, man, I'd be following you.
(08:09):
I never was going, no, Jeff Beck, if Jeff Beck calls, you need to get into the studio and
So I was a bit intimidated, but he was such a lovely guy and we got on so well.
um we did a few sessions and sadly we didn't really use much like on the permanent stateof blue, uh song called cry for me originally was recorded as a big sort of full-on band
(08:33):
track.
And I was like, well, we've got to get Jeff in to do the solo.
And I brought him into the studio and we did some amazing stuff.
And then when I actually
got to release, I preferred just the acoustic version and that became the main one andthat became the track.
And so people didn't really get to hear the version with Jeff Beck on it, but it wasdefinitely again a learning curve working with him because he's coming from another planet
(08:59):
and he's a really amazing musician.
He is absolutely iconic.
I'd be un-Australian not to ask you, Andrew, you mentioned about a collaboration withJimmy Barnes.
I have to ask what that was.
Yeah, well actually I listened to a track today that we recorded together and we wrotetogether called Attention and I thought, wow, this is actually a great track, you know, I
(09:23):
mean, I really love the energy of it and the fact that again, me and Jimmy are meeting oftwo worlds, you know, I would consider myself coming from more the soul, as far as vocally
and Jimmy, because he has that high
edgy voice.
(09:44):
He does have soul by the way, I hasten to add, but obviously it sounds like a rock voice.
But then you put him in the context of what I'm doing, what we're doing, and it works sowell.
we recorded a couple more tracks and they're floating around somewhere.
But yeah, I love and then we became friends after that.
(10:06):
And, you know, I'm sure he'll pop in to the gigs in Sydney and I'm actually working
I'm not bringing my drummer over on this tour, but we're working with Jackie Barnes, who'sJimmy's son.
He's such a great guy, such a great drummer.
So it's like family to me.
(10:27):
Absolutely.
Now you've mentioned great voices and obviously I'm thinking of yourself there as well.
As someone that started as a pianist before becoming known for your amazing voice, did youend up approaching your writing of songs differently when composing at the keyboard versus
when you're sort of working with your voice?
uh
know, I've always loved singing and playing.
(10:51):
Obviously, I started playing first, but I would hum along to what I was playing.
I was singing along.
I've always loved singing, but not in public.
So I was singing a lot longer than people may have known.
I just was so shy about singing and it was just something that I loved doing and it wasvery personal.
And because I am, I guess, a soul singer, it's quite, when I sing, I'm quite, I'm quiterevealing myself because it's just...
(11:17):
There's no other way for me to sing, you know?
And so I struggled with that.
My uncle got me into singing more because he basically bullied me and went, you're goingto sing at the gig.
And I was like, okay.
But in the studio, to be honest, I still struggle in the studio with being separated fromthe keyboard and just being the singer with headphones on is just not, it still doesn't
(11:41):
natural for me.
When I was doing the Mechanics album.
I standing in the recording room with the speakers on and a microphone and everyonethought it was bonkers, but I just wanted to get the feeling of a gig.
I'm a live artist.
So yeah, it's still an ongoing thing.
still have producers coming up to me going, if we can just capture that thing that youhave live, it's such a sort of hard thing to capture in the studio.
(12:05):
They go, we have a gold mine there.
So I'm still working on that.
That's still yet to come.
Actually, you've raised a good point there.
mean, obviously you're well into your career and we all learn things.
What do feel you still have to learn as a singer or a player?
Well, so much.
mean, you know, as a human being, you know, how far down the line can you say you are?
(12:27):
I mean, when does it get to the point where you say you're there?
I don't know.
I mean, maybe I'm right at the beginning in a sense, you know.
Every time I turn a corner musically or vocally, I go, wow, I feel like I've just startedto learn, you know.
Or I hear someone who's an amazing keyboard player.
uh And I mean, like the guy that plays the mechanics, he's got great technique and...
(12:50):
and the way he can work keyboards as far as technically, merge sounds and everything, it'san education to me, to get into the technology of it.
Cause I started off as a purist, I was just playing piano or a Wurlitzer or a FenderRhodes.
I didn't get into synth things as much and I'm quite intrigued by it.
(13:14):
Yeah, no, great point.
And so I know you're short on time, Andrew, so I'm just going to launch into a couple ofour last standard questions we ask all our guests.
So is there a time, uh no matter what band, where you've had a train wreck on stage thatyou can look back and laugh on now?
And, you know, there's been times where things have, I wouldn't say massive train, butI've definitely fallen over a couple of times, you know, trying to jump up to the drum
(13:42):
riser and not quite making it.
Once I did that and I knocked my shin, and because I had lots of adrenaline uh in my body,because I'm on stage, I didn't realize I'd gashed my shin open.
And all the audience were kind of going, well, that's mad, know, his trousers are turningred.
Yeah, wow.
uh
When I got off stage, they had the ambulance waiting for me, and I didn't know why.
(14:04):
And then the pain hit me and I had to go get stitches and whatever.
But I wouldn't call it a train wreck, it's rock and roll.
I've had mics drop out of my hand and into the...
But it's all, I don't take myself seriously enough for it to be a train wreck.
When you don't take yourself seriously, too seriously in that way, the audience are behindyou.
(14:25):
So they're not looking at you going, oh, look at you, you're an idiot.
They want it to work.
They want it to work for you.
That's right, great perspective.
Another question we always ask Andrew is to tag a keyboard player.
So is there a keyboard player out there that you all have admired that you would love tohear more about their story?
mean, there's loads of keyboard players.
mean, I'm oddly enough a frustrated guitarist in a keyboard player's body, but I've alwaysloved Herbie Hancock because, growing up listening to Mr.
(14:54):
Han's album, which is the first thing I got introduced to, and it's like, that guy's gotso much feel, you know?
And this is the main thing that's important to me.
mean, technique, whatever, you can learn technique.
You can't learn feel.
You can't practice feel and learn it.
You either got it you don't.
And he's one of those people.
And again,
Stevie Wonder, um amazing feel.
(15:16):
The way he plays superstition, I'm still trying to emulate to this very day, you know, andit's a very particular thing.
And I haven't heard many keyboard players that can play it like that.
No, Great Peaks.
Yeah, no, Great Peaks.
And we have our dreaded Desert Island Discs question, Andrew.
So five albums, if you only had five albums to take to an island, what would they be?
Oh my god.
(15:37):
Well, talking about Stevie, it would have to be Talking Book.
I mean, everyone talks about songs and the key of life, but every album with Stevie isamazing.
But Talking Book is my heart right there.
What's going on Marvin Gaye for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ladies of the Canyon.
Yeah.
Joni Mitchell album.
Or even her Blue album.
(15:57):
I actually know the Blue album.
And oh my god.
Jimi Hendrix as a smash hits album because it reminds me of I was a kid and I gotintroduced to him.
So that would have to be in there.
And then Exodus by Marley.
Brilliant picks.
Thank you.
And that's one of the quickest you rattle them off.
Well, um yeah, there is.
(16:17):
At last question, Andrew's what we call the quick fire 10s are 10 very short and sharpthings.
So first album, you recall hearing as a child.
Um, History of Soul, my mum's album and a vinyl.
Great.
And only because the girl on the front was topless, that's why I got into it.
I was a kid, but you know.
uh No, valid.
(16:39):
Most important pre-gig ritual, what do need to do to feel settled before you go on stage?
Well, I DJ for half an hour and I play mostly James Brown, hardcore funk James Brown and alot of people don't quite understand it.
Like you play that night after night.
It's an energy that gets me fired up and a glass of champagne.
(17:03):
No moe, no showy.
Andrew, if you hadn't been a musician, what do think your career choice would have been?
I mean, you know, that's a good question.
ah There were a couple of the sciences that, you know, physics intrigued me.
You know, I've got a very scientific mind, I guess.
(17:23):
And so maybe something in that field.
I think I know the answer this, but transpose button or adjust on the fly if you need tochange keys.
My uncle always encouraged me to be able to play in all keys but there's certain thingsthat I just like the feeling of that key so like um you know, Supercision, E flat, feels
(17:46):
strange to play in E so there we go the transpose button if the band are playing it E Imight transpose button it.
Yeah, great answer.
If it's possible, favourite gig you've ever done?
Woo, that's a tough one.
That is a real tough one.
That is a tough one.
ah I mean, I loved my first proper gig that I did when I put out my first album.
(18:07):
And it was at the Marquee Club, which is a famous club in London in Soho.
And everyone had played there.
You walked in and you had the energy like, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles.
Everyone kind of started there.
And I played the last gig.
So after I played there, that was their last gig.
was closed, the club.
And the poster stayed in the window for like a year, my poster.
(18:30):
just for the first time seeing people singing my lyrics back to me as well was completelymind blowing.
Absolutely.
Favourite city you've ever played?
Woof!
uh You know what, I always like, there's so many great cities, obviously playing in Sydneyis a blast, playing in London is a blast, my hometown.
(18:53):
But when I go to Glasgow in Scotland, man, that roof, before I've even played a note, theroof is already off, it's already off, it's mad, it's my second home.
There you go, Glasgow.
Name a song that you used to love but you've now played it to death, whether it's your ownor in another band.
I played it to death.
(19:14):
my god.
That's a tough one.
That is a tough one.
That is a hard one.
mean, you know, I've just done so many dates with Mike and Mechanics that, you know, someof those songs I could probably take a little break from doing.
But I love them.
But literally, when I say a break, a couple of weeks and I'll be back, you know, over myshoulder.
(19:37):
I've done quite a lot.
Nah, they're about to.
uh you know that's been uh done so many times but then that's kind of the nature of whenyou have success with songs that you know how many times have Stevie Wonder done
Superstition I wonder yeah all right
right.
Agreed.
Your favourite music documentary or movie?
Ooh, I always shock people because they think I'm going to come up with something reallyintellectual.
(20:03):
And I go, well, the first Terminator, I'm a big sci-fi guy.
I have been since I was a kid.
Before I even, was one of my things, with books, was sci-fi.
And that's the most perfect science fiction film ever.
That and Close Encounters ever made because there's so much detail and they're so ahead oftheir time.
(20:26):
Great, yes.
I'm gonna swap out a question then and ask you your favorite sci-fi author.
good question.
I mean, good question.
Well, I can't even answer that one.
Because when I was growing up as a kid, had, I mean, I'm talking about being a real kid.
I my mum was kind of worried and I got, she got me a library card because I wasn't intobooks, but then I got into it through this library card.
(20:50):
But I was so young, so I wasn't really paying attention to authors, but I was so intriguedby the idea of future.
And it's weird because I was intrigued by the idea of machines.
actually developing a consciousness and a feel.
And here we are with artificial intelligence, you know.
And just briefly, and I know you've got to go, Andrew, but what is your take on AI andmusic?
(21:12):
What's your initial take on the threat or otherwise it may have for the industry?
Well, I think I was one of the last people to sort of take it serious.
I was like, yeah, whatever.
But then I had mates who are musicians saying, Andrew, man, you should check this out.
Like this is writing app and it just will, blow your mind.
And there's these apps for sort of plugging for sound.
(21:35):
And I kind of frowned upon it, but now I'm kind of going, hang on a minute.
But I still believe because I'm uh an artist that does soul music, which is mostly aboutfeel more than it is about technique or notes, it's about feel.
I said,
I don't think AI will ever be able to understand what that is because we don't understandwhat that is.
And I said, you know, the day that uh AI can compose a great joke is the end of the worldbecause it's so subjective, culturally, whatever.
(22:02):
So how can it know?
Yeah, I love that.
Good point.
Yeah, one person's funny, another person crass, you know, who knows what that is.
Exactly.
And very last but not least, your favourite non-musical activity or hobby, what keeps yousane outside of music?
Outside of music, again, of course I like, I used to like going to the movies, butrecently the output of great films has just dropped dramatically and it's really quite sad
(22:31):
in a way.
I hope that that turns around.
um But I do love the occasional racket sports, you know, it's just something that gets mymind off of music.
So I'll swing a racket, a little bit of tennis, a little bit of squash.
I played badminton when I was growing up on quite a...
good level and so it's still in my body if you know what I mean.
(22:52):
pick up a racket and I can still do it.
And look, I think it's fair to say you've hit many aces in your career and there's lotsmore to come.
um We're really excited to see you out in Australia, over the coming weeks.
I know I'm excited to see you play live and we can't thank you enough for fitting us intoyour schedule.
Bless, man, thanks.
Thanks, B.
(23:13):
I can't wait.
There we have it.
I hope you enjoyed that.
As I said, it was a shorter interview, but Andrew covered a lot of ground and it was greatspeaking with him.
And I am truly excited to check him out live in the next week or so.
(23:35):
So again, thank you for listening.
And I'd also like to give a call out to our golden silver supporters.
Mr.
Dewey Evans from the Sunnylander Wales.
Thank you, sir, as always.
The wonderful Tammy Katcher from Tammy's Musical Stew in Canada.
Thank you, Tammy, as always as well.
Mike and the team at midnightmastering.com if you're creating your own music and needsomeone with a fresh set of eyes to mix and master, Mike is your guy.
(23:59):
And last but definitely not least, Dave and the team at themusicplayer.com forums.
Lots of interesting discussions on there as always about new keyboard releases, issueswith gigging and so on, highly recommended.
Most importantly again, thank you to you for listening and we'll be back in a couple ofweeks and until then keep on playing.
and a lot of people don't quite understand it like you play that night after night it'sjust an energy that gets me fired up and a glass of champagne
Hello and welcome to the Keyboard Chronicles, a podcast for keyboard players.
I'm your host, David Holloway, and I'm pumped as always to be here with you.
(00:24):
This episode, I had the huge pleasure of talking to Mr.
Andrew Roachford.
Now, Andrew had some limited time, but still managed to fit us in.
It is one of the shorter interviews, but we do pack quite a bit in.
If you're unaware of Andrew's work, he has had a highly successful career as a soloartist, part of the act Roachford, which is essentially Andrew and some other musicians.
(00:46):
but also Andrew plays keys and does vocals with Mike and the Mechanics and has done awhole range of other collaborations over his career as well.
And we cover a little bit of that in the 20 minutes we do have to chat.
So yeah, Andrew was an absolute gem.
I think you'll enjoy this a great deal and I'll let you jump in.
(01:17):
It's an honour and a privilege to have you on the show, sir.
How are you?
Um fantastic, fantastic.
A bit knackered from literally just getting back from Mechanic's nearly 50 day tour.
And tell us just very briefly about that.
mean, 50 Dates is a big tour by any measure.
So how did it go?
(01:37):
I know you always get a huge reception with that band, but tell us about what that waslike.
It was amazing.
I've been working with Mike and the band for 14 years, but this was definitely by far thebest tour as far as how the band sounded and the audience response.
(01:57):
It was just amazing.
That's great.
And just very briefly, because we're going to move on to your tour right now, but yourkeyboard rig with Micahm the Canix, how's that set up for you?
I know you do a lot of playing throughout the show.
How's that set up for you?
Well, initially, because when I started working with Mike, I started co-writing andstraight away we got working together.
(02:20):
I was on the keys and he was on the guitar and he just liked my playing.
And when we got to playing live, we got another keyboard player in who I thought would bedoing, you know, most of the stuff, but Mike just liked my sound.
And so uh I'm pretty much playing through most of the gig with the other keyboard player.
(02:41):
the central parts like some called let me fly which is around the piano when there's apiano and a vocal and i'm singing it's i'm just playing the main piano and the other guy
is doing like strings and the the stuff on top if you know what i mean yeah so i'm igenerally play like electric piano piano sounds and all the more synthier stuff and
(03:02):
stringy stuff as the other guy mostly
Yeah, and we're zipping through these questions, but your musical upbringing, Andrew, asfar as what was your introduction to keyboards and led you into a career in the first
place in a sort of short and sharp way?
Well, in a short and sharp way, I come from musical family and my uncles and my dad andeveryone used to rehearse in a living room.
(03:24):
There was always a piano.
Wherever I lived, there was always a piano.
And by the time I was young as four, I started plonking away on the piano.
And my mum said, yeah, he obviously wants to do this.
Let's get him some lessons.
And it started there.
I started out with a private classical tuition for years, actually.
And then I got
(03:45):
I wanted to improvise and then that's when my uncle took me under his wing and did alittle bit of work with him, which was kind of like jazz and blues.
But the 12 bar was big part of what that was about.
No, amazing.
so let's talk about your tour.
Roachford are coming out to Australia starting next week, believe it is.
I know I'm coming to the Sydney show Saturday week.
(04:08):
It's been a while, I think, since you've been to Australia.
It's been a few years, it's been a few years.
I I've done like the odd thing over there.
I've even done some writing in Sydney and did a bit of co-writing with Jimmy Barnes of allpeople.
So I like going over, but I haven't been there for some years now, especially not with mymusicians that I'm bringing over.
(04:36):
really doing some of the older stuff.
I was doing a lot of my more newer stuff as well when I was there the last time.
So this is going to be interesting.
Yeah, look, and let's talk a little bit about the tour and obviously it is a Greatest Hitstour, but your most recent album, Then and Now, I find it amazing.
The continuity between your original work and this album is amazing.
(04:57):
You revisited versions that brought a whole new depth.
How did you actually approach the recording of that album and how are you sort ofapproaching this tour as far as that album goes?
Well, we approached it, you I was in the studio thinking, well, yeah, I want uh to revisitsome of the old songs, but with a new head, because some of those songs are like 30 years
(05:19):
old and, uh you know, a young Andrew, naive to the world and the experience that I havenow, be interesting to hear me singing it with, you know, my life experience.
It makes complete difference and uh with my band as they are now.
um
So yeah, that was part of the thinking of that, but also to tie it in with where I'm atnow, because I think writing me is about a creative process and not just sort of sitting
(05:48):
back and just playing the hits forever and ever, amen, you know?
And so it was tying those things in so that people got an idea of who I am now as anartist, you know?
So that's what the main mission was.
And we recorded it in a studio that had analog capability onto tape.
And just to give it...
uh bit of warmth, you know.
(06:08):
Yeah.
And look, let's use the song twice in a lifetime as an example.
I know you've mentioned the analog equipment, so you use lots of vintage equipment andtape.
How did that affect your playing compared to the modern methods you would have used backin the 90s when you were recording, I assume, digitally?
Yeah, well in the 90s I was still doing a bit of both.
(06:28):
I mean in the early 90s digital was still quite new and I remember I recorded an album GetReady and it was mostly digital but it was on a machine called a Mitsubishi and you know I
recorded two songs on tape and they're still my favorite like Get Ready was recorded ontape, the title track and I looked back on that and went I wish I'd done the whole album
(06:54):
still analog because
Digital is still early days and it was crunchy, you know, ah and 16 bit, whatever it was.
But, you know, and this is something about tape when you you go away from it for years andthen you start to appreciate it again for what it is because you at the time you looked at
its limitations, you know, the fact that it took so long to rewind the tape in the studioand you lost the top end and blah, blah, blah, the dynamic range which digital had.
(07:24):
But
But then now you start seeing the pluses of the actual warmth and the fact that when youlisten to something that's analog, you can listen to it over and over again and it just
has that same feeling, you know.
Exactly.
And you've done quite a number of collaborations over the years.
Are there any standout collaborations or other session work you've done with other artiststhat you've particularly enjoyed?
(07:46):
There's been a few that are just sort of turned up and I'm like, how did that happen?
Cause it's just kind of random.
Like I remember getting a phone call once from Jeff Beck of all people, the late graysavvy, passed away, you know, ended up in the studio and I didn't really know that much
about him.
That's why it was weird.
Cause it wasn't like I couldn't lie and go, man, I'd be following you.
(08:09):
I never was going, no, Jeff Beck, if Jeff Beck calls, you need to get into the studio and
So I was a bit intimidated, but he was such a lovely guy and we got on so well.
um we did a few sessions and sadly we didn't really use much like on the permanent stateof blue, uh song called cry for me originally was recorded as a big sort of full-on band
(08:33):
track.
And I was like, well, we've got to get Jeff in to do the solo.
And I brought him into the studio and we did some amazing stuff.
And then when I actually
got to release, I preferred just the acoustic version and that became the main one andthat became the track.
And so people didn't really get to hear the version with Jeff Beck on it, but it wasdefinitely again a learning curve working with him because he's coming from another planet
(08:59):
and he's a really amazing musician.
He is absolutely iconic.
I'd be un-Australian not to ask you, Andrew, you mentioned about a collaboration withJimmy Barnes.
I have to ask what that was.
Yeah, well actually I listened to a track today that we recorded together and we wrotetogether called Attention and I thought, wow, this is actually a great track, you know, I
(09:23):
mean, I really love the energy of it and the fact that again, me and Jimmy are meeting oftwo worlds, you know, I would consider myself coming from more the soul, as far as vocally
and Jimmy, because he has that high
edgy voice.
(09:44):
He does have soul by the way, I hasten to add, but obviously it sounds like a rock voice.
But then you put him in the context of what I'm doing, what we're doing, and it works sowell.
we recorded a couple more tracks and they're floating around somewhere.
But yeah, I love and then we became friends after that.
(10:06):
And, you know, I'm sure he'll pop in to the gigs in Sydney and I'm actually working
I'm not bringing my drummer over on this tour, but we're working with Jackie Barnes, who'sJimmy's son.
He's such a great guy, such a great drummer.
So it's like family to me.
(10:27):
Absolutely.
Now you've mentioned great voices and obviously I'm thinking of yourself there as well.
As someone that started as a pianist before becoming known for your amazing voice, did youend up approaching your writing of songs differently when composing at the keyboard versus
when you're sort of working with your voice?
uh
know, I've always loved singing and playing.
(10:51):
Obviously, I started playing first, but I would hum along to what I was playing.
I was singing along.
I've always loved singing, but not in public.
So I was singing a lot longer than people may have known.
I just was so shy about singing and it was just something that I loved doing and it wasvery personal.
And because I am, I guess, a soul singer, it's quite, when I sing, I'm quite, I'm quiterevealing myself because it's just...
(11:17):
There's no other way for me to sing, you know?
And so I struggled with that.
My uncle got me into singing more because he basically bullied me and went, you're goingto sing at the gig.
And I was like, okay.
But in the studio, to be honest, I still struggle in the studio with being separated fromthe keyboard and just being the singer with headphones on is just not, it still doesn't
(11:41):
natural for me.
When I was doing the Mechanics album.
I standing in the recording room with the speakers on and a microphone and everyonethought it was bonkers, but I just wanted to get the feeling of a gig.
I'm a live artist.
So yeah, it's still an ongoing thing.
still have producers coming up to me going, if we can just capture that thing that youhave live, it's such a sort of hard thing to capture in the studio.
(12:05):
They go, we have a gold mine there.
So I'm still working on that.
That's still yet to come.
Actually, you've raised a good point there.
mean, obviously you're well into your career and we all learn things.
What do feel you still have to learn as a singer or a player?
Well, so much.
mean, you know, as a human being, you know, how far down the line can you say you are?
(12:27):
I mean, when does it get to the point where you say you're there?
I don't know.
I mean, maybe I'm right at the beginning in a sense, you know.
Every time I turn a corner musically or vocally, I go, wow, I feel like I've just startedto learn, you know.
Or I hear someone who's an amazing keyboard player.
uh And I mean, like the guy that plays the mechanics, he's got great technique and...
(12:50):
and the way he can work keyboards as far as technically, merge sounds and everything, it'san education to me, to get into the technology of it.
Cause I started off as a purist, I was just playing piano or a Wurlitzer or a FenderRhodes.
I didn't get into synth things as much and I'm quite intrigued by it.
(13:14):
Yeah, no, great point.
And so I know you're short on time, Andrew, so I'm just going to launch into a couple ofour last standard questions we ask all our guests.
So is there a time, uh no matter what band, where you've had a train wreck on stage thatyou can look back and laugh on now?
And, you know, there's been times where things have, I wouldn't say massive train, butI've definitely fallen over a couple of times, you know, trying to jump up to the drum
(13:42):
riser and not quite making it.
Once I did that and I knocked my shin, and because I had lots of adrenaline uh in my body,because I'm on stage, I didn't realize I'd gashed my shin open.
And all the audience were kind of going, well, that's mad, know, his trousers are turningred.
Yeah, wow.
uh
When I got off stage, they had the ambulance waiting for me, and I didn't know why.
(14:04):
And then the pain hit me and I had to go get stitches and whatever.
But I wouldn't call it a train wreck, it's rock and roll.
I've had mics drop out of my hand and into the...
But it's all, I don't take myself seriously enough for it to be a train wreck.
When you don't take yourself seriously, too seriously in that way, the audience are behindyou.
(14:25):
So they're not looking at you going, oh, look at you, you're an idiot.
They want it to work.
They want it to work for you.
That's right, great perspective.
Another question we always ask Andrew is to tag a keyboard player.
So is there a keyboard player out there that you all have admired that you would love tohear more about their story?
mean, there's loads of keyboard players.
mean, I'm oddly enough a frustrated guitarist in a keyboard player's body, but I've alwaysloved Herbie Hancock because, growing up listening to Mr.
(14:54):
Han's album, which is the first thing I got introduced to, and it's like, that guy's gotso much feel, you know?
And this is the main thing that's important to me.
mean, technique, whatever, you can learn technique.
You can't learn feel.
You can't practice feel and learn it.
You either got it you don't.
And he's one of those people.
And again,
Stevie Wonder, um amazing feel.
(15:16):
The way he plays superstition, I'm still trying to emulate to this very day, you know, andit's a very particular thing.
And I haven't heard many keyboard players that can play it like that.
No, Great Peaks.
Yeah, no, Great Peaks.
And we have our dreaded Desert Island Discs question, Andrew.
So five albums, if you only had five albums to take to an island, what would they be?
Oh my god.
(15:37):
Well, talking about Stevie, it would have to be Talking Book.
I mean, everyone talks about songs and the key of life, but every album with Stevie isamazing.
But Talking Book is my heart right there.
What's going on Marvin Gaye for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Ladies of the Canyon.
Yeah.
Joni Mitchell album.
Or even her Blue album.
(15:57):
I actually know the Blue album.
And oh my god.
Jimi Hendrix as a smash hits album because it reminds me of I was a kid and I gotintroduced to him.
So that would have to be in there.
And then Exodus by Marley.
Brilliant picks.
Thank you.
And that's one of the quickest you rattle them off.
Well, um yeah, there is.
(16:17):
At last question, Andrew's what we call the quick fire 10s are 10 very short and sharpthings.
So first album, you recall hearing as a child.
Um, History of Soul, my mum's album and a vinyl.
Great.
And only because the girl on the front was topless, that's why I got into it.
I was a kid, but you know.
uh No, valid.
(16:39):
Most important pre-gig ritual, what do need to do to feel settled before you go on stage?
Well, I DJ for half an hour and I play mostly James Brown, hardcore funk James Brown and alot of people don't quite understand it.
Like you play that night after night.
It's an energy that gets me fired up and a glass of champagne.
(17:03):
No moe, no showy.
Andrew, if you hadn't been a musician, what do think your career choice would have been?
I mean, you know, that's a good question.
ah There were a couple of the sciences that, you know, physics intrigued me.
You know, I've got a very scientific mind, I guess.
(17:23):
And so maybe something in that field.
I think I know the answer this, but transpose button or adjust on the fly if you need tochange keys.
My uncle always encouraged me to be able to play in all keys but there's certain thingsthat I just like the feeling of that key so like um you know, Supercision, E flat, feels
(17:46):
strange to play in E so there we go the transpose button if the band are playing it E Imight transpose button it.
Yeah, great answer.
If it's possible, favourite gig you've ever done?
Woo, that's a tough one.
That is a real tough one.
That is a tough one.
ah I mean, I loved my first proper gig that I did when I put out my first album.
(18:07):
And it was at the Marquee Club, which is a famous club in London in Soho.
And everyone had played there.
You walked in and you had the energy like, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles.
Everyone kind of started there.
And I played the last gig.
So after I played there, that was their last gig.
was closed, the club.
And the poster stayed in the window for like a year, my poster.
(18:30):
just for the first time seeing people singing my lyrics back to me as well was completelymind blowing.
Absolutely.
Favourite city you've ever played?
Woof!
uh You know what, I always like, there's so many great cities, obviously playing in Sydneyis a blast, playing in London is a blast, my hometown.
(18:53):
But when I go to Glasgow in Scotland, man, that roof, before I've even played a note, theroof is already off, it's already off, it's mad, it's my second home.
There you go, Glasgow.
Name a song that you used to love but you've now played it to death, whether it's your ownor in another band.
I played it to death.
(19:14):
my god.
That's a tough one.
That is a tough one.
That is a hard one.
mean, you know, I've just done so many dates with Mike and Mechanics that, you know, someof those songs I could probably take a little break from doing.
But I love them.
But literally, when I say a break, a couple of weeks and I'll be back, you know, over myshoulder.
(19:37):
I've done quite a lot.
Nah, they're about to.
uh you know that's been uh done so many times but then that's kind of the nature of whenyou have success with songs that you know how many times have Stevie Wonder done
Superstition I wonder yeah all right
right.
Agreed.
Your favourite music documentary or movie?
Ooh, I always shock people because they think I'm going to come up with something reallyintellectual.
(20:03):
And I go, well, the first Terminator, I'm a big sci-fi guy.
I have been since I was a kid.
Before I even, was one of my things, with books, was sci-fi.
And that's the most perfect science fiction film ever.
That and Close Encounters ever made because there's so much detail and they're so ahead oftheir time.
(20:26):
Great, yes.
I'm gonna swap out a question then and ask you your favorite sci-fi author.
good question.
I mean, good question.
Well, I can't even answer that one.
Because when I was growing up as a kid, had, I mean, I'm talking about being a real kid.
I my mum was kind of worried and I got, she got me a library card because I wasn't intobooks, but then I got into it through this library card.
(20:50):
But I was so young, so I wasn't really paying attention to authors, but I was so intriguedby the idea of future.
And it's weird because I was intrigued by the idea of machines.
actually developing a consciousness and a feel.
And here we are with artificial intelligence, you know.
And just briefly, and I know you've got to go, Andrew, but what is your take on AI andmusic?
(21:12):
What's your initial take on the threat or otherwise it may have for the industry?
Well, I think I was one of the last people to sort of take it serious.
I was like, yeah, whatever.
But then I had mates who are musicians saying, Andrew, man, you should check this out.
Like this is writing app and it just will, blow your mind.
And there's these apps for sort of plugging for sound.
(21:35):
And I kind of frowned upon it, but now I'm kind of going, hang on a minute.
But I still believe because I'm uh an artist that does soul music, which is mostly aboutfeel more than it is about technique or notes, it's about feel.
I said,
I don't think AI will ever be able to understand what that is because we don't understandwhat that is.
And I said, you know, the day that uh AI can compose a great joke is the end of the worldbecause it's so subjective, culturally, whatever.
(22:02):
So how can it know?
Yeah, I love that.
Good point.
Yeah, one person's funny, another person crass, you know, who knows what that is.
Exactly.
And very last but not least, your favourite non-musical activity or hobby, what keeps yousane outside of music?
Outside of music, again, of course I like, I used to like going to the movies, butrecently the output of great films has just dropped dramatically and it's really quite sad
(22:31):
in a way.
I hope that that turns around.
um But I do love the occasional racket sports, you know, it's just something that gets mymind off of music.
So I'll swing a racket, a little bit of tennis, a little bit of squash.
I played badminton when I was growing up on quite a...
good level and so it's still in my body if you know what I mean.
(22:52):
pick up a racket and I can still do it.
And look, I think it's fair to say you've hit many aces in your career and there's lotsmore to come.
um We're really excited to see you out in Australia, over the coming weeks.
I know I'm excited to see you play live and we can't thank you enough for fitting us intoyour schedule.
Bless, man, thanks.
Thanks, B.
(23:13):
I can't wait.
There we have it.
I hope you enjoyed that.
As I said, it was a shorter interview, but Andrew covered a lot of ground and it was greatspeaking with him.
And I am truly excited to check him out live in the next week or so.
(23:35):
So again, thank you for listening.
And I'd also like to give a call out to our golden silver supporters.
Mr.
Dewey Evans from the Sunnylander Wales.
Thank you, sir, as always.
The wonderful Tammy Katcher from Tammy's Musical Stew in Canada.
Thank you, Tammy, as always as well.
Mike and the team at midnightmastering.com if you're creating your own music and needsomeone with a fresh set of eyes to mix and master, Mike is your guy.
(23:59):
And last but definitely not least, Dave and the team at themusicplayer.com forums.
Lots of interesting discussions on there as always about new keyboard releases, issueswith gigging and so on, highly recommended.
Most importantly again, thank you to you for listening and we'll be back in a couple ofweeks and until then keep on playing.
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