By Briana Booker
New talent is popping up everyday in the music industry; some are great musicians, while others are only observed for their 15 minutes of fame. But, it is a rare occasion to find one that is innovative, determined, lively and humble. 23 year old Andy Suzuki is one of these few, must see and hear artists.
Photography by: Leelawan Kaew
“John Mayer meets Sara Bareilles. Imagine their half-Asian lovechild. Add an electric violinist who solos like a lead guitarist and a percussionist who swings his dreads harder than anyone ever asks him to.”
Biography
Andy is a native of the District of Columbia/ Montgomery, Maryland area. He went to Sidwell friends school, a college preparatory high school in NW, DC. Andy has always had a love for music, but at Sidwell he learned of his love to perform in front of a live audience.
Humorously, Andy told us about his first performance sung in front of a large audience, where he discovered his passion for performing. It was during his sophomore year of high school that he had to substitute for the lead vocalist of a male acapella group called Consensual Sound. No one in the group wanted to sing the solo that they knew only the melody but not the full lyrics. Consensual Sound had learned one to two hours that their fearless leader was not present due to college visiting. Andy came to the rescue.
He recalls during chemistry class reading over the lyrics of New age girl by the trio Deadeye Dick. Andy was nervous but he was on an adrenalin rush.
For some reason, We were reminded of the first lines of the song Lose yourself by rapper Eminem which states the following:
“ If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you wanted, one moment, would you capture it, or let it slip away?
Andy chose to capture it, and he was more than successful at the task.
The more than 450 student body loved the performance. This gave Andy the motivation to keep spreading his gift, his talent.
He used his musical talent in college where he attended Brown University, in Providence Rhode Island where he joined the acapella group called the Jabberwocks . Also at Brown, Andy met Kozza Babumba, friend and presently the percussionist of his present band The Method. Babumba was a senior at the time Andy met him as a freshman in college. He mentored and promoted Andy to keep up with learning the piano. Andy admits he was not very great at the piano when he first started learning, but that did not make him give up. He asserted:
“You work at it. You have to work at anything you want to be successful at in life.”
One can easily see the wisdom from such a young man, as he calmly discusses his challenges and successes. These experiences are paying off as Andy and his band members Kozza Babumba (Percussionist), Jason Govelick (electric violinist), and Aviad Sunshine (bass guitarists) tour across the east coast. Andy is vocals, pianist, and guitarists during tour.
The Genre
Photography by: Leelawan Kaew
The genre Andy labels himself and his band is acoustic pop. Artists Andy sounds like are John Mayer and Gavin Degraw. Andy also admits that his music may hint to some Rhythm and Blues similar to Dru Hill and Brian McKnight.
Andy composes all his lyrics. He says all his songs are
“Very personal and based on personal experiences.”
One very personal song Andy wrote is 300 Pianos which is about his father’s long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, a common form of dementia of unknown origins. At the moment, Andy is recording a new song called Friend, which discusses a crush Andy had on a girl, but did not know how to tell her because the girl was labeled someone’s girlfriend. These songs speak to fans, especially when they have been there and done that.
Andy and his band members are all independent artists. Andy uses Tune Cord to sell music on ITunes and CD Baby for online orders. He also does CD selling the old fashion way- out of the van and at live performances. Andy says it is expensive but he remains to be more focus on the passion to create music people will enjoy and appreciate.
The Fans
Presently, Andy’s fan base is racially and culturally diverse high school and college students. Most of his fans are between the age group of 14 to 27. The majority of his fans are females and many are loyal animae lovers as well.
Andy admits he could really use a manager or agent. He works very hard and diligently from 8am to 11pm. He is often busy booking gigs, promoting the band and getting his musical juices flowing. He mentions “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” But this does not stop him from pursuing his dreams.
When asked about how he would personally rate his and his band’s live performance, Andy states “Frankly, it’s our strongest asset.”
From observing Andy, he appears down to earth and naturally allows people to be instantly comfortable with him. Fans can agree that, even if a fan has not formally come into contact with Andy, his most recent Blog video “How to be a rockstar,”can bring one up to speed. It is both hilarious and informative.
The person behind the artist
Andy does not appear very judgmental and speaks his mind very freely, which is refreshing to see in an industry where most conform to mainstream appeal. He is not a talent to miss out on- intellectual, athletic, charismatic, attractive and kind. But best of all, he is just one of the guys.
Andy’s four favorite things in life are food, music, basketball, and women. He mentions that breakfast is his favorite meal. As for singing in the shower, he has not done much of that since high school. But during high school, he enjoyed singing songs from Maxwell, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Luther Vandross, Usher and Dru Hill in Falsetto.
The last question of the interview was where Andy wants to be in ten years. He replied
“Somewhere warm, with warm people. I hope to be happy, with a woman by my side, but not necessarily the whole family thing just yet. No standard job. I hope to still be involved in music, someway, somehow. I hope my hard work pays off.”
We, at Fromgirltogirl, hope the same for Andy! Check out his free MPG of 300 Pianos, as well as his and his band website links below! Andy Suzuki is not an artist to miss out on and we are sure big things are in store for him!
Until next time,
-Fromgirltogirl.
THE LINKS
- Email Andy at andy.suzuki.music@gmail.com to join his mailing list and get free mp3s. He records a new one every couple of months, and if you want a free copy of it as he records them, email him!
- The video blog is his newest project...going behind the scenes:
http://howtobecomearockstar.wordpress.com
- other relevant links:
http://www.facebook.com/andysuzukimusic
http://www.youtube.com/andysuzukimusic
http://www.myspace..com/andysuzukimusic
http://www.twitter.com/andysuzukimusic
and coming soon.... andysuzukimusic.com !
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