Yesterday, Andi Jackson released his Album "Sub Horror", today we proudly present him in an interview. Andi told us about his influences, working process and of course something about his latest release and what we can expect from his Album "SUB HORROR".
Who inspired you to make music?
A lot of my earlier influences that inspired me to play and write my own music came from the likes of bands like Fugazi, At The Drive-In, Ten Grand & Sonic Youth. I also owe a lot to my dad for playing me Frank Zappa & Jimmy Hendrix as a kid. When writing this record though, I was listening to a lot of Sun Ra, Guru Guru, Cluster & the 1st two Pink Floyd albums.
What is your creative process like?
It seems to go the same way every time, i sit down and aim to write 1 or 2 songs and nothing more, but once the 1st few songs are down, the rest start forming in a anxious state, almost like I’m rushing to pack it all in to a very short creative slot. I always start with the bass line, being a bass player for years, that is what comes first, and then once the drums are down, I then colour it with guitars and keys etc, the vocal is always last.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Tough question, I think it would have to be a top 2, Yoshimi from (Boredoms & OOIOO) i am a huge fan of her work, and Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, I would love to make a tune for her to sing on.
What is the most useless talent you have?
Remembering quotes from films.
What is the most useful talent you have?
Being able to play pretty much any pop song on guitar by ear. I can only play by ear and can’t read or write music.
If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?
I would have started my record label (Fr33zehead) when I was a lot younger, when playing in the DIY music in my 1st band (The Modus Vivendi), I feel it would have given us more drive to get out on tour and more of a platform to work from. My best friend Beanie and I had it as an idea and used the label name on some of our releases, but we were young and didn’t really know how to run it to the same ability as we do now.
How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?
These days it is a totally different world, in the music industry with the majority creating free art, i feel the likes of social media is a great tool for most artists to have a presence and DIY / Smaller independant artists being able to grow a fan base. We have so much to access at our finger tips. I can’t but help wonder what it was like for bands like led zeppelin back in the 70’s having no videos on TV, or singles released, the only way you could see the band was going to the show or buying the album, theres a lot less mystique with social media.
What’s next for you?
My solo record Sub Horror is out this month, And my bands, Our Man In The Bronze Age, Shuck & Lake Of Snakes also have new records coming out this year, I’ll also be working on releases for Fr33zehead, so its a busy but fun time ahead.
What do you know about Austria?
I love Austria, i have visited a few times to learn to snowboard in the mountains of Mayrhofen, I’m looking forward to going back once the world opens up again, that place is unreal. Schnitzel and Schnapps!
What can we expect from your upcoming Album?
The new album, overall it has a hypnotic feel throughout, each of the tracks have it’s own character, that plays it’s part in the journey of the concept of Sub Horror. It feels like this record has a more focused edge to but still makes you feel like you are trending in unknown territory. I feel its very free spirited, and has no boundaries, with touches of the avant-garde. I have been lucky to have a lot of my friends guest and collaborate on these tracks, they have really taken it to the next level, and I am very proud of the production me and my friend JP (who plays drums on the album) managed to create in the mixing process. I guess when i listen to it on a whole, it’s very psychedelic, has a lot of vintage tones to it, and like most of the music i have written, its packed full of in jokes. Stand out tracks for me, Living Dead, Antennas, Substantial Horror & The Midwest’s Best Kept Secret.
Can’t Recall The Last Time You Drove Your Car
The album opener, this draws you straight in to the concept of depression, that is what the song title is a nod to, i was battling with it at the time. I was listening to 'We Will Fall' by the Stooges a lot around the time of creating this track, so that was a big influence. It has a trippy hypnotic feel to it, I guess it came out sounding a bit more like animal collective than the Stooges.
Living Dead
started out as a bass line that was very slow, i decided to play it as fast as i could, which ended in a punchy prog rock groove, the lyrics are phrases and in jokes, explaining experiences from the past and present. My friend Sarah Berresford sings on this track, and Karl D’Silva is on Sax duties, they really took it to the next level. It is very prog rock sounding.
Antennas
started out as a stoner rock jam, but once i had added all the guitars and melody to it, came out the other end as woozy hypnotic indie tune, it is laced with psychedelia and was heavily influenced by my love of sic-fi.
Substantial Horror
This was the 1st track i had for this album, it has a Miles Davis electric period feel to it, again started out as a bass line, but changed and grew into a progressive jazz rock piece once I had JP & my friend David Mclean play on it, he added Rhodes and Sax, i think his sax lick on this tune is my favourite part of this album, it’s a instrumental journey of its own.
The Midwest’s Best Kept Secret
This song is a short low fi indie track written about one of my heroes, Matt Davies from the hardcore punk band Ten Grand, he passed away in his early 20’s just as his band was about to break big time, i feel i owe a lot to him with regards to my guitar style so this one is for him.
Andemic
this is the album closer but also the oldest track from this collection of songs, started out and was formed by me and JP in a Lake Of Snakes writing session a few years back, but we never used it, so i decided to finish it off and use it for this record. My girlfriend calls it my Blur track, but I feel it has more of a Tim Taylor from Brainiac vibe to it. The song title is my version of the pandemic, and the lyrics are related to sleep deprivation and the things you have to deal with personally when going into a lockdown.
