Interview.
			Interviewer: Andy, when did you start writing songs? Andy: I started writing poetry when I was a kid at school. Pretty awful most of it! Then in the last year of college I ran out of money and had to busk to stay afloat. So I learnt the usual busker songs and used to bash them out in the high street on saturdays. And after a bit, while sat playing in my grotty, mold covered room, surrounded by my washing, I would stumble across a chord progression and then words would come. Do you think your poetry writing helped or hindered the move to songs? Umm...helped I think. In so far as I was used to calling up the muse, sought of getting into a state of mind where words would come. On the other hand, when writing songs I've always concentrated on the rhythm of the music and allowed it to dictate the words. What I don't like with some songwriters is that they will take good words and desperately try to shoe-horn them into the music. If any critisicm can be levelled at me as a player I s'pose it would be that I'm a through and through rhythm man, and because of that I tend to neglect the lead aspects of music making. But that's because what I love is when the rhythm of the acoustic is right in there, and the words are playing the melody, perfectly in the groove. I just want to go along with that. You finished the album 'Hunting for fairies again' recently. Are you pleased with the results? Yeah, on the whole. I'm a really harsh critic, so I'm never completely happy with any of my recordings, but I think this is my best yet. I always want a live, edgy, real sound, and I think I got that. It seems to be a mixture of studio, close mic'd songs, and raw recordings. Yeah. there were some songs that just didn't seem to fit the studio... 'When Mary comes in' and 'End of the evening'? Yeah.  I don't know why. I tried them close mic'd, but it just didn't seem to work. So as an experiment I was at home and just slapped a plate mic. on top of the guitar and played and sang straight to one track. I think it works. You're too kind! And now you're well on the way with your second album, and that isn't a studio album either? No. I've got to admit that I don't really enjoy the studio recording process. It's too much like hard work for my liking! But I found that with a bit of care, recording with a plate mic. straight to minidisk got some really nice results, without all the struggling, and with more atmosphere than you can get in a studio. But recording straight down with no overdubs is not the easiest way to record. No, you couldn't record all albums like that, and it might not be the kind of album to hit mainstream, but I seem to get better results and more enjoyment from recording this way. Why the title 'Eleven fifty-nine'? Umm...Mike Plumbly of Isle of White Rock once called my music 'after hours music', and most of the album was recorded at night, alone in other peoples houses. It has a sought of desparate feeling to it, so, it's the minute before midnight - zero hour. Right. So where do you get the inspiration for your songs? Oh...don't ask me that one (laughs). They just come out really. Very rarely will I sit down and try to hammer out something that's on my mind. I don't find I get anything decent that way. I find the best lyrics come out if I let my subconscious voice say what's on my mind. I mean, I get inspired by other peoples work, or what's happening in my life, but if I say "right I'm gonna write about that!" it's usually crap. Are there any old favourites on 11.59? Errrr...There's a couple that people asked for like 'Am I just wasting my time' and 'Dreams', but actually most of them are the newer gigged songs and some completely unheard ones. In some ways I really pleased myself with this album, and in some ways it put itself together. I feel it's the album I've always wanted to record and it's come about partly by design and partly by it dictating itself. What I mean is that the recording process was organic. We would be staying in a house somewhere, and that night I would play what I was in the mood for, and if it was right for the album things would go ok. And if it wasn't then I would keep cocking it up until I gave up on it! So what nearly got on there but didn't? I really struggled to put 'About this time of day' and 'Dead roses' on because people had requested them, but I just couldn't get 'em. Which was a shame, 'cause I wanted them on as well, but there you go. If you had to pick one song off each album as the highlights for you what would they be? Pfff...umm...On Hunting for fairies again, I think...'The butterfly room' maybe. It nearly didn't get on the album. I only tried it because I was fed up with struggling with something else and started playing it to break the tension. I had always loved it, but thought it too personal for anyone else to like it. I was very surprised when I listened back. I think it really works. And 11.59? Umm..I think 'World away'. It's not a new song but I've never really gigged it. I think it sought of sums up the album - delicate, intense, and I think it sounds like a recording of a moment rather that just a song. When I first listened back to this song I thought "This is what I want. This is the album I want to make". I look forward to hearing it. Thanks. I hope you like it. So what now? Now I just want to get out and play. I've been showing my face around London as much as possible recently,and I want to start getting out and bashing it a bit. Well Good luck with that. Thanks.