I like to approach all my compositions as creative challenges. Everything I create is an opportunity to learn, grow, and innovate, discovering and developing skills that I didn’t know I had by repeatedly pushing myself to the limits of my ability.
I’ve released two studio albums and several singles and other content. Here’s a bit more on the creative challenge and process behind each of them.
About Suture Self
Style & Sound
Moody, rocking, and sincere, Suture Self is an exploratory album that pushes groove to its limit across several styles. What started as a challenge to write as many songs as possible during the first few weeks of the pandemic lockdown quickly developed into a creative experiment in composition and instrumentation. The album’s intricate, multilayered sonic textures reveal Andrew’s versatility on his debut studio LP, combining dreamy grooves with delicate musicality to create a deep collection of catchy, laid-back meditations.
Listen to Suture Self on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Buy Suture Self CDs
Creative Process: Suture Self
I wrote and recorded my first album completely by accident.
When the pandemic struck in March 2020, I retreated home and suddenly found myself with an awful lot of time with my recording gear in the stable feeling of the house I grew up in. Despite having played guitar for nearly two decades, and having occasionally written a tune in an ephemeral flurry of spontaneous inspiration, I still felt like I had no clue how to compose original music.
I decided it was time to get serious about changing that. I didn’t intend to release an album; instead, I just wanted to learn how to write songs more consistently. I practiced this by writing one song per day, every day, for around three months.
It was incredibly hard, a lot like slamming my head against a wall repeatedly, but I improved very quickly. Most of what I created was either pure garbage or an incomplete fragment of a melody or a song. But by June, I had around 10 complete, cohesive, and compelling pieces that stood out from the rest. Suddenly I realized that I could release them all together, and Suture Self began to take form.
From June 2020 until Suture Self‘s eventual release in March 2021, I slowly continued refining and producing everything to perfection with my good friend and expert producer, Darren McSweeney, in Denver, Colorado. In addition to streaming services, I released the album with a full-length music video using footage I’d recorded while driving in beautiful areas throughout the western U.S.
About Runaway
Style & Sound
Applying his musicianship towards the challenge of an all-acoustic singer-songwriter album, Andrew’s second studio LP showcases his catchy, minimalist style through complex harmonic progressions and poignant, evocative lyricism. By simplifying the music to its most central elements both melodically and thematically, the album has a delicate intimacy that welcomes the listener into its nostalgic contemplation.
Runaway tells a story of heartbreak and moving on in reverse, transforming it into a cathartic search for dignity in traumatic memories. Bittersweetly untangling the threads, Andrew recollects stories and themes that have challenged those around him throughout his entire life, including suicide, abuse, and loneliness. Each song pulls at the knots that once held a failing relationship together, until they finally snap and release in a melancholy redemption of solitude.
Listen to Runaway on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Buy Runaway CDs
Creative Process: Runaway
Runaway is an experiment in minimalist “less is more” songwriting. It’s also my first attempt to compose around an emotional theme and story.
The songs on Runaway were written slowly, spontaneously, and naturally. I wrote the title track first. It came to me fully intact, and I wrote the whole song in about five minutes when I woke up at 2 a.m. on the night that I bought a one-way plane ticket to Thailand, at the exact moment when it all hit me that I was moving across the planet for reasons I didn’t fully understand, but that I felt deeply compelled to pursue nonetheless.
Over the following months, I wrote another couple acoustic songs while casually playing around on my guitar. I tried to make my riffs, melodies, and lyrics more interesting to accomplish a “full” sound, both tonally and harmonically, using as few notes and instruments as possible.
After I had around five acoustic singer-songwriter tunes fully written, I decided to take the idea all the way: I committed to releasing an album with only acoustic guitar and vocals the whole way through, and began intentionally writing songs in this style.
Runaway and Dignity
At that time in my life, I was also contemplating and meditating deeply on what the word “dignity” means. Several of my friends killed themselves in the span of around two years, while others had finally freed themselves of abusive relationships that had lasted even longer. I began writing songs to explore and imagine their feelings. I tried to write music that could capture their struggle and offer a resolution for the most dire circumstances.
I was extremely hesitant to release this album, which dives deeply into these themes of suicide and abuse. As a disclaimer, I did not write about either from direct experience; but surely, some listeners will think otherwise. I decided to release it anyway, to respect the reality of what my friends had gone through and to try to open the conversation more.
Thank You For Listening
I love approaching music with intense discipline and creative constraints that force me to be creative, but at the end of the day, it’s just really fun to create something. In a sentence: My creative process is the intentional exploration of what I previously didn’t know or apply in myself.
Music enriches my life by helping deepen my experience of events and the emotions surrounding them, and it’s an honor to be able to share these perspectives with you. Thank you for listening.
My music is available on all streaming platforms, including Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
Please contact me if you’d like to use my music in any outward-facing, public content.