Andy Strachan

Author: Tim Mayne

Andy Sang, Andy Watched
Better known as the drummer for The Living End, Andy Strachan has just released his self-titled EP, something the talented musician says was a labour of love, with a little help from his friends.

While The Living End are putting the finishing touches on the group’s seventh studio album, drummer Andy Strachan says he decided to continue on with another personal project, this time operating under his own name.
“The EP took forever because I did it in spits and spurts and finished recording the whole thing over a year ago and bashed it altogether. There is no pre-production, just a lot of tweaking and it came together and then I have to save some coin to release it, it takes a long time but is a real challenge and has been fun.”

The debut single from the self-titled album, Follow The Sun, certainly catches your attention with a mix of heavy riffs, solid lyrics and eerie melodies, something Strachan says got the thumbs up from his producer and good friend Woody Annison.
“That riff came along and I thought that is good and put it aside and Woody and I worked on the riff and it just sounded so heavy.
“My mind went into this negative thought process and thought about suicide and people jumping off bridges.
“I thought I did not want to be singing about that and put it on the back burner and a few months later I put a positive spin on it about getting out of bed every morning and getting on with it.
“When you are writing songs there are not fifty thousand options – there is just what sounds good to my ear and that cuts down the decision process a lot.”

Strachan is currently locking himself away in his ‘man room’ working out how he will play the tracks live. He notes that while The Living End is his main priority, his latest EP is about keeping the creative juices flowing in between recording and live performances.
“This is about keeping me occupied and I have a batch of 20-odd songs ready to go when I get the chance. I am a shit guitarist and occasionally I will wrap strings in dunny paper because I only want two strings working at a time. I have two guitars and there are a couple of super fast songs I have written and eventually want to record.”