Andy Shand
North-West UK-native Andy Shand makes music for the dreamer. The 26-year-old started his musical journey with a site called VGMusic, which later led him to create his original songs. We literally cannot describe his music— it often exceeds to boundaries of genre, including electronic, indie-pop, and even rock, at times. He jumps from universe to universe through songs like “Journey to a Nearby Star”, a fitting name for a track of its caliber. What it lacks in lyrics is made up for with beautiful guitar riffs and catchy melodies. “Orbit” is his most popular release to date, garnering over a 74k Spotify plays since its release. Andy’s August Track Dump featured an evolved sound for the artist, one that is impressive to say the least. We talked to the artist about the project, plans for the future, and more!
Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm Andy, I'm 26 and from North-West UK. I consider myself a bit of a late bloomer. Up until a few years ago, I'd pretty much just been "coasting" until I realized it was probably best I actually attempted to make something of my life. I'm pretty ADHD (backed by an actual diagnosis now - whatever weight that holds) so I knew I needed something with the promise of novelty, constant change, and a lot of freedom. Music was the only thing that really seemed worth it to me.
How did you start making music?
I found a site called VGMusic when I was about 12 full of people's renditions of video game music - which I became obsessed with - and started transcribing my favourite songs and submitting them to the site. That slowly developed into making my own original tracks. A lot of my midi files are still on the site, under the name "Andrew "SH&E" Shand". I thought SH&E ("Shandy") was really clever at the time...
When you’re not creating music, what’s something you enjoy doing?
I do some coding occasionally, usually writing tools to make music production easier. I started writing my own DAW a little while back, but soon found I spent way more time working on it than actually making music - so I abandoned that. Before COVID I liked to travel and explore a lot, so I'm really hoping before long I can get back to that too.
Walk us through your songwriting process.
I usually start with something completely random and just keep adding things until I have a big mess I can try and sculpt into something listenable. Sometimes I can hear exactly where something should go, but other times I need to experiment a lot more to find something that works. It's usually very iterative, and I'll record some guitar or vocal line like "I need something like this here" and keep coming back to it and refining it. I find everything usually sucks for the first hour or so, so I always have to convince myself not to give up prematurely.
Your 2020 EP, “August Track Dump,” was full of funky beats. What was the inspiration behind it?
There wasn't really a unifying idea behind all of the tracks, but I know I tend to be especially drawn to music with a lot of groove and energy. I was obsessed with Vulfpeck for a good while around the time they blew up and think I probably owe it to them for any funkiness that comes through in my music.
Who do you owe your biggest thanks to?
It's hard to say just one person, but probably the founders at the company I worked at after university. Before working there I was a completely different person - pessimistic about the world, myself, and the future. They gave me opportunities and encouragement that let me discover I could actually do things, and be valuable to other people. They even fully supported my transition to making music and made accommodations where they could so I could spend more time on music.
You’ve released a huge body of work in your time as a musician so far. Does any specific song stick out to you more than others?
Probably "Dopamine". I feel like it's probably the most authentic thing I've made, but it's also one of those where I still question how I managed to make it. I'm kind of intimidated by it.
Where do you see Andy Shand in five years?
Less of a recluse, less obsessive working, spending more time with people I love.
Who’s someone that you’d love to create a song with?
Honestly, probably just my friends, or anyone who is fun to be around. I think if the process is fun, the output will work itself out. I can see myself taking the process too seriously with any of my favourite artists - but maybe I'll loosen up in the future.
What are you planning for the future?
I've been promising an album for the longest time, but I know I want it to be very vocal heavy and have been working as fast as I can to sing how I want to. I have almost 2 albums of tracks I just haven't finished because of that, so I hope to release a stupid amount of music. Once I'm through that barrier live performances should be more possible too - which I'm very excited for!