{"id":75566,"date":"2022-05-18T12:41:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T10:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=75566"},"modified":"2022-05-18T12:41:28","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T10:41:28","slug":"we-say-hello-to-andrew-reed-and-speak-about-his-music-his-influences-his-instruments-and-latest-single-dont-say-goodbye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2022\/05\/we-say-hello-to-andrew-reed-and-speak-about-his-music-his-influences-his-instruments-and-latest-single-dont-say-goodbye\/","title":{"rendered":"We Say Hello To Andrew Reed And Speak About His Music, His Influences, His Instruments, And Latest Single, ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Back in April we wrote about ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’, the latest single from Andrew Reed & the Liberation, that comes with a super trippy music video that will get you thinking. We were so inspired that we sent off a few questions, and we’re very happy to say that Andrew answered them in even more depth than we’d ever hoped. Hope you enjoy his responses as much as we do.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for the opportunity to speak with you!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is my pleasure! Now I will try to impress you with my IQ of 40! Ha! Really, the truth is that when I try to impress people, normally don\u2019t\u2026 So I just do my thing and tell it the way I perceive it! Holding nothing back! And usually the truth about things is more interesting than anything I could make up! Ha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You wrote your album, \u2018Twisted World\u2019 while isolating in the Appalachian wilderness. What were the greatest things you learned from that experience, and how \u2013 apart from the album \u2013 have you been able to apply them to your life since then?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just to be clear, I FINISHED recording it in the wilderness! The event or fuel for the song happened years before with wife #1 when she locked me out of our apartment after a morning band practice and a double shift as a waiter! My things were thrown outside and the door locked\u2026when I came home to the apartment around 1:00am! That anger or feeling of injustice after working so hard to be a \u201cgood provider\u201d created the energy for the song! As far as my wilderness life, it continues! And I appreciate the question! Nature, I suspect, is our guide to how life \u201cactually\u201d works on this planet. I think Nature is the truth! And you can have all kinds of cute and clever ideas about life, but when you\u2019re hundreds of miles from the nearest town, without anything to eat or shelter, you learn what reality is! And it doesn\u2019t give a rip about your fancy philosophy! It cuts through all the societal rules and traditions\u2026 The wilderness and the loneliness of a hermit-type setting, is really the way most seeking truth or spirituality take. That makes sense to me as \u201csociety\u201d is a made-up thing. I find that there are no problems in Nature\u2026and that all works perfectly! It is a perfectly balancing system of birth and death, light and darkness, a constant oscillation of vibration and variety! \u201cProblems\u201d are mere projections or perceptions in my humble view. Life is automatic and it is all worked out\u2026and is quite clear\u2026and there is an Intelligence behind Nature! All is pattern and random does not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The video for \u2018Don\u2019t Say Goodbye\u2019 is quite the trip \u2013 the religious imagery, the psychedelic colours, blurred footage \u2013 what was the concept behind that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song is about \u201cthe Great Certainty\u201d \u2013 Death! Death has a lot of ritual behind it! It is something that most human beings fear, and thus repress. From my own near-death situation after being swept overboard on a fishing boat in Alaska, I perceived that Life continues! And that is a good experience!  Oh, there may be a brief period of darkness, but I suspect that this \u201cfloating set of eyes\u201d in which I experience the world will still exist! \u201cHey, I\u2019m still here! Ha! Death is one of the richest topics one can confront! And if one learns to not fear it, great energy to live is freed up! I live quite recklessly and with great abandon! And it pays off! It is a good life when you leave the \u201chuddle masses\u201d behind and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019m going for it! I\u2019m going to literally throw my life away on what I love! There is no real risk in this deal!\u201d That\u2019s living!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who or what has been the biggest influences on your sound? Back to \u2018Don\u2019t Say Goodbye\u2019. Sonically it reminds me of some of my favourite rock artists of the 80s \u2013 Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Joy Division\/New Order, U2; am I heading in the right direction here or am I completely off beam?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You got it! Though I didn\u2019t plan it to sound like those artists\u2026as songs \u201cjust happen\u201d for me. And then it is a matter of finding cool sounds, through vast experimentation, and letting the words come organically\u2026even if it takes 10 years to complete the song! I don\u2019t let \u201ctrends\u201d or what is \u201chip\u201d dictate anything. I just like music that touches me or sounds cool! And then \u201clet go\u201d and \u201clet it happen!\u201d All recorded organic in the moment and not being over-rehearsed or perfect technically!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has been your experience of the Covid 19 pandemic, and have there been correlations between your self-imposed isolation and that which we\u2019ve all gone through the past 2 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so used to be in the wilderness that I really didn\u2019t notice it that much! I sit, observe reality (Nature), write what comes to me, usually in high-vibrational states, and then hunker down and record! The recording experience is my main focus\u2026and my best concerts have been to an audience of forest of trees! Ha! The Pines and Oaks love a good show! Illness and sicknesses come and go\u2026 History informs us of that\u2026and if I am one of the ones that dies from it, then I can be useful and be used by Nature to feed and fertilize the Earth! Ha! Nothing is ever wasted in Life! Waste isn\u2019t even possible! Yet, I go on! Without scar or regret\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we seem to be moving (slowly) into a post-Covid world, what does the future hold for you and your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m feverishly trying to get these thematic \u201ctrilogies\u201d albums (sets of 3) out! All are concept art albums with the similar style and an organizing theme. When I got on with INgrooves and Universal Music, we pulled my entire catalog of songs down from all the major music platforms! So that all could be re-released, with perhaps a bigger bang! SO now it\u2019s a matter of releasing my prior music as well as cool new prog rock as well as more acoustic music\u2026but not so much at a time that people choke on it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the songwriting process for you? How do you come up with a song? Which comes first – \u00a0the concept, the words, the melody \u2013 or do they all happen together?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no formula. Except that I go into these \u201chigh vibrational\u201d states\u2026and I find myself so inspired by Life! I get up in the morning, light a candle, grab a cup of coffee and sit on the couch with the windows and doors open (if not winter) and just let my mind go with guitar in hand or keyboard ready! And I always have a recorder, usually my iPhone! Sometimes, a song will come when I\u2019m at a campsite\u2026with the fire crackling and all the animals smelling my food! Songs \u201chappen\u201d spontaneously, life \u201cgifts,\u201d at weird times so often!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked about the influences on your sound, but who or what have been the greatest inspirations in your life?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is a great question. There are so, so many. For lead guitar, I love Jeff Beck! Acoustic, Cat Stevens or Gordon Lightfoot. Blues, John McVey who I produced and recorded a couple albums with. I like the Weeknd and Taylor Swift too as far as modern music! Portugal the Man too! R.E.M. is another group I love! And Blue Oyster Cult! Way cool stuff! Jethro Tull for prog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have a preferred musical instrument brand, and if so, what is it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding acoustics I play a lot of Martins, but some Gibsons too. Electric – Gibsons \u2013 Les Pauls, SGs, 339s. But sometimes I love Strats and Teles!  I used to be a bit of a guitar snob. Now I love them all! I just love guitars! I love el-cheapo guitars and weird pawn shop guitars! I play for hours every day unless I\u2019m traveling and playing is inconvenient! To me, practice is not about getting better\u2026as that is like trying to postpone happiness for a future date! That\u2019s a ridiculous idea to me! I enjoy the NOW! The Zen of the moment! So I enjoy practicing! It is not work! And this way, I am completely satisfied in the moment! As well as when I arrive at the Destination! Ha! I get BOTH with that type of consciousness! For pianos, I play Yamaha baby grand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview, but nobody ever does?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just Life questions really\u2026 Ideas about how life works. To me, the best question may be perhaps, \u201cHow best to live?\u201d With that question posed, I find that singular explanations are insufficient, as all topics are infinite. So all answers are incomplete at best and are a dead stop. The zest of life seems to be in the questions and the quest! That is where the conflict, struggle and action are! \u201cHow best to live?\u201d I suspect, that it has to do with coming into a consciousness of complete self-acceptance, knowing that there is nothing really to fear, nothing to regret or feel guilty about\u2026that you are perhaps happy all the time\u2026but just may not know it! And that, like Nature, all unfolds perfectly. Like a flower blooming when it is time to bloom, beyond command. Then, after its season in the Sun, if curls up and goes back to the Earth\u2026 No problemo! Life just cycles! Ha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the video for \u2018Don\u2019t Say Goodbye\u2019 below and find out more online about Andrew Reed & The Liberation and their music on their official\u00a0website<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"andrew