Andrew McUtchen Interview

Andrew McUtchen Interview

Andrew McUtchen is not only handsome and fun he is also one of Melbourne's hottest music talents. Andrew is a St Kilda resident who loves horseback riding and all types of sports as well as his guitar. Andrew has been nominated as a Bachelor of the Year Wildcard so he is definitely worth a look too! How does it feel to be described as handsome and funky?

Andrew McUtchen: (Laughs) Embarrassing. When you record an album you like the comments to be mostly about the music but hey if you're handsome as well then that is a bonus. (Laughs)


What excites you most about launching your debut album?

Andrew McUtchen: Getting it out there! These things have a long process and by the end of it you are just really happy to be out of studio and out of your own head and actually taking your music to people. That is why you start these projects, you want people to hear your songs, by the time it comes to launching you are very excited to have it out there!


How did you feel about being nominated as a Bachelor of the Year?

Andrew McUtchen: I was put up to it, I don't really have a lot of money to promote my album, so I considered all options. A friend in PR said "Just do it!" and eventually I was talked around. Any party is a good party!


What was it like receiving a complement from Jack Johnson? Is this what gave you the boost to choose to record your own music?

Andrew McUtchen: It was. I met him in 2004 and we had a great interview and got along really well. He is sort of guy when you are talking he just breaks into a song! Like a musical or something. I asked "How is the new record sounding?" and he started singing melodies! I am sort of similar I am quite happy to sing and he said "What do you do? Do you play as well?" as I started singing one of his other songs he complemented me by saying "You have a good voice, do you sing as well?" From there I sang him 'Mother's Day' which is track six on the record and he was a fan. He is a great artist and I've sent him the record and we continue to stay in touch. Hopefully I could tour with him one day.


Because of your job did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Andrew McUtchen: Yeah! You know a lot more when you are already in the music industry. You become very careful about how you control your music and whether you give up control too early. I admire people like John Butler who have really made a good example on how you can keep control of your work and keep financial control. I think they are the type of people who having been on the other side of the industry, with the way I am looking at it they are kind of mentors. There are ways you can be an artist without having to do fifty interviews a day and being in a magazine you don't wish to be represented in. You know?


Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Andrew McUtchen: Yes, definitely! The record is totally original. I find that I just get inspired by life. I mean sometimes it's an event, or something in the news that moves you. Anything that gets you, that moves you emotionally and you can turn into art. On the record I suppose most the inspiration of the songs had to do with travelling. Wanderlust, the title refers to a number of people in my life that I see that cannot stop travelling. Once they stop they find it very difficult to settle into life afterwards. I guess the title is playfully saying 'You have to watch out for Wanderlust' because it can really take a hold of your life. I have friends in their 30's who keep going back to Thailand and going back to Europe and just wandering around and finding it hard to settle. That was a big inspiration for me just stopping in Melbourne for quite a few years and killing that off so I could get something done.


What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Andrew McUtchen: Actually because I was a music critic for so long I have always been emerged in what is popular 'right now'. Since I stopped being a critic I have listened to a lot more older music from the 60s and 70s I have found so many good artists in that time. The way the media has set it up now days you are bombarded with new things, new bands and the 'hottest' new song. It is all very current. I am enjoying stopping and going back like Nick Drake, he is a genius! Heath Ledger was obsessed with Nick Drake and he has had a positive influence on a lot of artists that around now. Check him out on YouTube I think Heath Ledger did a film clip for one of his songs. It has been good picking up on these things.


Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Andrew McUtchen: Well (laugh) I haven't had a much of live experience at this stage. I have played a few gigs around here. I do really love recording because of the freedom of being about to work on a song for hours and add all kinds of different sounds that you cannot create live. There is something about performing live, the people are right there, and they can come up to you after saying how much the show meant to them and seeing it all happen, there is nothing better than that. Recording was the best experience of my life, because of the way one person, I play everything that was recorded, so I multi-tracked it. I started with one guitar and then another guitar, vocals and another guitar and it built the song out of nothing. When you listen to it, it sounds like a band is playing it; it is so much more than that. If you can visualise it, it is just one man playing one track and another track and then picking up an egg shaker and playing that for 20 minutes and then a tambourine! It is very satisfying listening to it as a back in real life.


Andrew is launching is debut album 'Down With Wanderlust' on 22^nd February 2009.