Andy McKee: Phone Interview
12.04.14
Andy McKee is considered one of the world’s best acoustic guitar finger-stylists. With his alternate tunings, percussive slaps and hits, and his unique technique, McKee has blazed a trail in the instrumental music world and created a very loyal fan base.
In April of this year, he released Mythmaker. This is his first release since 2010’s critically acclaimed Joyland and it features McKee playing piano and electric guitar, in addition to his distinct acoustic guitar offerings. Mythmaker is also the name of the record label that he has founded.
We had the chance to talk with Andy about his current influences, his turn to electric, holiday movies, and beards.
SMN: You have made your influences known. People like Michael Hedges & Don Ross, etc. Who are you listening to right now/who are your current influences?
AM: I can’t really think of anybody….I kind of keep listening to the old stuff. I keep finding myself going back to those guys, like my friends Antoine DuFour & Jon Gomm, those guys are really great too. I’m listening to some Japanese guitarists and guitar music, also some video game composers, and some cool instrumental music. Like Nobo Uematsu, composer for the Final Fantasy games.
SMN: Reading over your biography, you started out playing electric guitar, with influences such as Metallica and Eric Johnson. Do you plan on recording electric or have you done so recently?
AM: Actually, yeah, there is a track on my latest EP where I have an electric guitar solo, in addition to the acoustic guitar and the piano. It is my first time doing that, the electric guitar part, it was a lot of fun. I imagine there will be stuff in the future. I decided to be as creative as I could so it was not just solo acoustic guitar.
SMN: (Andy just mentioned that he wanted to possibly collaborate in the future with Eric Johnson or John Petrucci of Dream Theater). Well, you just read my mind and answered my question about who you would like to collaborate with in the future, let’s go to a holiday themed question, what is your favorite holiday movie?
AM: Well, does the Empire Strikes back count?
SMN: It has snow, so I think it counts. To build on that, what holiday song would you cover on an album?
AM: Well actually I was on a holiday album with Josh Groban back in 2007. However, if I had to choose, it would be “Tale of the Bells”.
SMN: When you come to Seattle, do you get a lot of free time? What do you like to do here?
AM: Well I used to. Actually, my manager used to live there. Sometimes I would go up a day or two before my performance and hang out, see the city a little bit. But, recently, it has been a gig one day and out the next. As far as the city goes, I like hanging out in Downtown, hit up Starbucks and such.
SMN: If you were stranded on an island and you had to choose one book, one movie, and one album, which would you choose?
AM: Book – Pale Blue Dot, Movie – Empire Strikes Back, Album – Aerial Boundaries by Michael Hedges
SMN: What is the strangest venue you have ever played in?
AM: A used CD store called CD Trade Post in Topeka, KS. It was not set up for me, people were shopping around me. I was playing in the corner and nobody cared. It was really awkward.
SMN: You have described yourself as “some guy from Topeka who blew up on the internet right before Christmas” and in those videos you had that famous beard. Will that beard ever come back?
AM: Man, I don’t know, I don’t think so. It actually looked better on YouTube than it did in real life. I tried growing it back a couple of times and it doesn’t look so great.
Andy will be playing at Benaroya Hall on December 11th. Tickets are available at www.seattlesymphony.org.
Interview by Phillip Johnson
