THE DANDYS
"I WANNA BE LIKE YOU"

INTERVIEW WITH ANDY FIRTH
15 MAY 1998, Glasgow King Tuts

THIS INTERVIEW WAS WRITTEN BY GENINE

I managed to catch Andy Firth, the singer/songwriter of the band for a wee interview and chat. this was done without any dictaphones etc, I hate using them things..


"Where does the name Dandys come from ?" "its not from the comic !" exclaimed Andy . "Its taken from a Kinks song". The Kinks along with the Rolling Stones and David Bowie are among Andy Firth’s influences.


The Dandys are a five piece from Leeds. They formed two years ago. Previously, they were all in different bands but were not happy with where they were going. Before they actually got together Andy spent a year doing nothing bar writing songs, locked in his bedroom with his guitars.
I asked how he goes about writing songs, does he feel the urge to write ? Andy informed me that the songs he writes are based upon his feelings, things that he has experienced. When writing, he uses various instruments to work out the arrangements in the songs.


"What do you feel about the music scene at the moment?" I asked, "there’s a lot of punk rubbish.. like Symposium, Idlewild etc." retorted Andy. Trouble is I knew exactly what he meant.... "and people, should stop going on about how depressed and fxxxed up they are". I agree. I too am fed up with all this crest-fallen music.


The Dandys have not had a lot of press coverage, which is very unfair, this is because they are different than these bands !. Thank goodness for devoted fans and fanzines !!


I asked Andy about Artificial records. They appear to give them some freedom. The Dandys themselves can choose who they want to work with, which of course makes all the difference.

On discussions about where the Dandys music will go, "Our music will change to keep up with the ever changing music scene", "I think we are very influential" Andy replied.


I asked Andy how much his lifestyle had changed, obviously with touring constantly. He seems to like to keep himself occupied, "when we have finished touring and I end up sitting in my room, its like what am I doing here !".


Andy spoke of telling his family when he was 15 that he wanted to be a popstar. "Of course they want you to get a normal job." Its different now of course, he gets total support from them.


I asked Andy about the Butterfly song, "everyone said we should do something with that song. so we gave it away to people who came to see our gigs, people who would appreciate it" There were 1000 copies pressed. And are now very sought after !


"You played in Aberdeen last night, what do you think of Aberdeen ?" "That were the second time we played there, the first time we played there were only 10 people, this time people came along to see us" "Aberdeen is grey and dull" "and boring" I interrupted. "grey and purple, lots of purple" I don’t know where he saw the purple though ??


Thanks very much to Andy Firth for his time.

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