Andy Nelson (Bricktop Recording | Like Rats | Sourmouth)

Todd Nief's Show

Andy is one of the most talented musicians I know. Some people think of musical talent as a preternatural gift for shredding through neoclassical riffs on guitar or ripping through Chopin concertos as a pre-teen. In Andy’s case, this talent manifests itself as incredible taste and intuition for songwriting and audio production. When you hear a song written by Andy — whether it’s the, uh, powerviolence of Weekend Nachos or the alt rock throwback of Sourmouth — you know it’s an Andy song.

Fortunately, Andy gets to share his gift with others not just with his own music but through his work as a producer and audio engineer at Bricktop Recording.

I didn’t expect to make ill-founded quantum mechanics analogies with Andy in this conversation about songwriting, but that’s what happened.

Learn more from Andy here:

• Website: Bricktop Recording
• Instagram: @bricktoprecording | @andyheybro
• Twitter: @andyheybro
• Bandcamp/Spotify: Like Rats | Weekend Nachos | Belonger | Sourmouth | 2*Sweet
• Selected Production: Never Ending Game | 156/Silence | Bather | Kharma | Lurk

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Show Notes:

• [01:27] How Andy writes an album’s worth of songs every few months — across different genres
• [11:46] The difference between “idea generation” and “idea editing” in songwriting
• [23:19] How does Andy facilitate creativity in the studio while still keeping sessions on track?
• [31:13] The difference between “producing” and “engineering”
• [40:27] The value of a skilled editor in any creative endeavor. And, why it’s easier to edit other people’s work than your own.
• [48:45] How to avoid getting too precious with your own creative ideas.
• [54:29] Getting spacey with some theoretical physics analogies to songwriting
• [01:07:54] How to learn more from Andy

Links and Resources Mentioned:

• Daniel Higgs
• Killing Joke
• Killing Joke “What’s THIS For…!”
• Preston Weippert (Of Feather and Bone | Volunteer Coroner) Interview
• Wristmeetrazor
• Isaac Hale
• Polyptych
• Guitar Pro
• Lurk
• Mike Watts
• Oasis)
• Attractor
• Wave function collapse
• Morrissey
• Robert Smith
• Jaz Coleman
• Jeff Tweedy
• Noel Gallagher
• Double-slit experiment
• Spelling Bee – The New York Times