Andrew Hetherington is an Australian musician, songwriter and music producer who writes retrowave and downtempo music. Thanks to his talent for writing songs with a very strong melody that connect with audiences with the very first listen, his songs have been receiving a lot of praise in local circles.

A songwriter of instinct, Andrew has a flair for writing songs that leave the listener moved by the raw emotion in them. Although his roots are firmly placed in mainstream music, he draws inspiration from many different lyrical and musical influences. “My style is eclectic..I can write a pop song today, and next a beautiful instrumental melody will come out of me, and I’ll be wondering..where did that come from?”. He has written the lyrics and music for over 20 songs and has collaborated with other artists in the production of his recordings including Australian singer Snez, American vocalist Sammy Pawlak and Canadian guitarist Paul Kinman.

Music is not a new passion for Andrew however: after playing the guitar from the age of 12: “I used to play along with the radio or cassette player pretending that I was famous”, he says jokingly. But it wasn’t until after playing in local pub bands for over a decade that he decided to take his musical career more seriously. Although for most of his adult life he has held different jobs, music, truth be told, was never far from his mind. “I always knew it was a matter of time until I started to write my own songs, I can be driving my car or lying in bed when the lyrics or music suddenly pops into my head out of nowhere.”

LINKS
https://andrewhetherington.weebly.com
https://www.facebook.com/imakesongs
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5SBDcWzW4gKx05fRNZz3yb
https://soundcloud.com/andrew-hetherington
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/andrew-hetherington/1403781510

1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?

I wanted to do music for a living because that’s who I am and I really love it. I’ve always been musical and played guitars and basses ever since I was a child. Back in the 80s when I was in my twenty’s there wasn’t any opportunity for indie artists and unless you were signed to a record label it was virtually impossible to have your music recorded and heard. I now have the opportunity to create professional sounding music in my own home studio and release it publicly whenever I want, which is great.

I discovered that I had a talent for writing good music in 2017 and I really wanted to be able to share my creations with the world. I found this was easy to do these days using the power of the internet, there are so many music streaming platforms and websites devoted to indie music, there has never been a better time in history to be an indie music artist.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s and I am greatly influenced by the music of that time. I like a lot of different styles of music from that era including hard rock, soft rock, new wave, synthpop and I’m sure I can hear a lot of that coming through in my own music. I can’t say I like any particular artist more than others, it’s more about liking the songs and the style of music rather than the artists themselves.

2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?

I have had real difficulty with this question for quite some time as I feel that my music sounds uniquely like me. I don’t fit snuggly within the proper definition of my genre. My style crosses over from strict downtempo and chill-out into areas of pop at times, which I think is a good thing. My niche is downtempo pop songs rather than simply relaxation or meditation music. There may well be artists that sound like me, but I haven’t discovered any at this point in time.

4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?

Well I usually start by creating a framework for the song using bass and drums, this sets out the song structure e.g intro, verse, chorus etc. and the chords for each each of these sections. The next process is to add a few background instruments to fill out the sound a bit, these include synth pads, rhythm guitar, piano. I love to have melody in each section of the song so this is the part that takes the longest, but it is also the most fun. I use lead guitar or synth for this as I love the variety of sounds, textures, colours and flavours these instruments can add to the song. I think that it is important to incorporate variation into the song to keep it moving, I try to add new elements about every four bars to fill out blank areas, add melodic interest and keep the listeners attention. These elements can be rhythmic or melodic and really give the song that full and complete sound.

Once I have a complete song I mix it by setting the volume levels for each instrument and panning each instrument to give the song some seperation and stereo width, I try to balance the song in my headphones so that it’s not lopsided. Lastly I master it by adding a high pass filter to reduce low end rumble, a compressor to reduce and loud sounds, a limiter to stop any clipping. I aim for a loudness of -14 LUFS and I achieve this by adjusting the output gain on the compressor.

5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?

I agree that it is very hard to get noticed, I have experienced this myself. I spend as much time on promotion as I do on making music, I do this for a few hours every day. I use a variety of ways to promote myself including social media posts, submitting to playlists, emailing my mailing list, submitting to opportunities for press and radio airplay. It has taken a while but I am now beginning to be playlisted and get some airplay on Australian radio.

6.) Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?

In the beginning my aim was to have artists from major labels record and release my songs, but I quickly learned that it wasn’t going to happen. These days I am very happy to be an independent artist because I get to put my own name on my songs and I have complete control over every aspect of my business including what I write and release, the artwork and the promotion. I create all of my own artwork for the songs, the websites and the video thumbnails. I create my own music videos to accompany the songs and I love having control of the content that I share with my audience. For these reasons I am proud to be indie and I plan on staying that way.

7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?

I believe that the internet and social media are the most important factors driving indie music in today’s music business. The internet is the platform on which we release and share our music with the world, and it is also the marketing platform for that music. So we would still be trying to get record contracts if it weren’t for the internet. As an indie artist on a very limited budget it is more cost effective to use digital distribution rather than produce conventional CDs, so the internet is absolutely essential.

8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?

Well I don’t produce mainstream music such as hip-hop, rap or modern pop so I don’t have a hope of being on the charts. I make music that moves my soul, that makes me jive, play air guitar and feel good. I’m targeting my music towards a particular audience who are into a certain genre or style of music that doesn’t fit the mainstream category. So I think it’s important to make music because you love it and you love what you do. If other people love it too and you make money that’s a bonus.

9.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

I would really love to have built a strong following by then and be well known as a music producer of quality. I’m continually learning my craft and challenging myself to use the knowledge to make my next song better than my last. Hopefully in five years time I will have learnt the secret to consistently creating well crafted and popular songs.