Andrew Cushin possesses a nuanced, multifaceted talent for songwriting. The words that he conjures are both immensely personal and reflective of modern social issues, but those serious themes are delivered through songs with huge, pints-in-the-air singalong appeal. It’s a talent that’s winning a growing army of admirers, most notably Noel Gallagher, who produced and performed on Andrew’s previous single ‘Where’s My Family Gone’.
Andrew’s ongoing discovery continues today as he releases just his fourth single, ‘Memories’. It’s a song which finds the 20-year-old artist poignantly exploring the idea of what masculinity means in the present day. There’s undoubtedly a real bravery in putting such vulnerable emotions in full view of the world at large, but that heartfelt honesty has been the driving factor behind all of his releases to date.
Music News caught up with Andrew to find out more:
Tell us about your new single ‘Memories’. “Memories” was written in lockdown at a time male-mental health was seemingly worsening! Suicide rates were rising drastically and I think every male had a duty of care for each other, I recall asking my mates if they were okay on a daily basis, it was a frightening time.
The lyrics “what is a man and what can he do” was symbolic to the fact that us as men don’t know what we are really capable of. The duties we have to provide financially and emotionally for our loved ones are things that aren’t taught to us but are things that we somehow should already know. The sooner the pressure is taken off men in these scenarios I think we will see a huge decline in the suicide and depression rates.
Do you find it easy wearing your heart on your sleeve? No it never really bothers me to be honest, I’m very thick skinned when it comes to taking criticism, nothing in that respect bothers me .. in terms of writing and performing I think if you don’t put that emotion forward then the songs aren’t going to be received as well
Noel Gallagher is a fan he played on and produced your last single, ‘Where’s My Family Gone’ how did you manage that? Noel had been working with us behind the scenes for some time, we needed a producer for the next single “Where’s My Family Gone” and asked Noel if he could recommend anyone, to everyone’s amazement! He said he’d do it.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? I can take inspiration from anything I think it’s definitely a good thing when you can do that. I wouldn’t want to be one of these artists that can only sing love songs, or heartbreak songs ... I can write and sing about virtually anything.
You’ve been working with Richard Woodcraft (Radiohead, Michael Kiwanuka, Paolo Nutini), how did that connection come together? A contact in the music industry introduced us. Richard was great, a proper geezer. We worked on two songs together, they’ve both came out great! (Memories being one of them) he also looks like Martin Freeman. I’d happily work with him again!
Will there be more material released from that session? Like I say we have another tune all finished just unsure on what to do with it, the song is Chris Dobey’s walk-on song .. which you can hear live at any of the televised darts competitions.
When can we expect an album? An album is probably a little way off at the minute .. I’m going to say 2023/24
You will soon play the 1000 capacity Boiler Room in your hometown of Newcastle, are you looking forward to that? 1200 tickets sold to watch me! It’s absolutely mind blowing .. I try not to think about it too much as it totally freaks me out. The people of Newcastle are great for all of their support .. as well as that EVERYONE who’s purchased a ticket for that gig has no idea the effect it’s left of me ... I can’t wait to perform for them all x
When did your love of music start? I suppose I’ve always enjoyed listening, I was brought up on a menu of Oasis, Paul Weller, The Who, The Beatles .. as I got older I discovered Bob Dylan and Donovan .. then by the time I started playing guitar, I was hooked.
Who do you listen to for pleasure? I listen to a variety .. listening to a lot of The Kooks again at the moment .. there’s also a song by “She Drew The Gun” called “Something For The Pain”
