Andy Brawner

Andy Brawner is a musician from Green Bay and popular for his innovative lyrics and melodies. He is working on his first CD of original compositions, and regularly plays in the Green Bay and Door County coffee houses. See his interview with Door County Compass on the www.doorcountycompass.com website.

Interview with Andy Brawner

By Roger Kuhns
July 8, 2001

What is it that drives a person to write down their most personal observations about life and then put them to music and perform them in front of an audience of strangers? Why would some one do that?


“This is a kind of parade
Where the marching bands unfold
You’re doing what you’re told
To keep away the cold
That marches through you….”
Andy Brawner
Parade

As I sit in the coffee houses of northeastern Wisconsin I listen to musicians performing their original material. I hear some good stuff, interesting melodic lines wrapped around thoughtful, sometimes powerful lyrics. One such person who is writing good music is Andy Brawner, a tall, confident, good-looking man from Green Bay, Wisconsin. Andy will be 30 years old this year and has written dozens of songs. He has completed a demo of 11 original compositions and is working on an album that he can sell during his performances. The demo is very good.

Recently Andy played at the outdoor Thursday night concert series at Java on Jefferson in Sturgeon Bay (check the schedule on www.musicTOears.com). Andy’s style is a fusion of many as he closes his eyes to sing his lyrics in a sometimes-tentative emotional projection of his raw but tonally pleasing voice. He sometimes sings through clinched teeth, as if reluctant to let some of the verse go – and then with full voice the lyrics flow from him like a burst dam. His writing is emotional, but he doesn’t just spell it out for you, he prefers the ambiguous and the subtle side of writing. Andy’s guitar modulates from individually plucked notes to an open-tuned droning to rapid powerful strumming. This variability alone gives his melodic compositions variety as well as giving them a modern alternative pop flavor.

RK: How long have you been writing music?

AB: Started when I was 16 with my first guitar. I was in some collage bands, one called Protable 360, the Sonic Youth thing. There was a lot of feedback and a lot of yelling. Now I’m into more pretty songs.

RK: Okay, the question I know you hate: how would you describe your music?

AB: Yeah, well, modern alternative Indie (independent), I suppose. I don’t see it as pop.

RK: How do you write your songs?

AB: Oh, God, you should have a tape recorder going for this one. There is no single answer. I write a lot of pseudo poems and see where they go. Some are chord progressions that become songs, and some just appear in from of me – that’s a good day. Lately I am becoming more melodic.

RK: A lot of your songs are pretty heavy, not a lot of optimism in them, any thoughts on that?

AB: Yeah, well… I’m trying to move towards stuff with a sense of humor. I have a tendency to write abstract and I’m trying to fight that a bit. I get less out of abstract dark music now and am trying to write more towards concrete stuff with images of people, like my song “Exodus”.


“you sing the ending in voices I can’t hear
you take my offer and burn it with my fear
you were never on the ships
that took me out away for a day
now the layer has come together
in a word that I will read as away, away
he’s still waiting on a friend
who said he’d be there 16 years ago
now it’s a hopeless tale he tells to preach
to anyone who will go
waiting on a friend who said he’d be there
but landed in a hole
now it’s a hopeless tale….”
Andy Brawner
Exodus

RK: I think I hear a bit of The Smiths, a bit of U2 and Dave Matthews in your music; but that’s what I hear, who do you listen to?

AB: Really like Elliot Smith. Nick Drake and Jeff Buckley. Also Fiona Apple. Dave Matthews recently, but only his guitar stuff. I like Ruffus Wainright. Beatles & R.E.M. and Neil Young. Dylan, of course, gotta mention him.

RK: Does your style follow some of these performers styles?

AB: Well I don’t know. It crosses boundaries. I started off as a drummer, but got bored with that and took up guitar. I was afraid to take lessons, and kind of like being clueless about the theory. I was afraid it would kill my creativity, you know, if I had to suddenly follow rules. I got a kinda good ear, so I can get by without the rules. I like free form playing.

RK: I noticed during your performance that when you do covers (other people’s songs) you really put your own spin on them. Do you want to comment on that?”

AB: Well, when I hear someone doing a cover I don’t expect to hear a perfect repro of the cover – I’ll just listen to the record if I want to hear that. (During Andy’s recent performance he did the Beatles “Back In The USSR”, but it sounded like a blend of punk and the Smiths; Andy commented, “Gotta play some Beatles, ‘course you might not recognize it!”).

RK: Which of your songs do you like best?

AB: It changes from day to day, but I like “Thaw”. My voice sticks out more on that (RK note: Thaw starts out with minimal guitar and very clean voice; it is a brief song):


“Every year about this time it’s gorgeous
you give in to the beating you will take.
The answers that you look for are relentless
Under snow you bend or you will break.
Remedies for boredom are contagious
Sunday is a fracture in your spine
Every year about this time is endless
Every year is an airplane flying time
Away from ground don’t get too high on me
I’m awaiting alone down here.”

Andy Brawner
Thaw

I also like “Un-cynical” because there’s room to stretch out – it comes easy, and I’ve never fought with it. I struggle with “Under The Rose”. I’ve gotten good web reaction from my mp3 of “Smile”. I wrote that one for my mom because she said I was writing too much dark stuff (RK note: Smile has great guitar and a nice hook in the melody). I’m very proud of “Parade” (see opening quote). This one appeared almost complete. It’s kind of about Green Bay with emotional weight, a mood, and a winter morning. “New Year” is melodically one of the more interesting songs I’ve done, and it’s sort of in the Elliot Smith style.

RK: I noticed when we the audience requests one of your songs you kind of hesitate and give us a funny glance. What’s that about?

AB: It’s weird. The one’s (songs) that people latch on to are the ones I get down on. I sort of underdog the others, that’s the Indie guy in me (referring to the independent artists). I know it’s sort of stupid and self-defeating, but, well…I’ll get over it.

RK: Tell me about performance, do you enjoy it?

AB: Yes. Really like places where they listen to my music.

RK: What do you want to convey to the crowd?

AB: Transcendence. I try to reach too far. There are those moments when you’re playing when everything else washes away and everything is right on – those moments I live for. I want to be in an environment where people listen – that’s not common here, but I’m not too discouraged.

RK: So you like the coffee house crowd more than the bar crowd?

AB: Yeah, where people listen.

RK: What do you want to do with your music?

AB: I want to figure out how to focus on what I want to do with my music instead of spending all this time at a job I don’t like! I want to find where I want to communicate as a performer and as a songwriter. Some nights you really hit on it, those moments where it works. I’ve find glimmers of my sound there at those times. I’d love to make a living at it, but don’t know what I’d have to give up.

RK: Do you see yourself staying here in the Green Bay area?

AB: Yeah, kinda, I think there is potential here. I’d like to say, hey, I was here when it sucked!

RK: Would you want other performers to sing your songs?

AB: Not particularly. I’m kind of selfish about that.

RK: And in ten years where would you like to be?

AB: I just want to become someone people go out of their way to see. Maybe put a band together. I can go out and play a gig and get burned out, but I do believe if I keep working at it that it will fall into place. I got to be sincere and keep my head and things will be okay. I think Elliot Smith has a very nice existence right now. He sells 100,000 records, he’s respected, and people care about what he says. There is arrogance in that, but….

RK: What is your album plan?

AB: My CD is a demo now. I want to do the final CD with my (home) set up. I’d like to do studio work, but that’s not going to happen. I don’t want it perfect. I get nervous about things that are too clean cut!

Come to the coffee houses: Java On Jefferson in Sturgeon Bay, The Bridge in Egg Harbor and Kravings in Fish Creek for original music performances. Check the www.musicTOears.com site for Andy’s performances in Door County, and find his songs at www.mp3.com/andybrawner but be sure to see his performances.