Abubilla Music

Biography

Andy’s first foray into the world of music was back in the days when people still called him Andrew.

At the age of 8 he was plucked from the classroom of a North East England primary school, as a reward for passing a listening test which hinged upon guessing the number of instruments he could hear in a piece of music. He began on the cornet (small trumpet), soon realising that the electric six string was much cooler. After much begging, he got one as a Christmas present aged 10 and a half. Fast forward 8 years and the boy (still Andrew) is about to leave for university down south. The years of schooling have brought him much in the way of knowledge and certificates, a brief dalliance in am-dram (less said about that the better) and a ‘mediocre’ talent across a number of instruments (head of music c1999 – thanks…).

He journeyed south, where he has stayed ever since, to begin a degree in Music and Sound Recording (Tonmeister). He earns the degree and acquires a beer belly and a nickname (Andy). Countless performances as one part of the duo FINe and dANDY with Fin Barnes, along with the hosting of an open mic night on the university campus, are the musical highlights-along with singing and playing banjo and singing in a trad. jazz ensemble with a fellow Geordie on sousaphone. Graduation brings a BMus(Hons)(Tonmeister) title (as yet unused) and the realisation that a job is required, his first job being a trip to Versailles to record a small gig organised to combat world poverty (LIVE8).

He has since worked on archiving projects for a few household names, along with recording monthly gigs at an iconic London Eaterie for the wireless. He has co-produced 2 albums with Colin Vearncombe at his studio in Ireland, has performed engineering duties for Scottish hitmaker Gerry Rafferty and is an ‘expert’ listener for a commercial research organisation. He also has links to the world of film music where he performs technical surgery on equipment for Hollywood composers .

Abubilla came about through an introduction made by a fellow Tonmeister (cheers Davros – still owe you a pint). He loves the music/pizza combination that Abubilla offers.