For Charlottesville rock band Earth to Andy, originality is the first priority.
With their most recent album, "Chronicle Kings," the local quartet refuses to compromise its unique sound for mainstream success. A self-described modern rock group, Earth to Andy's front man Andy - in the tradition of Cher and Madonna he only has one name - hopes people will recognize the band for individual talents rather than for following the latest music trends.
Earth to Andy's uniqueness is largely because of its rare blend of melody and hard rock. Andy was pleased to hear his music described by a listener as "Soundgarden with the Beatles singing." After members of indie bands Egypt and Red Henry collaborated to form Earth to Andy, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Andy decided he wanted a band that would showcase good singing as well as hard-edged guitar riffs. The band's goal is to be a "very powerful band that could still carry a melody," Andy said - he wanted to "put the music back in music."
This is not to say that Andy would not like to see the band achieve widespread success someday. Despite the fact that he does not watch much TV or listen to the radio, Andy confesses he is not unlike most musicians "whose goals are to get on the radio or MTV."
But while he has nothing against what he describes as "kiddie bands" such as the widely popular Backstreet Boys or Britney Spears, Andy said he sees himself as being in a completely different musical sphere. He considers these pop groups to be part of a "cyclical trend that is nothing new. When I was a kid it was Menudo, and before that it was the Osmonds. Those groups are not put together by accident," Andy said. As for the mass appeal of boy bands and other musicians of the same pop genre, Andy said he understands why it's out there.
Earth to Andy cites artists such as Chris Cornell, Lit and the Stone Temple Pilots as modern-day influences in their music. Led Zeppelin and the Beatles - who Andy characterized as "hard rock artists with a different flair" - provided inspiration for the band while they were growing up. Earth to Andy members admired the Beatles' versatility and wanted to be one of the few bands today that, like the Fab Four, feature vocals of all the band members, Andy said.
Although Dave Matthews-inspired groups are prominent in the local music scene, the band does not want to follow the local legend's act. Andy is a Matthews fan, but he said his band should focus on developing its own personality.
"People ride coattails of other successful local musicians. When you have an artist like Dave Matthews who becomes a household name, there's always a local band who will say 'Let's be like Dave.' We like to do our own thing," Andy said.
Earth to Andy's most immediate goal, however, is to promote its new album through touring. The band will play at Trax tomorrow with opening act Navel. Between acts the band will show its music video. Made at Trax, the video features local audience members at a recent show.
Andy also anticipates opening for a big name band in the near future. He believes that this will help expose audiences to the new music as well as make them associate Earth to Andy's music with that of a more well-known group.
Andy said the band hopes it will get a heavy rotation on radio stations across the country. For the moment, Andy is not sure whether the competitive MTV market will be the next step, but he describes the band as "very optimistic" about its future.
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