who are arconica?
Hi Guys. ArconicA is a studio rock band created by me, Andy. So the question really is;
WHO the hell is Andy?
I'm the bloke in the band picture above and to your right. In fact, all the band members are me. My name is Andy and I play the guitar, a bit of keyboards and the rest I either tapped out on a keyboard, or programmed within my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) which is, for those of you who don't know, used to record, edit, mix, and master audio, and allows me to introduce drums, synths and all sorts of other wonderful sounds. if you want to know more, clickme
but Enough already……
Well its all about the music, RIGHT! So lets talk music for a bit and get down to the nitty gritty and get some perspective before I introduce you to my NEW DEBUT album entitled;
I was brought up in a household that was full of music every day. My Dad was an avid classical fan and also played a lot of Jazz classics like Billy Holiday, Ella Fitgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Billy Eckstien, and he loved the film sound tracks, Oklahoma, South Pacific, etc. That was downstairs. Upstairs, my older brother Steve was playing Led Zeppelin, Cream, Mountain, Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix, Yes, CCR, The Strawbs, Mott the Hoople, Pink Floyd and a whole load of other stuff. Whereas I loved the Motown scene and all of the music from the greats like Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five, Motown Spinners and many more. I also listened to Reggae at that time. I didn't particularly like it but then I was a skinhead and a Chelsea supporter, so I had to like it.
But I started off my record collection with a second-hand copy of T-Rex's Electric Warrior, That was my first venture into Rock music. My second album that I bought was David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, and that was it. I became a huge Bowie fan right up to his album Young Americans. Then I lost interest. I also listened to Roxy Music, Alice Cooper and Bad Company and as my interest grew in music and particularly rock music, I began to not only appreciate some of the records my brother played, but also the classical and Jazz that my Dad played. It's a strange thing, but when I was a teenager listening to rock bands, I thought it wasn't cool to say out loud that you liked a pop song that was in the charts, or a piece of classical music. I had to be seen as a hard rocker.
I look back to that time now and think, why did I do that? Because through the years I have discovered, or realised that there is beauty in all types of music and that we all have different tastes and should be honest about it. It never ceases to amaze me that there are only 12 notes in the western chromatic scale, and yet there are millions, perhaps billions of different compositions created by very talented people since the classical composers used major and minor scales with the occasional note outside of the scale (to add tension) in their writing back in the days. And it's all, save for a few songs, unique. Of course since then music has evolved and there are many types of scales to choose from for the musician/writer/composer that has made music more interesting and less predictable.
So fast forward to today, the year of 2026. so Who do I listen to now days? Not so much the old stuff of the past although I do occasionally take a trip down memory lane and play the odd track. But rock has moved on and there are plenty of new sounds and styles to select from. So the bands that I listen to now are a mixture of 1980's, 1990's. Bands like Tears for Fears or Til Tuesday. I never appreciated them back then because I was tunnel-visioned as I said earlier. But now I see the musicianship and the writing ability of those bands and as a musician myself, understand the process of starting to play an instrument for the first time, to the time when you start writing and performing your own music. It's a journey that is both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.
go to the music - ENJOY
In more recent years I have been more adventurous and gone out and bought a CD, just coz I liked the cover. One of the best buys I have had using this approach, was Joe Bonamassa's excellent album, You and Me. But even before then, I was getting tired of listening to the old rock like Led Zep, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd and so on. Don't get me wrong, I still love these guys music but I wanted something different to listen to. By chance I used to read The Guitarist magazine and they did an article on a guy called John Petrucci. They likened him to Steve Howe of Yes so I thought, I'll have some of that. For anybody who hasn't heard of John Petrucci, he is the lead guitarist in a band called Dream Theater. So……I went round my local CD shops to get one of their Albums. What! You've not heard of these guys? I couldn't believe it. I then went to London HMV especially to get one of their CD's. WHAT!!!!! You guys have not heard of them either. If HMV don't have them on their books then I stood no chance of getting a CD of theirs.
A couple of months later, my brother steve said “I'm going to la next week. Is there anything you want brought back” OMG. “Oh yes” I replied. No prizes for guessing what I asked for. he managed to find a dream theater cd in tower records called images and words. their second album release. and So on his return, he gave me the CD that potentially nobody, or very few people had in the UK. I've never looked back. All I will say is that they are an extraordinary band, maestro musicianship, and will rock ya' socks off. well actually they are more metal than rock. but you know what i mean. If you haven't listened to them, check them out. Another band that I have discovered in the past year or so, is an incredibly original band who have combined multiple genres into their music, and have found in my opinion, an amazing and mesmorising mix. They are called Sleep Token. Again, check them out.
This is only a very small insight into the music that I have listened to over the years as I have quite a wide and varied collection of music that goes from classical to heavy metal. Maybe you will be able to see it in my music, I really don't know. As I was registering my music so that I could sell it, the form asked 2 questions.
1) What Genre is your Music, and
2) Who do you sound like.
Jeez, I don't know! My brother said that when he heard my album, it wasn't like anybody else that he had listened to. wasn't sure if that was good or bad! Maybe you guys can tell me if you choose to listen to it in full - which i recomend. But then i would wouldn't i. And please, do read the write-up that describes what my CD is about because it tells a story about a very serious subject that is still taboo even today. It is a real-life story based on a real-life couple, one of them being a close friend of mine.