Dear Friends,

Lets not be afraid to be different and appreciate being the “outsider”.

Ever since we were little bambinos we’ve been trained to not stray to far from the line, be good like our brothers and sisters, go to school, pick a degree that makes money, get a job that makes money, find a mate, recreate, then pass away. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty robotically depressing to me..

What’s the point of having free will and an open mind if we’re trained to do what the person in front of us is doing? Why do we become outsiders if god for bid, someone wanted to make art instead of becoming a Doctor or CPA? Aren’t they both doing the same thing to the person receiving the guidance?

I grew up in LA where we are trained to basically keep up with Jones’s. Whatever the flavor of the week was (even if it was wearing your jeans backwards) you must do it at that moment or you were an outcast. The same went with the entertainment world. So naturally through the brainwash, when I first started playing music I was trying to sound like the one hit wonders of the radio (I should of took the name literally) but the time I finished writing songs that sound like that, the industry tells you; “No, No, No that was so two weeks ago..now try sounding like this and do you mind straightening hair? The afro is just too retro). It felt like trying to catch a rabbit’s tale that’s a arm distance away and not realizing your on a treadmill.

After a couple years of chasing, I finally said screw it.. I’m going to buy a van, find my sound, listeners (and dance moves).Even it takes years for people to understand my passion and love for my craft, it’d be better then being successful today for something I never loved in the first place. Because now I know, at the end of the day I only have myself to deal with. Let’s start looking in the mirror and feeling good about what we bring to the world because it’s what YOU want to bring not what someone else wants you to bring.

So be different. Go crazy, take risks and dance to your own drum (even if its not what the fucking Jones’s dig). If there’s something I’ve learned from my journey so far, it’s that if we can come to terms that we don’t need to be what everybody else wants us to be and just be who WE want to be, then I feel we can finally be free. Free from fear, free from insecurity, free to laugh, free to be who we choose to be.

So be different (I promise we won’t judge you)

Sincerely inspired,
AF

Here are the dates for Andy’s Netherlands run in which he”ll be backed up by local Dutch Musicians. Sounds tasty.

3/22 – Scooters – Leeuwarden, Friesland
3/23 – Scooters – Drachten, Friesland
3/24 – Scooters – Leeuwarden, Friesland
3/26 – Pothuys – Utrecht, Netherlands
3/27 – Xinix – Nieuwendijk, Netherlands

Dear Friends,

I think it’s time to go explore without hesitations of failure.

So I go through these phases in my life where I start to question everything. (I’m assuming like everybody else?) Just trying to understand how to stay positive and happy even through the storms. Knowing that life is a constant rollercoaster going through its ups and downs and appreciating the journey with a smile on your face even if your at the bottom.

So how do we get there?

It’s time to do things we want to do without feeling the sense of “failure”. (Because what is failure?) A word that keeps us afraid of doing what we are destined to do. A word that could keep us from genuinely being happy. If we take this word out of our personal dictionary I don’t think there’s anything we can’t do.

I started playing music only 2 years before I gave up schooling, bought a van, found my first band mates on Craigslist and hit the open road to find my fans and sound. I knew I wasn’t the greatest musician In the world but I was passionate about live music and had this hunch in my heart that I needed to do this.. So I jumped in. Now four years later I couldn’t be happier.

What would you explore if you didn’t fear?

We have to test things out to know what we want. How do you know Vanilla is your favorite flavor if you haven’t tasted Strawberry or Chocolate? (hell you could like them all and create a Cosmopolitan!) We need to get out of our heads for one moment and start listening to our souls because if we stop listening, then it stops talking.. That’s when we start feeling hollow (and the smile starts disappearing).. No bueno.

I don’t know about you but when I die, I want to know that I smiled more then I cried and I tried to fulfill all my dreams while being the best person I can be. If we can take these silly words like “failure” or “you can’t do that” out of our dictionary then we can start doing what we really want to do. We are only getting older and more tired..

So dive in and let’s start exploring for the sake of your youth and your heart.

Forever inspired,
AF

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