Andy Z: Top 5 things you have to know

Think you have the coolest job ever? Then you haven’t met Andy Z!

Andy Z (real name Andy Zamenes) and I met a couple of weeks ago following one of his popular library concerts in downtown Mountain View. We were in the midst of a July heat wave and it was already annoyingly hot by 11am. After taking a few concert pictures and wandering around the lawn area crowded with bouncing kids, I have to admit that I was sweating and ready for naptime.

When I finally sat down at a local Starbucks for our chat, I was expecting Andy to be as tired as I was and braced myself for a short interview. But when he came running in a bit late (held up by admiring fans buying up his CDs), he was full of energy and I immediately felt ashamed of my apparently non-existent stamina. We ended up talking for over 2 hours.

Here is what you absolutely have to know about the guy that’s probably entertained your kids a bunch of times by now.

1) Andy works very, very hard

This photo doesn’t have anything to do with the paragraph....just thought it was awesome!

To make it to the top of the San Francisco Bay Area family music scene obviously takes a lot of talent, hard work and perseverance. To stay at the top takes hours upon hours of getting yourself out there and creating lasting connections with audiences. Add on top of that the fact that the local kindie (that’s industry slang for kiddie rock music) market grows more crowded every year, and you get the picture. When he started, Andy used to do what he estimates to be around 200-300 shows a year. Sometimes, he would even do several shows a day. Now he’s reached a point where he can have some flexibility in his professional life, thanks in part to the royalties he receives from being ultra-popular on Pandora (keep hitting that “thumbs up” button when you hear a song you like, folks). But he still continues to work extra extra hard, appearing at local festivals, library concerts and Mommy and Me events every single week.

2) Kids love him (you totally knew that, but you just don’t know how much!)

As I was circling the audience to take pictures, I overheard one gentleman saying about his infant daughter, “She’s only four months old, but she’s already seen Andy Z seven times.” Now that’s devotion. And this is not an isolated case. I hear from other parents all the time that their kids love Andy’s shows and ask to come back. Kids (and parents) know his songs and enthusiastically request their favorites. Scan the audience at an Andy Z concert and you’re sure to see little fans sporting tie dye t-shirts and backwards baseball caps in honor of Andy’s signature look. (Funny story, Andy started wearing his hat backwards on stage so he could make better eye contact with his audience.)

A true Andy Z fan wears tie dye

3) He does it all (with a little help from his wonderful friends)

We all need some backup

Being a successful musicians means running your own small business. The best part of Andy’s job is playing for the kids, but there are logistics to think about to make sure everything is running smoothly. Shows need to be scheduled, backup musicians need to be hired, instruments need to be maintained and tuned, and equipment needs to be loaded in and out for every gig. And of course there’s all the marketing and merchandising that’s so important to maintaining the Andy Z brand. While Andy does a lot on his own, like the songwriting and equipment schlepping, he has also created an amazing network of people around him who keep the train chugging along. Various family(and adult-oriented) musicians from around the Bay Area play in the Andyland backup band. Some Andy Z supporters volunteer at his shows or help him make those all-important connections with concert organizers.

4) He’s done some awesome gigs

When you’re as busy as Andy Z, you’re playing at all sorts of venues, some of which are a musician’s dream come true, while others are, well, more in the nightmare category. For several years, Andy was a “Singalong” artist with Pottery Barn Kids. He got to play at PBK stores all over California and Texas and even made a lovely series of music videos. (Hmmm, wonder if he got a Pottery Barn discount?). However, the best gig by far, he says, has been playing at the 2013 Austin City Limits. Yep, that’s right, Andy Z was up there alongside Depeche Mode and Neko Case.

5) He’s tough!

Don’t mess with me

Not only did he play in 90F heat the day we met (he definitely takes his own advice to Drink More Water!), but Andy’s soldiered through shows when he was sick. He told me about back-to-back shows he once had to do with an extremely high fever. Imagine forcing yourself to keep singing and dancing (not to mention conscious) in front of hundreds of kids when all you want to do is cuddle up in bed with a bottle of NyQuil. In my book, that’s tough.

Bonus Fact: Andy Z has a new album coming out locally in September 2014 (launching nationally in February 2015.) It’s called “Andy Z- Classic Songs & Traditional Tunes” and will feature children’s classics with verses and instruments you don’t usually get to hear with these songs. He will mark the release of the album with a big concert, so watch this blog for details.

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October 7, 2014