To Make a Long Story Short...
One of the first phrases Andy ever uttered was “go round”, in demand that his mother fire up the turntable. His musical imprints include growing up in early years of MTV, being an original “mix-tape junkie” and teaching himself to play guitar at the ripe age of 12. With a career spanning almost 20 years, his resume ticks almost every box of industry expertise, from bandleader, player, singer and songwriter, to composer, producer, and engineer. Touching almost every genre along the way, his original music straddles the lines of alternative, pop and guitar-heavy blues-rock. Tim Palmer describes him as, “a bit blues, a tad Jack White and a lot of alternative.” And Gary Clark, Jr. noted, “the thing that sets Andy apart from other musicians is the lack of fear to try new things and think outside the box.”
The Long Story...
It started like this:
Like most Chicago natives, Andy Macintyre is steeped in the history of his hometown - the urban electric blues and the rock ‘n roll he discovered in his parent’s vinyl collection. Macintyre started playing at an early age, picking up piano and then the trumpet, he found his Zen moment at 12 when he picked up his dad’s acoustic guitar. Mostly self-taught, and playing up to six hours a day, Macintyre first devoured Nirvana’s Nevermind and The Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. After digesting rock guitar, he moved on to blues greats like Jimi Hendrix, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters and SRV.
Developing a career and a style:
After moving to Austin at age 18, and jumping into the local scene, in 2003 Macintyre joined local-famed indie band Dorkstar as lead guitar and backup vocalist. From 2003 to 2007, he toured Texas and released two albums of original music with the band. In 2007 Macintyre made the move to center stage as front man of his own power trio. The next several years he did the rounds in Austin bars and clubs and toured Texas and the Southwest.
Macintyre has his own way of melding the genres and artists he emulated in his youth. What he describes as “straddling the lines of alternative, pop and guitar-heavy blues-rock.” Macintyre's incredible guitar prowess and exuberant stage presence catches the attention of fans and local musicians alike.
“Andy’s got a style that’s definitely rooted in the blues, [but] he can sway into the rock category, he can even sway into the country category, and not everybody can do that,” says Kris Krishna (manager Gary Clark, Jr. & Blackillac). Tim Palmer would later go on to describe his sound as, “a bit blues, a tad Jack White and a lot of alternative.”
Gary Clark Jr. notes about Macintyre, “[This] dude can play a mean Stratocaster. I realized that I needed to go practice after meeting this dude.”
The albums:
Between 2007 and 2015, Macintyre released four independent albums. Engineered and mixed by Ben Blank, both Set Me Free (2007) and Revolution (2010) puts Macintyre’s unique skills on the guitar at the forefront. With a heavy hand on constructed songs, melody and vocal performances, Ruby (2012), injects Macintyre’s early influences with modern rock and pop as heard in his now signature falsetto. This became the defining sound of his power trio, MacINtyre. “That core unit is so integral to the power and punch that happens with MacINtyre,” says Eric Harrison. “It really embodies what’s good about rock n roll."
In 2016 Macintyre approached Grammy-nominated mixing engineer Tim Palmer with a batch of demo songs. “I was surprised how many great songs there were in this batch which turned out to be the EP,” says Tim. Recording with Stuart Sullivan and Eric Harrison, Andy captured Melomania, what he feels is the best album of his career. “The title of track two is ‘Meloman,’ which means ‘music lover,’ so the title Melomania implies someone who lives for and through music, it's part of who they are. I want to write songs that speak to the anger, confusion and also the joy that I think a lot of society has been feeling. This album really showcases everything I'm capable of as an artist, from the stylistic variation and song crafting to the quality of the performances."
Macintyre traveled to London in late 2018 and had the opportunity to record at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. The single from that session, "Dirty Conversations" was released in early 2020, just as we entered the Pandemic. Macintyre has since recorded and released "Find Yourself" and "Fuck Yourself", two variations of the same song, produced and delivered with opposing stylistic interpretations.
The Future:
Macintyre opened his personal studio services in 2021 to provide engineering and production for other artists. He recently finished up mixing and producing country artist Jason Harrell's release The Other Side. In addition to his studio services, Macintyre is currently working on a side project known as DarKtoY. Check out some of these links below to see/hear more about Macintyre's new projects and studio work.