Meet Andy Higgins | Musician / Music producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andy Higgins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Well, I prefer working for myself and having at least some control over my destiny, especially since their is intellectual property involved and very personal information that I would like to be in charge of how it is distributed at least to some extent.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a lot of things, as we all are. Writing songs and organizing their structure is probably my strength as an artist or at least I would like to think it is. Essentially I am a poet who plays guitar I guess. I love writing as it is a release for me that I cannot get at the gym with physical exercise or talking to a therapist. it’s just a notebook, a pen and my mind. I think of it as a “decluttering” of the massive traffic jams of thoughts that seem to fill up my brain regularly. Sometimes I have a guitar when I write, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I have a Pen and paper, sometimes I don’t.( I once wrote an entire song , lyrics, guitar, bass lines and drum beats in my head as I walked around the island of Phuket in Thailand. I didn’t put it on paper until I returned to the states) The basic blueprint for a NEATO song consists of me bringing one of my songs to practice and letting my amazing musician/band mates add their soul to it. The current lineup of NEATO is very talented and I am always confident of their additions to my songs. I give them about 99% artistic freedom in writing their parts because I feel it makes my song into OUR song which is a big reason why I play music. It brings people together. NEATO is my family and we create together, we sing and perform together, we laugh and smile together and I love every second of it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Life lessons? oh wow, countless life lessons. Music is my life. I have had a few chapters in my years where I tried to let go of music for personal reasons…, it wouldn’t let me. A guitar can only collect so much dust in my house before it is played. I have to many guitars now and I have to play all of them even if just for a few minutes, kind of like watering a plant. I don’t want any of them to feel neglected.
I have always said that my songs are simply notes to myself.. My subconscious or perhaps my future self tapping in and channeling a message to my current self. Sometimes, I write a song, record it with my band, play it live numerous times and then months, sometimes years later a lightbulb turns on in my head and I’m like, ” Oh, thats what that means” or “thats what I was feeling or trying to tell myself at that particular time.” My songs are essentially an interactive personal journal or diary only it has a soundtrack to go along with it. One thing about my music is that because it is my personal journal of sorts, it is all real. The “storytelling” is all factual albeit metaphorical at times for the sake of art. There are lots of hidden messages in my songs underneath the obvious positive and recognizable messages. Everything I sing and/or write about really happened wether it was event that took place, a romance, a breakup, a death, a realization, a lesson learned or just a profound feeling or epiphany I had in my life. In this world we live in today where base reality seems to be crumbling and real and not real are becoming indistinguishable, I would like the world to know that NEATO is real, its my legacy I guess you would say? Although the songs are written by me solely for me, the ones I choose to share, I hope, inspire others to sing, play a musical instrument, jot down their thoughts, reflect on their life, tell that person they love them and just keep on smiling.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Honestly, I’m a homebody these days., I prefer to spend my time at AndyLand or traveling to different countries to soak up some culture and enjoy the food, history and the people. But if I had to show someone a good time I would probably go to a couple bars every night that have live music because the music scene here is quite vibrant and varied. You never know what you’re going to get. I would hit first Friday and walk around and do lots of “people watching” thats always fun. I took a hot air balloon ride once with a friend and that was a great way vantage point of how large and spread out phoenix actually is. Im an animal lover so the phoenix zoo (not in summer) is fun and the Phoenix Herpetological Society is amazing if you want to see giant tortoises, alligators, crocs, venomous and non-venomous snakes, and a myriad of reptiles. Maestros is a great for a steak, Phoenix is a great hub or doorway to the surrounding areas, I like driving south to Eloy to occasionally jump out of a plane at 13,000 feet but thats just me. I really just play a lot of guitar at home these days and entertain at AndyLand. There is a lot to do here in the valley just don’t visit in the summer, too hot.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Each and everyone of us are artists. Some have found their medium in which to express themselves (ie: music, painting, dance, etc.) and some have not found theirs yet but we are all indeed artists. On top of that, everything in life is art, the trees, the birds, man made structures and everything from the microcosm to the macrocosm. Inspiration for expression is abundant, all one has to do is use ones senses and feel life, breathe it in and then transform that feeling into your perception of what it is. When I think of particular people who have encouraged me to continue to make my art, writing , recording and performing music, the list is too long to put in this paragraph but I would start with my mom and dad, my close friends and my musical influences. The shout out however would go to the street musicians I have encountered around the world in my travels. It’s an honor to throw some money into their open guitar cases and tip jars as they play for everyone who passes by. These “starving musicians” often have so much talent and and an amazing story to tell. I feel they know I am a musician as well when we lock eyes and it’s a really cool moment with no spoken words just an understanding that we do indeed speak the same language, music.

Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0u2NKbEtytMqqArazYKtR3?si=1u9eW8PXReKmFT8FGjgyxw

Instagram: @neato_band

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neatomusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@neatoofficial9967

Other: BIG DATES!!!

9/10 new music video released
9/13 new album debuts
9/28 album release party at PUB ROCL LIVE in Scottsdale!

Image Credits
Ray Squared
Kyle Benjamin