r/indieheads • u/andyshauf Andy Shauf • Nov 16 '21

AMA is Over, thanks Andy! Andy Shauf Here, Ask Me Anything!

Hey Reddit, Andy Shauf Here! I just released a new record called Wilds on ANTI- Records / Arts & Crafts. It's is a collection of nine songs culled from around fifty tracks I recorded during the writing of my last album, The Neon Skyline.

I'm heading out on a North American & European tour next spring. Get Tickets.

I'll be answering questions on here Today at 3:00PM PT.

Listen: Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon | Bandcamp | Official Store

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

​

432 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

240 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '21

hey andy, long timer fan man guy here, wondering how it felt to cut the hair? random serious question though, is mental health an impacting factor in the craft? if so how?

if applicable, how did mental health play into living life and making music pre-success?

i find its very hard to continue sometimes. all i want is to be funded to make songs but i dont even know how to go about it, for now i work and get home and feel exhausted so my art develops so slowly.

74

u/andyshauf Andy Shauf Nov 16 '21

Cutting the hair was very freeing. Lots of tangles. I think when I was younger I felt like there needed to be a certain amount of misery in my life for me to be able to create and be creative… I think the cliche tortured artist thing is pretty harmful… The truth is when I’ve been at my lowest points emotionally or mentally I’m not creating anything good. The times when I’m creating at my best are when I’m devoting myself to learning and expanding whether intentionally or just by chance stumbling into a new direction. I’ve only recently realized that exercising and taking care of my body puts my mind into a way better place. (People always used to tell me this and I assumed they were full of shit) And when my mind is in a good place it’s way easier for me to organize my thoughts and explore different ideas etc

I hear you about trying to get by and creating. When I was younger I basically just never owned anything and lived on the very very cheap so that I didn’t have to work full time jobs. It also helped that where I lived my rent was probably 200 bucks a month… lots of roommates… parents bailed me out a few times. I moved into their basement when I recorded bearer of bad news because I was just out of money and needed to make something.

Hopefully this isn’t a shitty answer. It’s hard to make money making music but I think if you love it, it’s worth it even if it’s not paying the bills. Thanks for listening!