meet andy, drummer, purcussionist of oneWord

everything you wanted to know about andy but were afraid to ask (because you're smart!) . . .

favorite quote: "well, there you have it"

favorite number: 7

musical influences: well, obviously neil peart of rush! john bonham of led zeppelin, ringo starr (from the beatles of course!), bev bevan of ELO, bill bruford of yes, mike portnoy of dream theater, a little lars ulrich and a little phil collins

I understand that you are a graphic designer as well and did the artwork for your new cd. can you tell us about your inspiration for the cover? i had been playing around with a bunch of different ideas for the sleeve design and wasn't happy with them. one day tamara faxed me a copy of a piece of a cloth that had an outlined picture of Jesus washing the disciples feet. i thought that it fit really well with the title of the cd "doulos", which means bond servant, because Jesus came not to be served but to serve. as we follow Him with our ministry, we try to remember that we are to be servants, just as He was.

why silver for the new drum kit? And, more importantly, why a new kit?
why not. no, seriously. i had been beating up my old set, in some form or another, for 12 years. it was really time to get something new. why silver? i don't know, i saw them and just fell in love with the way they looked.

after playing them, i was really hooked! Taye drums are new in the U.S. market, but are being made by an expert who had been making custom drums under another name for over 20 years. these new drums perform great. they're louder (sorry) and have a great, rich tone with more sustain. they work well for portraying my sound.

it seems a bit unusual to see a marching snare up on stage. tell us about that... now why would anything i do seem unusual? i saw this gorgeous old 1971 Slingerland marching snare in the music store and knew i had to have it! (I have a soft spot in my heart for old Slingerland drums, but more on that later.) thanks to some wonderful friends, i was able to get it. i don't use it all the time, but it's got a great sound!

how'd you guys come up with the band name? we had been milling a couple ideas around for a while and couldn't agree on anything. late one night when we all should have been sleeping, tamara said she wanted a name that would only be one word. glenn thought that was a great idea, so oneWord was it! mostly because of what it means on different levels. A: it's only one word (duh) and B: we all believe in one Word! The Word of God (John 1:1-5)

any advice for all the aspiring drummers out there? PRACTICE!!!! PRACTICE!!!! PRACTICE!!!! if i keep practicing the way i should, maybe one day i 'll actually get good! (also, please take lessons from a qualified professional - if you need, i can refer you to a great teacher.)

what's your perception of the local music scene? how about the local Christian music scene? it stinks. the lehigh valley is a cesspool of stagnate musical ideas.

(sorry, am i being too blunt?) the Christian music scene is a lot more better! (great grammar, huh?) the secular scene in the LV has been dead for years, what with no original sounding groups and an extreme lack of venues to play at. with the advent of a plethora of Christian coffeehouses in the greater LV, the Christian scene has really blossomed, although it still has a ways to go.

what made you pick drums? well, i picked my nose first, but that was pretty quiet and i like to make noise. also, since i can't read real music, i was forced to pick up a rhythm instrument. actually, It's a longer story than that, but i'll condense it. here goes! when i was 5 or 6 my uncle jim set me up at his old Slingerland drum set (beautiful kit - blue sparkle 3 piece 1959 jazz set) and i knew that one day i would play them. after bugging him for 12 years, he let me have them. i hadn't played since, but when i set those up in my basement, i knew what to do with them. i wasn't very good, but i knew how to play. and after years of practicing, i think i 'm actually getting good!

when did the three of you first meet? in kmart. (actually, yes!) i met tamara in college in 1989. she was in a band, and i was in another band, then i joined a band she was in, then we stared another band…

anyway, in the spring of 1991, tamara worked in the shoe dept. of kmart and i was working in the apparel division when glenn came to work there too. now, i had met glenn before, but didn't really remember (i knew a guy that he knew also…).

then in 1992 we needed a guitarist and i remembered that glenn had been in some bands, so i went back to kmart to look him up. he joined our band and we were jammin'. well, that project kind of fizzled out and we lost touch for a while, but in 1997, God brought us back together to make music again and we've been doing it ever since. (man, what a long winded answer!)

if you were to play any non-percussion instrument, what would you pick? my nose again. or maybe the bass guitar. (whichever makes more noise!)

have you ever played the triangle? no, thank you.

oneword Christian band original rock Jesus Worship music leader rock Gibson guitars M3 M-3 MIII M-III Taye drums.