ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW

Defiantly old-school in his approach to music making, with a delightfully quirky taste in guitars to boot, everybody's favourite sideman has a new solo album, Flang Dang, poised for release

- Dickson & David Mead

Andy Fairweather Low first stepped into the spotlight and released a solo album 17 years ago. More accustomed to being a sideman to the likes of Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and George Harrison, he’s gone on record in the past declaring that he is more comfortable in that role rather than band leader. Beginning his career back in the 60s with the band Amen Corner, his solo career in the 70s was a busy one, with albums such as Spider Jiving and La Booga Rooga achieving cult status among fans. Now, he’s set to release Flang Dang in February of this

year, although it wasn’t something that was planned. Once again, the trials that lockdown and the pandemic brought upon the entertainment world caused Andy to take a look at the demos he had recorded at home – and an offer he couldn’t refuse from the owner of Rockfield Studios in Wales, sealed the deal and the new album was brought to life. We delve a little deeper…

What can you tell us about the run-up to your album?

“We did one live-stream gig [in lockdown] from the Hideaway club in Streatham. Then there was nothing. And it went on being nothing month after month after month. Then we got to Christmas time, and I’m speaking to Kingsley Ward, who owns Rockfield Studios. Just a social call, you know: ‘How are you coping?’ And he said, ‘Well, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m doing nothing,’ and he said, ‘You should come down to Rockfield. You can have a week for nothing. Just come down, it’d be good to see you.’ And I thought about it. It went on for a while. It got to the summer – still Covid, still in lockdown…”