Photo Credit: Crewest Studio
Breaking into the music business and building a sustainable career is a tall order. It requires hard work, a little luck, and a single-minded commitment to the music, traits that today’s guest has in spades. Best known for his work reissuing historical albums, Andrew Sandoval is a Grammy-nominated engineer, author, DJ, and songwriter whose love of ‘60s rock shines throughout his storied career.
The following comes from Crewest Studio, a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.
Welcome to The Conduit, a podcast featuring candid conversations with professional musicians who give listeners the unvarnished truth about being an artist in the music business today.
In today’s episode, host and LA-based DJ, producer, and musician Dan Ubick (aka Constantine “Connie” Price) sits down with Andrew Sandoval to discuss how the producer leveraged his deep love of music into an enduring career. His journey began in 1986 as editor and publisher of the fanzine New Breed, a project that blossomed into a career compiling and reissuing albums for labels like Rhino and Polygram.
“I wanted to communicate with people about music, talk about music, and learn about it, and the only way I could do that was [through New Breed],” says Andrew. “I didn’t have the best writing abilities, but I learned by doing, and I can say the same of my entire musical career.”
Enamored with ‘60s rock, Andrew has reissued classic albums by everyone from the Bee Gees to Big Star. A Monkees superfan, he also manages the group, oversees their reissues, produces their tours, and helps with their set list on the road.
In 2005 he authored The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story, a deep dive into the band’s history that has since been fully updated and expanded. “If you want to sell a book, it has got to be more than just a one-sheet pitch page,” Andrew says of the publishing process. “If people are interested at all, they want to see a sample chapter from you, even if the book isn’t done.”
In this episode, Andrew highlights the importance of self-motivation, experiential learning, and varied skill sets in his success. His story illustrates that passion is paramount, but doing your homework is the bedrock of long-term, sustainable growth.
“The best way to get started is how I got started with my fanzine,” Andrew says. “To make something yourself, discover something yourself.”
For more classic ‘60s tunes, catch Come to the Sunshine, a weekly podcast where Andrew “ushers you into his record room for a two-hour assortment of scintillating 1960s sounds,” Make sure to catch today’s episode of The Conduit for an especially “scintillating” conversation with Andrew Sandoval.
