Conversations with Andrew Mcfarlane

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Mcfarlane

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in a small suburb outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. There was always music being listened to around the house, and my family are real music lovers. Nobody in my family did the music thing professionally, but my dad listened to anything from the Tedeschi Trucks Band to James Brown, my step-dad listened to anything from Bob Dylan to AC\DC, my mom listened to anything from David Bowie to Jason Mraz, and my step-mom listened to anything from contemporary Christian to Marylin Manson. It was great to hear lots of different music growing up.

It made sense that I started listening and eventually playing music. My family was always very supportive of it. I grew up listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Black Keys, Jack White, Creed, Three Doors Down, and more. I started playing classical guitar and viola at the age of 8, then eventually, after multiple years of youth baseball, at age 12, my coach gave me a cream squier stratocaster as a going-away gift for my move to a new town in MN. This is when the obsession really started! I formed bands with schoolmates, wrote songs, and played live as much as I could. After playing many gigs inside and outside of school, going to music camps, competing in guitar competitions, and more, I decided that I wanted to try the music thing as a career. This led me to go through the commercial music and audio technology program at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

In college, I honed my skills as a guitarist and bassist and fell in love with the process of producing records and writing songs after working with a team of people on a capstone project EP that I wrote and produced. This project made me decide that producing records is the route that I want to take in the music industry. I also met many great friends and professors that I continue to work with and inspire me today, I was fortunate to have professors who built a great program and are industry professionals. After I graduated from college in 2021, I moved to Nashville that fall.

Since I moved to town I have worked with many very talented artists, engineers, musicians, and producers that I have had the pleasure of making music with. I’ve produced music for artists such as Kadi Beth, Adam Oracle, Grace Day, Brandy Lawrence, Billy Mickler, and more. I have a handful of projects I’m working on as we speak with new and existing artists that I can’t talk about yet! I also do work playing guitar and bass live for artists, as well as writing songs with other songwriters, producers, and artists. I recently bought a house in Springfield, TN to expand my studio and make some more great music with great people!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road! But I have been very fortunate, and have many kind people in my life. But if you’re not going through struggles, you’re not doing the right thing! One of the struggles I faced throughout the journey was following lanes that I didn’t completely believe in artistically. I’m not going to name any names, but there have been some projects that I’ve been a part of in the past that I was not fully invested in. Whether because they were good pay, included people that I felt that I owed a favor to, or for other reasons, some of these projects were not a good use of my time and creative energy. I try not to live with regrets, but once I started being a part of projects that I believe in, and surrounded myself with people who also believe in the project as I do, the necessities followed suit.

I’m fortunate now that all projects I’m a part of I believe in, or steer me in the direction as such. I’m always trying to hone this in my personal and professional life. I believe that the best art that speaks to the most people, is the art where all of the creators involved truly believe in the project, regardless of how we think others who listen are going to judge it.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a music producer first and foremost! I also write songs for artists, play guitar and bass live and in the studio, and work as a mixing and mastering engineer for artists and producers.

I am most proud of how I make music that I believe in, and how it’s important to me that the artists and writers who are involved in the project also believe in it. I’m not a producer that is okay tying my name to projects that I don’t like, but the artist likes, and vice versa. I think this is also one of the things that sets me apart from others.

More that sets me apart from others is that I really hone in on what my voice is as a producer. I’m not interested in sounding like anyone but myself. In a way, I am a traditional producer! I love great, relatable songs, strong performances, and making sure the artist’s identity shines through in their records. Another thing that sets me apart, is that I consider myself an “organized creative”. There are many people in the industry who are very talented but may struggle with being hard-working, reliable, and punctual. I make an effort to not struggle with these things. All of this is very important to me, but I also try to focus on not taking myself too seriously, while taking the art very seriously. All while having fun, of course, art should be fun!

How do you think about happiness?
Having a purpose makes me happy! Life is all about finding out who you are as an individual, and this looks different for everyone. My purpose right now is making and consuming art that I love, spending time with friends and family that I care about, and trying to laugh every moment I can. Life is too short to not laugh.

Pricing:

• Full production 1 – $1500 per song (email for more info!)
• Full production 2 – $1000 per song (email for more info!)
• Mix – $200 per song
• Master – $100 per song
• Guitar/bass session – $150 per song

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andrewmcfarlanemusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew_mcfarlane_101/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewMcFarlane123/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@andrewmcfarlane6934

Image Credits
Quinten Bianchi