Andrew Hockey
Andrew is a veteran of the UK gig circuit, although not in any bands you’ll have heard of. It was this dead-end nature of the whole exercise, in fact, that led him to retreat to a solo state, procure a four-track and record his delicate, self-penned recordings at home. Although the small number of people that heard the results were overwhelmingly positive, actually
releasing a record was never on the agenda. Until Cardiff independent label Slow Graffiti expressed an interest in just that, and persuaded Andrew to record two EPs, of which this is the first. This interim period also found Andrew moving from Wales to Cornwall – all the better to centre in on the hermetic personality that powers his songs – and playing his debut gig,
supporting gothic folk chanteuse Marissa Nadler.
All this time, randomly assorted friends – occasional musicians, sometime promoters, perennial fanatics for this chosen form – helped to keep Andrew’s passion for old school folk and psychedelia alive, back in the days when pretty much no-one gave a shit about it. No-one who had a say in the content of newsstand magazines, anyway. It’s a happy accident that this EP
gets sprayed into the ether at a time when travelling troubadours from Devendra Banhart to Circulus are getting wildly bigged up overground – but be assured that there is no late arrival here.
You don’t and shouldn’t have to worry about whether ‘Songs From The Dandelion Clock Volume 1’ finds Andrew keeping it real. He, y’know, writes and sings all the songs himself (and records them, having now upgraded to an eight-track), but beyond that it’s not for the biographer to try and
quantify ‘realness’ and ‘sincerity’. Phil Collins meant every word of Another Day In Paradise’, man. What Phil didn’t do is compose meditative, mantra-like loop-folk nodding to the Silver Apples (‘Ira Furor Brevis Est’); crafty, evocative instrumentals bearing the touch of John Fahey (‘Prey For
Good Winds’); and the style of blues-infused fingerpicking that stretches from Bert Jansch to Tyrannosaurus Rex to 21st century anomalies like Entrance or M Ward. Andrew Hockey does all of that, and he manages to Wrestle you out of your glib comparative straitjackets to boot. He might have a
selection of kindred spirits, but it’s a wholly singular path he travels.
"Hockey's music stands out a mile; slightly off kilter folk, but so much more than your average singer songwriter. In fact, the words singer and songwriter shouldn't be inflicted upon his beautiful, other worldy music. The EP is very, very special." - Huw Stephens, Radio1
