Andy's Home Page
Andy wears too many hats. In addition to being Bushtaxi's bass player, he fills in here and there on guitar, vocals, and drums, and is the driving technical force behind Dos Gatos Recording. He has also had a lot to do with making this friggin website happen, amongst other administrative Bushtaxi tasks that are too dull to mention.
Andy has always had a dual fascination with engineering and music. He spent many hours as a kid continually rebuilding his bicycle, and engaging in such fascinating tasks as taking apart telephones and designing electronics for his first bass. His penchant for engineering eventually led to his being sucked into a remunerative career in that area, for as we know music is not famous for being a good way to get rich. He makes his living writing DSP code for cochlear implants. He has also built a couple of basses over the years, one fretted and one fretless. The fretless one can be heard on many of the tunes on this website.
When working at the Center for Music Experiment at UCSD in the early eighties, Andy got involved in the early development of MIDI and music technology, and became aquainted with many of the "MIDI mafia" that he now calls his friends. It has been fascinating for him to watch as many of the revolutions in audio recording that he has imagined become reality.
For some unknown reason, Andy became enamoured with electric African music back around 1985, and took it open himself to learn how to play both African style bass and some African style guitar. A couple years later, he ran into Caroline at a NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) party. Caroline had been playing in African bands in Germany and West Africa for four years. Bushtaxi was born.
Andy is also an avid mountain biker and hanglider pilot, loves to dance, and if he had more time, he would invest more time in reading, travel, gardening, and sewing. In fact, about the only thing that Andy would like to give up in life is having to go to work, which he plans to do as soon as he wins the lottery or Bushtaxi has a number one hit. He isn't sure which will happen first.