Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Fleming.
Hi Andrew, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The Aquaducks formed at Belmont University in Nashville in 2013. The band’s 1st show was a battle of the bands which we won, and from then on we decided to write music together and play shows in the Nashville area. The band has gone through some line-up changes through the years, but the current line-up all studied music at Belmont together. We are all working musicians and play gigs with other bands/artists, but The Aquaducks is our home.
After we graduated college in 2014, we started taking the band more seriously and touring outside of Nashville. We’ve gone as far west as Colorado, and as far north as New York. We’ve headlined the Rochester Jazz Festival, played Bonnaroo, and many other festivals and venues across the United States. The Aquaducks have also recorded multiple albums, the most recent being “Going off The Deep End” which we recorded at the famous Southern Ground studios on Music Row in Nashville.
We’re currently planning for a big 2022 year and writing new music!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The music business is a tough one. As a 7 piece funk band (sometimes as many as 11 members on stage), we face many challenges that 3 piece bands don’t have to deal with.
We face far more problems with scheduling conflicts, van space, hotel rooms, and general financial struggles that smaller bands don’t deal with. But, at the end of the day, it is all worth it to be able to create the powerful sound that only a full horn line, 2 guitars, drums, bass, keys, and vocals can create.
And of course, we are with the rest of the music business in saying that Covid did not help our cause. Taking a break from touring in 2020/2021 is a big setback for any band, but we are looking forward to getting back to the more rigorous touring schedule we have become used to in 2022!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We specialize in bringing a big funky sound to the jam scene. As I’ve stated before, the struggles of touring with such a large band are worth the struggles to be able to create the musical landscape we want on stage and in the studio. We are all music nerds who love well-arranged music with lots of moving parts happening at the same time.
What really sets us apart from many other bands in our scene is our dedication to this bigger sound that takes more dedication and work, but in the end, is totally worth it. When we play a hometown show in Nashville, we’ll add percussion, background vocalists, and sometimes a 3rd horn to our usual 2 horn section.
What sets us aside from other larger funk/soul bands is our improvisational style. When there are 7 of us on stage experimenting with different and new arrangements on the spot, it creates a spontaneity that is truly a unique listening experience and keeps people coming back.
Our proudest accomplishments definitely involve playing Bonnaroo and headlining the Rochester Jazz Festival to a large crowd of people who love funk music. It was a dream come true!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
It was a great year to take a break and focus on why we are a band in the first place. We were in the habit of touring for the sake of touring, but now that we’re back we are playing shows more intentionally.
We also decided to leave our booking agency and book for ourselves because we realized that we have our best interests at heart and can book shows that are better suited to us.
Pricing:
- $20 T-shirts
- $10 CDs
- $30 Vinyl Records
Contact Info:
- Email: Aquaducksmusic@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.theaquaducks.com/
- Instagram: @theaquaducks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAquaducks/
- Twitter: @theaquaducks
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMMY8FBxVjpXo6UDUhBUgzg
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-aquaducks
Image Credits
Michael Panik/Andrew Panik and Von Reisch
