Andy Burrows

Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He was the drummer in the band Razorlight from 2004 to 2009, as well as We are Scientists from 2009 to 2014.

Andy Burrows
Andy Burrows
Background information
Birth nameAndrew William Burrows
Born (1979-06-30) 30 June 1979
Winchester, Hampshire, England
GenresIndie rock, alternative rock[1]
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, drummer, guitarist
InstrumentsGuitar, piano, vocals, drums, synthesiser, banjo, oud, harmonica
Years active2004–present
LabelsFiction, PIAS
Associated actsI Am Arrows, Smith & Burrows, We Are Scientists, Razorlight, Tom Odell, Ricky Gervais
Websitewww.andyburrows.co.uk

Burrows first solo album The Colour of My Dreams (2008) was released while he was still member of Razorlight. After he departed the band he released his first album with the solo project I Am Arrows, called Sun Comes Up Again in 2010. His third solo album Company was released 22 October 2012.

He has worked with Tom Smith from Editors under the moniker "Smith & Burrows". He also co-wrote the soundtrack to The Snowman and The Snowdog with Ilan Eshkeri, which was nominated for a BAFTA Craft Award in April 2013.

Andy co-produced the soundtrack for the Ricky Gervais’ film, David Brent: Life On The Road’. Andy appears in the film as David Brent's drummer in the fictional band, Foregone Conclusion.[2]

Andy continued working with Columbia recording artist, Tom Odell, having co-written ‘Sirens’ from Tom’s debut album, ‘Constellations’ & ‘Here I Am’ from the ‘Wrong Crowd’ LP, and ‘Jubilee Road’ from forthcoming album, ‘Jubilee Road’.

Andy plays drums and sings backing vocals on both the ‘Wrong Crowd’ & ‘Jubilee Road’ albums.

Biography

Early life

Burrows was born on June 30, 1979 in Winchester and has stated that the first albums he bought were Bad by Michael Jackson and a compilation album titled Ballads by The Beatles.[3] The first instrument he played was the cornet and he later transitioned into drumming.[3]

Razorlight: 2004–2009
Main article: Razorlight

Burrows joined the band in May 2004. He was discovered in open audition to replace the original drummer for the band, who left in early 2004. Since he joined Razorlight, the group have released three albums, Up All Night which reached #3 in the UK Albums Chart; Razorlight which debuted at #1 in the UK chart and Slipway Fires which debuted at #4. His first performance with Razorlight was at London's Bull and Gate on 25 May 2004.

Burrows was seen as a key figure in shaping Razorlight's sound and songs, having co-written the hits "America"and "Before I Fall to Pieces", and more recently from the latest album Slipway Fires – "Hostage of Love", "Burbery Blue Eyes", "60 Thompson" and "Stinger" with Johnny Borrell.

On 5 March 2009, Burrows left Razorlight with immediate effect, after playing for five years with the band. Burrows explained that there were "personal reasons" for the split.[4]

We Are Scientists: 2009–2014
Main article: We Are Scientists

After Burrows left Razorlight, he almost immediately joined We Are Scientists. His first album with the band Barbara was released in June 2010. The band's fifth studio album and Burrows' second with them, TV en Français was released in March 2014. Burrows left the band in 2014, but is still considered their honorary brother.

Solo work (2008–present)

Burrows first released a solo album, The Colour of My Dreams, on 26 May 2008. The album was released to raise awareness and funds for the "Jack's Place" Appeal at Naomi House, a hospice for children in his home town of Winchester. The Colour of My Dreams was written and recorded at home by Andy during Razorlight downtime, after he stumbled across a book of poems by an old family friend and set about putting them to music. Using just 'GarageBand' he began work in his flat and sings and plays all the instruments on the record.

Main article: I Am Arrows

Eleven days after he left Razorlight, it was revealed that Burrows had signed to Universal Records, the same record label as his ex-band.[5] Six months later Burrows' new band I Am Arrows played their first show.[6] Burrows revealed that he was working with Noah and the Whale producer Eliot James and the album Sun Comes Up Again was released in August 2010 and reached number 38 in the UK Album charts.

Editors frontman Tom Smith teamed up with Andy to form Smith & Burrows - they released their debut album Funny Looking Angels in November 2011, an album of winter songs featuring the single "When the Thames Froze".

Burrows's solo project saw the release of his album Company on 22 October 2012, which received critical acclaim. All singles from the album were A Listed at Radio 2.

The next single from the album, "Hometown" was released on 10 December with "Light The Night" from The Snowman and The Snowdog short film and Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 upcoming sports video game. Both tracks were A-listed on BBC Radio 2.

In November 2013, it was announced Burrows would join Ricky Gervais satire-based band Foregone Conclusion for a nominal period of time as musical director. Before the close of that year the Burrows played three shows as MD and drummer of the band. The soundtrack of the film, David Brent: Life On The Road was co-produced by Burrows and Gervais and released via Gervais’ own label Juxtaposition, distributed through Caroline International/Universal.

In 2018, he collaborated with the British author Matt Haig for the album "Reasons To Stay Alive". The songs were composed by Burrows while Haig composed the lyrics for his songs. In August 2018, the title track of the album was released.[7] The album was released by Fiction Records on 1 February 2019, featuring further singles, 'Handle With Care' and 'Barcelona'.

Film work: 2011–present

Burrows played drums on the Arthur soundtrack produced by Mark Ronson One of the songs is currently the theme tune to the ITV chat show, The Jonathan Ross Show. His drumming also features on the Ilan Eshkeri soundtrack to Johnny English Reborn. "Nice Try" from his I Am Arrows album features in the film Friends with Benefits. In 2012, Burrows was approached by the production company Lupus Films to work on The Snowman and The Snowdog, the follow up to the 1982 classic animated film The Snowman. Collaborating with Eshkeri, Burrows co-wrote the soundtrack to the new film as well as writing and performing the official single from the film, "Light the Night". The flying-home sequence also uses an orchestral version of Burrows' track "Hometown" from his solo album Company. The score was nominated for a BAFTA craft award in April 2013.[8] In early 2015, Burrows featured on a re-recording of Kate Miller-Heidke's song "Share Your Air", replacing the vocals of Passenger.

Burrows composed the soundtrack for Ricky Gervais' 2019 TV Series After Life. [9]

Personal life

Burrows resides in Hackney with his wife and his two daughters Chloe and Joni.[10] He has maintained a good friendship with the lead vocalist of Editors, Tom Smith, who has collaborated with Burrows on Funny Looking Angels and within Burrows' solo discography. The two met at Glastonbury Festival in 2005 through Burrows' friendship with Smith's girlfriend Edith Bowman.

Discography
Main articles: Razorlight discography and We Are Scientists discography
Solo albums
Collaborations
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References
  1. "Andy Burrows | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic.
  2. "Andy Burrows Andy Burrows to play drummer in Ricky Gervais' David Brent movie". NME. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  3. "Andy Burrows interview (part 1)" – via www.youtube.com.
  4. "Andy Burrows quits Razorlight – exclusive". NME. 5 March 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  5. "Lily Allen pukes!". NME. 16 March 2009. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  6. "Ex-Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows' new band set for London residency". NME. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  7. "Former Razorlight/We Are Scientists member Andy Burrows has created an album with best-selling author Matt Haig - NME". NME. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  8. "News | Channel 4". www.channel4.com.
  9. "I have zero aspiration to become an actor, says ex Razorlight drummer". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  10. FaceCulture (22 October 2012), Andy Burrows interview (part 2), retrieved 2 August 2018
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