Today we’d like to introduce you to Andy Toy.
Andy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It’s the mid-90’s and a gloomy, rainy, summer day in Houston, TX. Balloons are tumbling about in the air, a pinata is dangling from a string and a confident young boy strolls to the piano and plunks out the 25 notes of “Happy Birthday” much to his friends and family’s delight. As much as I wish this was my origin story, I was the shy kid in the corner quietly observing my cousin, turning practically green with envy at the attention he was getting. At the end of the party, I accosted my mother and begged her for piano lessons so I too, could share in the accolades in which my cousin was seemingly drowning. Fast forward 20 years and the same cousin’s now a doctor, I’m a full-time musician, and we both may still be trying to figure out who got the better bargain, but for better or worse, I owe my life to this one day.
As much as I loved Astros baseball and Texas BBQ, when I was 18 I decided I was done with 110 degree summer days and 100% humidity and moved to Los Angeles, home of clear skies and endless opportunity. It’s here on the west coast that I’ve made my new home and place of employment for the past ten years. Slowly but surely, I’ve traded in oversized belt buckles for leather boots, Texas BBQ for a vegetarian diet, and Coors Light for natural wine, although I draw the line at sporting Dodger blue.
The city of Angels has gifted me many of my most precious memories and proudest achievements, such as meeting my wife Anna, signing my first record deal, and getting to share the stage with some of the biggest artists in the world. While living in LA has shaped my life in countless ways, perhaps the moment I’m most grateful for is that gloomy summer day in Houston, when a shy kid’s quiet, calculating jealousy blossomed into one wild ride of a career.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Like most artists and musicians I know, the road to “now” is anything but linear. Although my primary interest has always been rooted firmly in music, my natural curiosity, addiction to learning and quiet, competitive spirit has taken me on multiple detours, including varying stints as a journalist to a couple of exhilarating years as a sommelier at a highly acclaimed restaurant.
Perhaps one of the reasons my career path has a considerable amount of circuitous meandering is the amount of rejection we deal with in entertainment. For every “yes” in my life, I’ve heard 30-40 “no’s”, which is quite a discouraging rate of success, especially considering I’m selling myself. Sure, there are always tangible struggles, such as simply being able to afford living in Los Angeles, cash flow as a self-employed business owner, or the fact that when I got hired for my first pro tour, I couldn’t even afford proper cases for my equipment, but for me, the greatest adversary resides in my own mind.
The ability to accept adversity and rejection as a normal part of the job is not just a road bump or slight detour, it’s a giant trailer full of emotional baggage that I’ve pulled with me through my entire career, careening down the highway only to suddenly slam into a dead end and go back the way I came. What keeps the wheels turning is the daily competition I have with myself to keep my eyes locked forward and focused on what’s on the horizon, or just around the next corner.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I’m self-employed as a musician and recording engineer. In a nutshell, I play keyboards and guitar live and in the studio and also help people record music themselves as an engineer in the studio. I’ve toured the world with artists such as Miguel, Sabrina Carpenter, Kiiara, and David Archuleta, and worked in the studio with artists like NKOTB, Jeremy Riddle, and Jeff Schroeder of Smashing Pumpkins.
When I’m not working for someone else, I also write and perform my own music in my band Moxi and also own and operate a custom guitar cable company called Lew&Clark Cables.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is such a difficult term to quantify in my line of work. There are so many “goalposts”: financial stability, working with famous artists, touring the world, getting a gold record, etc…
Since the beginning of my career, I’ve always set 2 goals for success: 1) be respected by my peers as a human being and musician, and 2) give every job 110% and bring a good attitude wherever I go.
Contact Info:
- Website: andytoymusic.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andytoymusic/
Image Credit:
Doug Zamensky
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