User:Missvain/Andy Anderson (drummer)

Andy Anderson is an English rock drummer. Anderson began as a session musician, playing drums for advertisements and various musical acts. He was drummer for The Cure in the early 1980s and has performed with The Glove, Iggy Pop, Issac Hayes, Hawkwind, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and many others. Anderson currently performs in his solo act, PRIME DATA.

Personal life
Andy Anderson was born Clifford Leon Anderson on January 30, 1951 in London.

Music career
Anderson's professional career started as a session drummer for advertisements and musical acts.

1970s
In 1978 Anderson played on Nik Turner's Sphynx. After working with Turner he performed on Steve Hillage's Live Herald and Open.

The 1980s
Anderson played live with Hawkwind but left quickly to join The Cure. During the decade, Anderson would be a studio musician on Jeffrey Lee Pierce's Wildwood (1985).

The Cure
Anderson met Robert Smith at Trident Studios in London. They were familiar with Anderson's playing from his work with the band Brilliant and two solo albums by Jimmy Pursey. Smith gave Anderson a cassette tape of The Cure, and a week later he auditioned and was offered a job with the band, replacing Lol Tolhurst, who moved to keyboards. He recorded drums on the compilation album Japanese Whispers, and the albums The Top and Concert: The Cure Live both from 1984. His sound with The Cure is described as sounding live, with basic reverb mixed in. 1984 was be his final year with The Cure ; Anderson was fired after fighting with security guards while touring Japan during the Top Tour. Anderson has not been to a Cure concert since leaving the band, and stated in 2010 that it was "good to see the lads are still going strong and doing well." After The Cure he would go on to play with Jimmy Sommerville, Levinhurst and Iggy Pop.

The Glove
Anderson played drums on The Glove album Blue Sunshine. He had met Steve Severin "off and on plus the the Banshees" and was asked by Smith and Severin to record drums for the project. Blue Sunshine was the only release by the side project, which also included singer Jeanette Landray. On the album Anderson stated in a 2010 interview "...it's a shame we didn't do more, I liked the music on that album a lot. It was a great period musically for us all and was great fun being a part of it."

Current
Andy Anderson currently leads his own solo act, PRIME DATA.

Style
Reflecting on his time as a session drummer, Anderson explained in 2010 his style: "the process I use with new tracks is that I learn the songs to how they were originally written, then apply my own style and feel if there are strict parts that are needed, then I stick to that, most of the time I end up applying my own style and feel which seems to work, Lovecats comes to mind, as it is a jazzy type of track using brushes on the snare was an obvious choice, that worked."