“I think I used the guitar as a therapist” – An Interview with Andrew Cushin
Newcastle’s Andrew Cushin has been building a burgeoning reputation ever since his debut single “It’s Gonna Get Better” in 2020. He worked with Noel Gallagher, who produced and played guitar on “Where’s My Family Gone”, and has released two acclaimed albums. On debut LP Waiting For The Rain, many of the songs address the death of his father like “I Want You To Be There” and the devastating “4.5%”. It also features the wonderful singalong “Wor Flags” that soundtracks his love of Newcastle United. Follow-up Love Is For Everyone followed in 2025 and it showcased Andrew’s more anthemic side with “New World Blazing”, “Catch The Sun” and “Alright!” standing out.
A prodigious tourer, Andrew has a knack for connecting with an audience whether its at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (where he supported Louis Tomlinson in 2023) or at a much smaller venue in Austin at SXSW (where we saw his Saturday night showcase). His personality transcends the venues and you end up having an incredible time.
We caught up with Andrew for a pint a few days before his first showcase at this year’s SXSW Festival to chat about his career so far and what he has coming up next.
IDOV – Thanks for having a chat with us. How’s the jet lag going? I saw you got here on Tuesday?
AC – Yeah, I think we were supposed to get in on Monday night, but we ended up in on Tuesday morning. There was a bit of a storm when we were coming in from Chicago. I don’t get jet lag, I’m still a young pup! We got in the quite early hours of the morning, had a bit of a good sleep and went out on the piss.
DOV – What classic album cover art is your current mood?
AC – Lemme have a good think here. I’m gonna say The Kinks. (Ask manager Leigh “what’s the name of that album cover that we ripped off for Love Is For Everyone?) Muswell Hillbilles! I love that album cover and we did try and rip it off to an extent. But we’re sat in a pub, I’m in Austin, everyone’s getting a little bit pissed and that artwork’s in a pub so I’d probably say that.
IDOV – This is your fourth time playing in the US. What do you think is the difference between a US audience and a UK audience?
AC – Well, I think I’ve got quite a divided audience. My US audience comes from when we first came over to North America with Louis Tomlinson. We were doing bucket list venues; we played Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks and obviously One Direction have got a different fan base to what Andrew Cushin has, you know? Like, when I first started, I was mentored a little bit by Noel Gallagher. He helped us get me first record deal so naturally we picked up a bit of an Oasis crowd which is a different demographic from One Direction fans. I always love it when I come over now because we have got a different fan base; they’re all fucking fantastic and they buy the merch and they support the songs.
Personally, I think whenever we play in the UK, particularly Newcastle, we get a little bit of a more ”going to the match, rowdy” crowd, a little bit more Jump around. Whereas, when we go to North America and Europe, we get a bit of a “lovers for everyone” crowd which is fitting based on the second record. But they’re all amazing.
Photo Credit – Kate Atkinson
IDOV – You mentioned playing The Hollywood Bowl which must have been daunting – were you nervous playing such an iconic venue on your first US tour?
AC – No. Maybe I’m a little bit weird but I don’t feel nerves with music. I never have and I don’t think I ever will. Without being too morbid or going into too much detail, the reason I got into music is because I lost my Dad and I wanted to do a few gigs, not even necessarily to give me Mom the money I was making. Just so that if I was going out on a weekend, she didn’t have to supply me because it was clearly tough. She ended up working three jobs and I wanted to at least stand on my own two feet and she didn’t have to finance her son.
I often go back to that moment in my head and it’s like, I’ve done the worst thing that I’m ever gonna have to do in my life. So getting on stage at the Hollywood Bowl and bombing; the worst thing that can happen is that I forget the words or I snap a string. I like to think I’m articulate and charismatic enough that I can get myself out of those situations by telling a few jokes.
IDOV – I saw you received some funding from MEGS (The UK’s Music Export Growth Scheme) to come over here. How important is MEGS, especially at the current time where artists are struggling?
AC – It is so integral and it is so important. I’m so, so grateful that the BPI and the MEGS Board have supported my music and helped out not just me but a lot of other musicians. I think in a time that we’re living in now where not just in North America, but in Britain as well, everything is going up in price. It’s so expensive to fly, it’s so expensive to play music. Music venues are shutting down in England. it’s quite a daunting time for musicians. So without a grant like this, I would really struggle to get my music overseas, like towards North America, to keep on showcasing my art around the world, you know?
IDOV – Obviously Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher are huge inspirations on your music. Who else did you listen to when you were growing up with that influenced you?
AC – I was brought up, as most kids were, on a cocktail of what your Mam and Dad listened to. You’re almost shoehorned into a backseat of a car and you’ve kind of gotta listen to what’s playing. Me Dad was a big Oasis fan, big Stone Roses fan, Stereophonics, The Who, The Jam and The Rolling Stones and all that kind of stuff. The Beatles I kind of found through me Mam. When I was 16 and I started playing the guitar, I was really influenced by singer songwriters, but not just people that could play, people that can move you with words. I’m a big poetry fan, of people like Bob Dylan, Don McLean, Neil Young and Donovan. Even going back to people like Robert Johnson, BB King, you know, people that could not just make the guitar sing but they had something to say.
IDOV – If you could only listen to one record, what would it be?
AC – Wow, so many to choose from! Harvest Moon – brilliant record. I’m always gonna go back to the bog standard answer of The White Album because I feel like that’s one of the few albums in the world that has so many different genres. When I’m writing songs for a record, I try to make some kind of narrative or feeling throughout the record; it’s all got the same common ties
With The White Album, you can listen to a few songs and you go, well this is getting to the verge of almost reggae and there’s a lot going on. I feel like albums like that, they’ve got a song for everybody. So if I was on a desert island tomorrow, I’d take The White Album. I obviously have to take a record player as well!
IDOV – Your first album was about loss and the death of your father. Did you find that helped to write songs and sing them to people?
AC – It clearly did help because I’m still here and I’m not a drug addict and I’m not a fucking alcoholic. I think I used the guitar as a therapist and as a counselor and I therapized myself to that guitar. When I lost me father I was young, but I wasn’t young enough to not know what was going on, if that makes sense? I was a teenager, 17, 18, and the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through but it was hard for me to see my little sister go through that.
That was the thing that broke me a little bit worse because she was a young teenager and I’ve watched all of my family have to go through counseling about the death of me Dad. I’m not the kind of person, or I wasn’t the kind of person that felt comfortable enough to open up to somebody that I didn’t know. So the guitar helped me in songs like “4.5%” and “I Want You To Be There” and even songs before that album, like, “Where’s My Family Gone?”and “Memories”. If I hadn’t have put that into the guitar, I don’t know how I would’ve processed that. You know, you almost feel guilt and how can I process this in the most healthiest way? Writing those songs was hard and it hurt, but it was the most natural thing in the world.
So I think it clearly did help me because I’m still here but it really wasn’t deliberate. If those songs never came and I didn’t want to speak to someone about it, I don’t know where I’d be. The guitar saved me effectively.
IDOV – So after a successful first album, did you feel any pressure with the follow up because it didn’t sound like it; it’s such a confident album with an different sound that is full of stadium bangers
AC – Yeah. Well, there was nothing that didn’t make the first album that I used for the second album. I know that a lot of artists do and fair play to them. You know, if we leave these three songs off the first album, we’ve got a bit of a head start for the second. It was nothing like that. Everything was raw and new. I know we spoke a little bit before about it but with that first album, I was trying to highlight what I had been through but trying to make it in such a relatable way that if anybody went through loss, they could listen to that record and they could feel like somebody else has gone through the same sort of thing.
For the second album, I didn’t necessarily have that cross to bear. So I wanted to write an album of songs that if I wasn’t singing on them, I would still listen to kind of thing. So we used references of Stereophonics a lot and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and there’s a few songs in there where we’ve kind of listened to riffs by people like Jet and pulled on influences of bands that I really enjoy listening to. Not necessarily copy it, but for the same sort of vibe. But we worked with a different producer and the album sold three times the amount that the first one did. It was a great album to make and it’s been a great album to play live.
IDOV – You’re the youngest Geordie ever to sell out Newcastle City Hall? it looked like an amazing gig with the flags and everything. What was it like to actually play it?
AC – Mate, it was phenomenal. I owe absolutely everything to my home city. Newcastle’s one of the few places in the world that I’ve ever been where you could be a Premier League footballer or you could be a ballerina, and if you’re from the area, the people of Newcastle are gonna get behind you. It’s such a working class ethos and it’s such a collective thing. If you are from Newcastle and you’re doing well, or even if you’re not doing well, we’re gonna support you regardless. That is what I always feel when I play in Newcastle. I felt that since the first day that I went on stage and I still feel that now. When we’d done that last City Hall gig and it was that coming together, it felt so special. It wasn’t me on stage; it was two and a half thousand of us on stage, and it was such a special thing.
If it wasn’t for Newcastle, I dunno where I’d be in my career, but I owe everything to my city and I fucking love my city, and I will be there till I die, I think, unless someone wants to buy me house!
IDOV – I read that you were the goalkeeper for the Newcastle Benfield Youth Team. If you had the choice between saving the penalty that won the Champions League for Newcastle or headlining Glastonbury, which would you choose?
AC – Saving the penalty that wins the Champions League
IDOV – No pause at all. I thought you’d say that
AC – That would mean so much to so many people. Me headlining Glastonbury is just really good for me. But, also saving the penalty, is the final being played at St. James’ Park for hypothetical sake?
IDOV – For hypothetical reasons? Yes
AC – Being able to save a penalty at St James’ Park regardless is unbelievable So, Champions League – got to be that one
IDOV – I saw on Instagram that you’ve been writing and recording some new music. When do you think we’ll see that?
AC – We weren’t too sure whether we’re gonna do an album or an EP. Would you get the best of me on my third album in three years if I only had three months to write it? So we prioritized four or five songs at the minute but what we’re gonna do with ’em, we don’t really know. They’ve been sent off to a guy who’s gonna mix them who I’ve never worked with before. A guy called Eduardo De La Paz who has the best name I’ve ever fucking heard in my life. He’s busy mixing at the minute and we’re gonna see what that sounds like. The producer is the same guy that done the second album and I was really pleased with that but I wanted to have it mixed by an external set of ears and see if we can get anything else out of it. Hopefully you’re gonna hear some new music in maybe June/July and I’d like to think there’d be another one or two songs out by then.
Photo Credit – Kate Atkinson
IDOV – What would go on your signature pizza and what would it be called?
AC – Oh, love this! What a question. What a question. I would have chicken, bacon, it would be a barbecue base, and I’d have all the meats on it and Doner Kebab as well, and it would be called “I want You to Be Square” Which is obviously if play on “I Want You To Be There” but it would be a square Pizza. But hang on, when you make a pizza square, obviously the door of the crusts extend, right? So it wouldn’t really look square. So what I’d do is I’d have the doner meat round the outside. I’d have the donna meat through the middle. So it’s like stripes and then I’d just have little bits of chicken, little bits of bacon and dropped through.You have to do that!
IDOV – That’s fabulous. Last question – anything else in your plans for 2026? Any festivals or anything like that on the horizon?
AC – We’re doing a lot of outdoor gigs with OMD in June and July. That’s an another band that my Dad used to love so that’s gonna be another little tap on the back for him. Really looking forward to those. We’ve got some new music coming out at some point and I’d really love to go somewhere this year that I haven’t been. Maybe it’s Japan or in Australia so we’re gonna try and make something like that work.
I’ve been so lucky and so blessed that someone like Noel Gallagher and me manager Leigh came in, supported me from the off and being able to make this my livelihood. As long as I’m still enjoying this in 12 months time, then we’ll go and do it. I’m loving what I’m doing, but there’s definitely another UK tour. Definitely another show in Newcastle. I just can’t see when or where yet. It’s exciting times in Team Cushin.
