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Andy Frasco & the U.N. at Gasparilla Music Festival 2022. Credit: Jason Ryan \/ c\/o Gasparilla Music Festival<\/p>\nAndy Frasco & the U.N. at Gasparilla Music Festival 2022. Credit: Jason Ryan \/ c\/o Gasparilla Music Festival<\/p>\n
Long time festival favorite Andy Frasco<\/a> first hit the road at 19 years old with all gas and no brakes. It wasn\u2019t until the past year or so that the frizzy haired frontman took a much-needed step back to reevaluate his priorities. With a clearer focus on the road ahead, the now 37-year-old has managed to kick it into second gear, shifting between musical styles without sacrificing his own.<\/p>\n Before Andy Frasco & The U.N. return to Jannus Live in December, the L.A.-born songwriter took some time to discuss his new album, Growing Pains, and his recent mindset shift from party trick to poet.<\/p>\n Tickets to see Andy Frasco & the U.N. play Jannus Live in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Dec. 6 are still available and start at $39.56.<\/a><\/p>\n So, you\u2019ve been touring nonstop for years, with only a couple of two-or-three-week breaks each year. When you have nearly a month off like this, what becomes your priority? How do you spend your downtime?<\/p>\n Water. Sleep. I don\u2019t know, my brain\u2019s kind of weird where I learned how to take care of my time through being on the road. Learning how to figure out small times of the day to like, calm my brain down, my heart down. It\u2019s like, if I\u2019m living for those one-month-offs, I\u2019m gonna eventually die. So, I\u2019ve been learning how to take care of myself while on the road. I think that\u2019s the most important thing people forget. You go so hard, and if you want to sustain that 15 years later, doing 200 plus shows a year, you just gotta find pockets inside the tour so that you don\u2019t go crazy because, you know, it\u2019s a hard thing coming down.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The last couple of gigs you played were on the road with Gov\u2019t Mule, which looked like a ton of fun, but might not seem like the most obvious pairing. How did those crowds respond to you guys opening the show?<\/p>\n Oh, it was great. We got standing ovations, you know? It\u2019s an older crowd, but I\u2019m just getting better at knowing my crowd and knowing what they like instead of just force feeding them, like, drug talk or force feeding them fuckin\u2019 heavy songs. I\u2019m just kind of getting better as a frontman to say, \u201cWell, it\u2019s more old people tonight so I might as well play all my soft songs\u201d. I don\u2019t need to like, do the Hora and the schtick, you know? Because I got 11 albums of songs, so it\u2019s kind of nice to test myself with saying \u201cthis isn\u2019t really my fanbase\u201d. Because maybe it is. You\u2019ve got to approach it with a glass half-full instead of feeling like you have to force them to like you. I mean, we could all morph into anything we want, you know? That\u2019s why we\u2019re musicians.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure having all that material to pull from helps in those situations. Being able to pick and choose.<\/p>\n Right, yeah. Sometimes we get in a routine where we want to play the new songs, and sometimes we just forget that the songs are what\u2019s most important. I did 40 festivals last year and sometimes it was hard to get out of autopilot doing all this entertaining shit and just play the songs, when the songs hold themselves too, you know?<\/p>\n Absolutely. Did you learn anything from working with Warren Haynes that closely? What was your biggest takeaway from that experience?<\/p>\n \u00a0I\u2019ve known Warren for like five-seven years now so, you know, we call him Uncle Warren. He\u2019s always there for us. He\u2019s the GOAT, and what I learned from his soloing was like, it\u2019s the notes that weren\u2019t there that make him so powerful. I mean, he taught Derek Trucks how to be Derek Trucks. I listen to Derek and I\u2019m like, \u201cOh my god, there\u2019s so much Warren taught in Derek\u201d. And I hear that in Marcus King\u2019s playing too, how impactful Warren is to our generation of musicians. All the guitar players are just students of Warren, and he doesn\u2019t get enough credit.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t agree more. I do want to talk about Growing Pains, which I think is safe to call your best work yet. Really great stuff.<\/p>\n Oh thanks, bro.<\/p>\n I think for the first time in my life I\u2019m actually taking the advice I\u2019m giving.<\/p>\n Andy Frasco<\/p>\n A lot of your songs have this kind of central message of positivity and freedom from opinions and expectations. But the songwriting on this album also seems to take the exploration of anxiety and depression a bit deeper. \u00a0I think the best example is about halfway through with the turn from \u201cLife is Easy\u201d to \u201cTears in My Cocaine\u201d. What was the difference in the songwriting process on this latest album, especially with those more personal, emotional songs?<\/p>\n I think I stopped trying to write songs for other people to live through depression and started writing songs for how I am approaching depression. Like, anyone gives advice to anyone, but do they actually take the advice they\u2019re giving, you know? Because it starts with you. I think for the first time in my life I\u2019m actually taking the advice I\u2019m giving. I think this is the first year I\u2019m starting to be hands-on with how I\u2019m dealing with depression versus just being that beacon of light for people. I want to be that beacon of light for myself.<\/p>\n Right on. So, I\u2019ve heard you refer to yourself as a Jewish guy from L.A. writing country songs.<\/p>\n Kosher Cowboy.<\/p>\n \u00a0Kosher Cowboy, I like it. Did you set out to have a more country sound with Growing Pains or did that just come out as you began writing?<\/p>\n \u00a0I\u2019ve been writing songs with all these country guys lately, and I\u2019ve been working in Nashville. I had an epiphany where, like, I didn\u2019t really go to school for music as a songwriter. I just kind of jumped on the road when I was 19. So, five years ago I just pushed myself\u2014I wanted to learn the art of songwriting, you know?<\/p>\n Like, 20-minute solos never really fascinated me. I really wanted to get down to the nitty gritty of how to write a great song. I felt like I\u2019ve been writing with all these songwriters and, because it\u2019s Nashville, it\u2019s gonna have a little of that Nashville twang to it. But I just respect the craft, and I\u2019m starting to respect country music a lot more than I ever did, because I grew up in L.A. <\/p>\n And you know, Jews in country music aren\u2019t really wanted. I think about 1942 and stuff. So, I\u2019m starting to learn. I feel like I\u2019m getting better at it. And I just love Americana, and I always grew up listening to Bob Dylan. I never listened to, like, Phish or anything. So, now I\u2019m understanding this country-Americana thing. I dabble my toes in it, but I\u2019m still true to myself. I\u2019ll always be that.\u00a0<\/p>\n That focus on songwriting definitely comes through on the album. Was any part of you motivated by wanting to show another side to the \u201cshowman\u201d or the \u201cparty guy\u201d?<\/p>\n Yeah, I\u2019m 37. I\u2019ve done enough nitrous to kill a horse. And cocaine. I don\u2019t know, I think everyone just kind of grows out of it. Everyone always thinks about the person they were in the past, no one thinks about the person they\u2019ve grown into. And everyone eventually gets older and matures, so this is the new almost-40 Andy. I\u2019ll still have a good time, but I\u2019m not gonna be fuckin\u2019 ripping, you know? I\u2019m just not into that anymore, it\u2019s not my shit.<\/p>\n Fair enough. So, I saw both you and The Ries Brothers for the first time at Sunshine Get Down last April, just before Growing Pains was released.<\/p>\n \u00a0That was fuckin\u2019 a blast, dude!<\/p>\n \u00a0That was a lot of fun. How did you link up with our local Tampa boys?<\/p>\n The Ries Brothers? I met them on Jam Cruise. And I\u2019ve always been a fan of them through Artikal Sound System and Little Stranger. They\u2019ve been kind of getting me involved in the reggae scene a bit. So, I wanted to get some Florida love for our shows in Florida, and we\u2019ve always tried to tour with each other, and I\u2019m gonna be on one of their new tracks, so it just made sense for us.<\/p>\n It\u2019s fun. I like those guys. They write really good songs, and they\u2019re not super reggae. Sometimes that white boy reggae gets a little cringe for me, but they ride a fine line of it, and I like that about them.<\/p>\n \u00a0I can see that. So, between a busted knee and a new baby, I know the band\u2019s guitarist, Shawn [Eckels], and saxophonist, Ernie [Chang], haven\u2019t been touring with you on this most recent run. What does the band look like now? And what effect has that had on the shows?<\/p>\n \u00a0Honestly, it\u2019s been a breath of fresh air. Sometimes when you\u2019re in a band for 15 years, you kind of go into autopilot. With these guys taking breaks, I have to lead the ship, and from that, it\u2019s built me confidence. I lost my mojo for five years because I was just kind of getting fed up and bored. The partying was getting too much, and I was just kind of getting sad. I didn\u2019t feel like I had control of my band, and now, I just got my vavoom back, and I\u2019m running on all cylinders. I might have needed these guys to separate. We all needed to separate a little bit, so then when we do come back, it hopefully is stronger than ever.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve also released a couple singles recently, \u201cCalifornia Got a Way About Her\u201d, in late August, and \u201cTumbleweed\u201d, featuring J.J. Grey. Is there a new album in the works or are these going to stand on their own?<\/p>\n Yeah, I already got 20 songs done for the new album, so I\u2019m taking my time. I\u2019m not in a rush. I\u2019ve just been so inspired. Like I said, this is the first year I\u2019ve just kind of opened up. I\u2019ve taken control of myself again. With all the drugs and partying and stuff I wasn\u2019t in control anymore, and when I finally took the power back, it felt like the antennae, you know? Because these songs aren\u2019t mine, it\u2019s someone else\u2019s songs, it\u2019s the universe\u2019s songs. And when I finally got the power back, I felt like my antennae got bigger and I could actually listen to the ethos and write a fucking song. So, I\u2019m like 20 songs in, and I still need some upbeat bangers. I\u2019ve got time for that, though.<\/p>\n So, how do you decide which songs go where? When you\u2019re working on an album, and then you release some singles to stand on their own, how do you decide which is which?<\/p>\n Um, I don\u2019t know. You gotta like, put a stamp on things. I make a record every year, and you get in your head about, \u201cyou could write a better song there, you could write a better song there\u201d, or you could just fuckin\u2019 release it, and just call it a day. Everyone has such an ADD attention span, so why not release something every month and then find out? People forget about the song in a month. People forget about records now in two months. I gotta make a fuckin\u2019 deluxe record now so people will be interested in my album again. So, it\u2019s just what it is. People forget shit, and we just gotta keep our stuff in their ears and hopefully they won\u2019t forget us for the next record. I think the philosophy has changed. I think we\u2019re back to the \u201870s where people were just doing singles instead of making records.<\/p>\n What else can fans expect in the coming year? Any projects or events you\u2019re excited for?<\/p>\n \u00a0Man, I got a consideration for a Grammy, which is cool.<\/p>\n \u00a0Hell yeah.<\/p>\n \u00a0And, you know, I\u2019m booked on 25 festivals next year already, that aren\u2019t announced yet. I\u2019m going on tour with this big band that I can\u2019t announce. Yeah, this is the biggest year of my life. I can\u2019t really announce anything until they tell me to because I get in trouble that way. I always just announce shit and then I have to deal with it. But yeah, this is going to be the biggest year. I\u2019m working with Universal, with studios, they\u2019re giving me the free studio time and stuff, and I think they just believe in it. So, I\u2019m here to keep fuckin\u2019 shit up, you know?<\/p>\n Right on. And you have the podcast. I\u2019ve been listening lately, and obviously you\u2019re a silly guy, and you seem to be close with a lot of comedians as well as people in the music industry. Do you think there\u2019s any truth to the statement that all comedians want to be rock stars and all rock stars want to be comedians?<\/p>\n \u00a0100%. What\u2019s your take on that, Nick?<\/p>\n \u00a0Nick Gerlach [co-host of \u201cAndy Frasco\u2019s World Saving Podcast\u201d]: That\u2019s 100% correct. Musicians want to be athletes too.<\/p>\n Andy: Yeah, I want to be an athlete. We don\u2019t have the present moment, right? So, we could have great careers but we\u2019re always gonna want a little more, and that\u2019s just human nature, I guess. We\u2019ve got to stop thinking like that and be thankful for what we have now. That\u2019s kind of been my MO lately.<\/p>\n Right on, man. Well, I appreciate you taking the time and I\u2019m excited for the show.<\/p>\n Yeah dude, come on out. St. Petersburg, let\u2019s ride, baby! And also, thanks for helping us push the show.<\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Nov. 20 \u2013 26, 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
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