Andy Clarke is a 44-year-old artist from Lisburn. He plays guitar and sings in the metal band: The Crawling.
Andy started playing in bands, writing music from 15 years old and since then he never stopped.
What genre / style do you create in?
Death/Doom metal.
What would you be best known for?
The Crawling.
What would you consider your biggest achievement?
Being invited to play Inferno Metal Festival in Norway.
What would you consider to be the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your industry?
Keep at it, keep working, keep writing, have fun and the rewards will follow.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
Learning how to make best use of social media, and keep up with the “algorithm”.
Tell us a little about your personal life, are you married, kids, hobbies etc?
Married 12 years, enjoy beer, scuba diving, gigs, metal, and my dogs.
Tell us about your most recent work?
We have just released a new single “Sparrow” featuring a brand new track, and a cover version of a Bjork track “Play Dead.”
Over the lockdown period it was becoming tiresome re-hashing old content, and thinking of ways to stay creative. We didn’t want to release an album without support from touring; so figured a single was the way forward.
The track Sparrow is a sad story of someone who didn’t get the help they needed, and it tied in well with the Play Dead cover song. It was a challenge producing it during lockdown, but the band built small studio set ups and it was all achieved remotely. It was tough but rewarding!
What would you like us to tell people about?
Our new single “Sparrow” is out 2nd April 2021. It’s available limited edition CD, hand-numbered cassette, and on all streaming platforms.
If you had to describe your work to someone who has never heard of you what would you say?
Slow, misery fuelled death metal.
What’s the funniest experience you’ve had in your business?
I’m getting on a bit in years to have tall touring tales, but all I will say is we (the band I was in at the time) got arrested on tour for stealing a 6-foot tall ice cream cone. We had to return it to a police station at 4 am and pay £250 in damages. Funny looking back on it now!
What would your advice be to young people hoping to pursue the same industry?
Do it because you enjoy it, and remember it’s about the music. It’s easy to caught up with numbers, plays, likes, and all that internet stuff; I suffer the same problem – but keep it fun, stay true to your passion and you will always be rewarded.
Anything else you want to tell people about yourself or your work?
I do it because I love heavy metal, and adore playing live!
Who do you look up to and why?
Nergal from Behemoth. He has worked hard for over 20 years before his band really broke into the mainstream. He continues with his work ethic, and it’s great to see Behemoth become so successful.
You can find Andy on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or visit the band’s website: https://thecrawlingband.bandcamp.com/!
If you want to listen to music by The Crawling check them out on Spotify >>