DISCOVER | András Droppa, Cambridgeshire/North Devon. United Kingdom.

Today on DISCOVER, I’m joined by András Droppa. András Droppa is a solo artist from Cambridgeshire/North Devon. Today we talk about influential artists, aspirations and the chase for happiness.

 

Good evening, it’s very nice of you to join me tonight András. Would you like to kindly introduce yourself and tell us what got you into music and what led you to where you are now?

András: It’s an honor to join you. Sure thing! I’m András – I’m a 21-year-old guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and I’ve been playing music for nearly 15 years now (and writing for about 5 or 6).

I think if you asked my family, they’d tell you that even before I was born I was destined to be a rockstar – apparently I used to kick in my mum’s stomach whenever the Clash’s ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ would come on the radio! Certainly, the earliest memory I have was my uncle buying me a little black mp3. player for Christmas one year. He was a proper metalhead back in the 80s, and so he loaded it up with the best of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath… six year old me used that mp3. player to death! That was probably my guitar awakening, and I started playing a little over a year later.

It’s been a long twisting road since then haha. Along the way I studied some classical guitar, got heavily into funk during my late teens, played jazz whilst at university and (god forbid) ending up doing some amateur musical theatre work alongside my degree. However, I think through all that I’ve really stuck to my routes in Hard Rock – my parents love of soul and blues certainly informed that (and I think you’ll struggle to find a guitar player who hasn’t been a blues player at some point), but for me it was the rawness of the blues and the performative side of rock which kind of cemented my identity as a writer and an artist.

Got to say that’s a great back story there! Bit of boogying in the belly to The Clash before life even begun! Amazing. I know you’ve touched on a few influential artists but who would you say your top 5 current musical influences are – and how do they figure into your sound or songwriting approach?

András: Ah, the classic question – I must admit, I always struggle to answer this as my favourite artists seem to rotate depending on what I’m listening to in the moment!

I think its fair to say that AC/DC are probably my biggest and most consistent influence – hell, I didn’t know it until I put on some of the Bon Scott era stuff the other day, but I’ve memorized pretty much their entire back catalogue up to 1981 (I think that’s when For Those About To Rock was released?). I think Angus’ performance and stage presence certainly informed a lot of my desire to Rock Out, and they certainly are the benchmark for writing simple, catchy tunes.

Then my current favourite artist are by far the Rival Sons! I can’t really express how much I love these guys – since getting into them just over a year ago I’ve been to see them on both of the UK tours they’ve done, and I must have listened to ‘Pressure and Time’ about 100 times! Jay’s voice is incredibly soulful (I’d certainly put him as the best vocalist of the modern era), and I think the honesty of his lyrics are something I aspire to.

The Rival Sons sonic presence is also something I aspire to – Scott Holiday’s various fuzz tones are remarkable, and have inspired a number of filthy fuzz riffs on my part haha.

Another big influence at the moment are Black Stone Cherry – I got heavily into these guys when starting University, purely due to finding them on Spotify. For me, they sit perfectly in the balance between Hard Rock, Blues, and Southern Rock – they are certainly the artist who I would say have had the biggest impact on my sound and writing. I especially love their ‘Folklore and Superstition’ era; it’s just unadulterated mojo from start to finish.

I’m gonna cheat a little bit here and lump Ariel Posen and the Bros. Landreth together as the ‘slide guitar guys’ – their slide playing is both very melodic and also pushes the boundaries of technical ability to a whole new level. Their music also has such soul and feeling to it – both Ariel’s and Joey’s voice are perfectly suited to the style, and they are my go to heartbreak and sad times artists haha

Finally, I would also have to hark back to work of artists like Nina Simone, Ertha Kitt, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Rosetta Tharpe – all the classic blues and jazz singers and players. It’s hard to define a single influence here, but I find the music so emotive and resonant, and it has such a timeless quality to it. I also am a little bit of a history nut, so being able to view these songs as both pieces of music, but also within the wider context of world events around this time is really interesting to me.

I always feel bad doing these lists, as I’m excluding so many great artists and writers from this list – I’m sure if you asked me the same question a week from now I’d give a completely different answer!

Lots of varied influences there, love it. So with your own music and sound, What genre of music would you say your work falls under?

András: So I like to describe myself as being ‘Hard Rock-Blues’ – basically, make no mistake that some of this is heavy, but there’s always that bluesy/soulful feeling underlying everything I write. That aside, I must admit that I do like to bring in other influences and inspiration into my work; in my current writing catalogue (most of which is being gigged, if not released yet) there’s influences from jazz, soul, funk, folk, country – basically, whatever artist is currently inspiring me haha!

Sounds great and sounds like you have some strong direction with the music you’re making. How long have you been performing shows for? You touched before roughly on being involved in music for the previous 15 years, I’m guessing you’ve had your share of a few live performances.

András: Ah, great question! So, experience wise, I did my fair share of playing whilst at school – everyone did the end of term concerts, and I played in the school orchestra/band/thing whilst I was at Secondary School. The first ‘pit orchestra’ gig I had was at age 15, where I played in a production of Rock of Ages (that was seriously good fun).

I also started going to my local jam night at the age of 14, becoming a regular there every Tuesday from about the age of 16. I absolutely loved (and still love) playing in the house band for this – it’s at a great grassroots music venue called The Palladium Club in Bideford; I basically grew up playing on that stage, and the experience of being thrown into the deep end and having to play a song on the spot was definitely a formative experience for me.

I believe I already mentioned gigging whilst at uni? So essentially, I spent the first three years of my degree (I’m currently in my fourth and final year) playing in various musicals, whilst also playing as part of various function and jazz bands – I think the record I currently hold was simultaneously being in two big bands, three function bands, depping for a number of bands on top of this, and also playing some musicals alongside this. I’m amazed I actually got any of my degree work done haha!

As to my own music, I’d played some original compositions lives as a child/young teenager, but in reality I’ve only really taken my music seriously in the last five years or so. I spent most of that time writing, but have now decided to dedicate my life to playing this music – as such, I officially started gigging with my originals back in July, supporting a couple of tribute acts locally before headlining my first show on the same day as the release of my debut single. Since then (the 9th of September), I’ve done a fair few gigs with my own songs around the Cambridge area, and plan on keeping this up indefinitely haha!

That sounds exciting. What would you say your favourite song to play live is?

András: Very much so! Erm, ya know what, have two for the price of one:
Cover wise, the most fun I’ve had playing a song was doing a version of RATM’s ‘Killing in the Name Of’ – the mosh pit always goes nuts for that one!

In terms of my own music, I have a song called ‘Faith’ (which I’m actually recording in the studio in the next few days, so should be out soonish…) which has a choir part that I get the audience to sing with me – I can’t really describe how it feels to have a room full of people sing your own song back at you, loudly enough so that you can hear them over the band. It’s pretty incredible!

I bet that’s a surreal experience! I know you touched roughly also on a new release due out soon but are you working on any other new music or planning anything exciting that we can look forward to?

András: Very much so! Of course – there’s quite a lot of exciting things happening at the moment! I released my debut single, ‘Living For The Nights’, back in September, and I’m happy to announce that my second single, ‘Jack’s Sanctuary For Damnable Deeds’, is being released on Saturday 2nd of December! Both of these were recorded with the fabulous Steve Tanton of Poundhouse Productions (Steve also laid down the drum tracks on both songs, hence the killer beats!).

Looking forwards from that, I’ll have more releases coming out over the next few months – I’ll be posting about all of them on my social media, where you can keep up to date with everything I’m doing.

That aside, I’ve also got a fair number of gigs in the Pipeline. I have two more confirmed at Cambridge Uni this month, before I have a headline show in North Devon on the 22nd of December (at the Palladium Club), and a headline show in Cambridge on the 19th of January (at the Six Six Bar). All the dates and info can be found under the ‘Gigs’ section of my website: https://www.andras-droppa-music.com/

Sounds like a lot upcoming, Always good when you see people doing well, I just want to jump aboard the hype train! Do you have any upcoming shows?

András: Definitely! Awh thank you, and I’m totally with you! Yes, as I said we have two more Cambridge Uni shows this month (one at St John’s Bar, and one at Downing College Bar), and then a headline show in Bideford on the 22/12, and a headline show in Cambridge on the 19/01/24

So we’re almost at the end of the interview now, just a few more questions and a fun one to end on! Who would you say would be your dream collaborator, past or present? Alive or dead.

András: Oooo, probably BB King – I feel like I could learn so much from working with him. That, or maybe Bon Scott – I’d kill to have a vocal as good as his!

Very good choices! Here’s an interesting one, Where would you like to see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

András: I feel like the obvious answer here would be having just headlined Glastonbury and about to embark on a lucrative world tour haha!

In all honesty, I think the place I’d like to be at by then is one where I am able to a living playing my music, and ultimately be happy from this. It feels slightly underwhelming to say it, but I don’t know – for me the buzz that I get from playing my music live is just as good from a crowded bar as it is a massive festival stage. I think its far more important to chase happiness and contentedness than fame or fortune haha.

I’d like to thank you for your time today it’s been a blast getting to know about you András, I like to leave interviews on a high with a fun question. My final closing question to you is; If you woke up tomorrow and had been blessed with the artistic skills that matches those of Van Gough, what would be the first thing you would paint?

András: It’s been a pleasure talking to you Laura – thank you so much for your questions, I’ve had a great time answering them!

Oh wow, that’s a great one! In which case, I’d probably say something like an oak tree; it’s be amazing to capture such majesty on paper!

Artist: András Droppa / Label: N/A  / Genre: Hard Rock-Blues
For Fans Of: Rival Sons, Joe Bonamassa, Black Stone Cherry, Kris Barras, Eric Clapton, Tyler Bryant, Jared James Nichols.
Next upcoming shows: All gig information here.
Can be found on: All major streaming platforms: Spotify