Review Fix Exclusive: Andre Johnson Talks ‘Dictator’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Andrew Johnson, who discusses his new single “Dictator,” as well as his creative process and goals for 2017.

Review Fix: What inspired “Dictator”?

Andrew Johnson: It’s kind of a melding of personal and political. I think i was thinking about how on the grand scale some countries sort of intimidate or persecute other countries, but then on the micro scale we can somehow be our own worst critics and do that to ourselves.  the plight of persecuted nations become a metaphor for the individual’s daily struggles.

Review Fix: What artists do you get motivation from?

Johnson: Anyone that seems to be somewhat truthful in their work and not motivated by trying to be cool or hip or whatever.  I kind of feel out of step with modern trends in some ways in that a lot of the artists I get inspiration from our from the 70s/80s.  Ron Sexsmith is an artist that seems very genuine to me.  I feel that he can’t help but be what he seems to be.  Ryan Adams is also very exciting to me: A lot of what he does is performance art or commentary on the gulf between so called serious art music and pop culture: he’s probably a lot smarter than his faux hipster/weirdo personality would have you believe.  The Dears are heroes of mine: its exhilarating hearing so much passion, sophistication in their music.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2017?

Johnson: Honestly Im just trying to survive at this point. The world seems to be tipping into a whole new weird wild direction that is alarming.

Review Fix: What makes “The New Great Game” a special album?

Johnson: I guess it depends what you value in music.  If you are a nerd about vintage analog recording gear it might excite you to know that it was recorded at Studio Frisson using some seriously rare, vintage gear.  I kind of wanted it to sound like Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty and we used the same Neve recording desk and mics and stuff that they would have used.

If you care about the Dears and the work of Murray Lightburn then it might interest you to know that he helped produce the album along with Fred Bouchard (Adam Cohen, Neema): between the two of them I don’t think I could have hoped for a better production.

Ultimately, its the sound of a band that tries to put musicality and tunefulness first.  We hope you agree that the record is full of big hooks, and anthemic choruses: I guess its a bit of a sing along protest record for modern times.

Review Fix: bWhat’s next?

Johnson: I’m working with Sinbad Richardson (Sam Roberts, Young Galaxy, Plants and Animals etc.) on a music video for the next single of the record called “Redheads.” Hot on the release of Redheads we will probably put out the full record and try to get some shows in.  I hope this record gets a chance – its the one I worked the hardest on and invested the most in.  I think its a worthwhile piece of work.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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