Review Fix Exclusive: Valentin Marx’s Andy Kissel Talks Creative Process And More

Review Fix chats with Valentin Marx’s Andy Kissel, who discusses the band’s origin, goals and creative process.

Review Fix: How did your project start?

Andy Kissel: The project started when I had amassed a bunch of like minded songs and decided I needed a band to make it all happen.  I had been performing as a solo acoustic artist, but these songs definitely needed the full band treatment.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Kissel: My older brother is a guitar player, and I started playing the drums around the age of 10 in hopes of being in his band.  From there I just started adding instruments, and over time guitar and piano became my main focus and passion.  Songwriting started picking up around 14, and I’ve been chasing the dragon ever since. 

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Kissel: For me the riffs and groove always comes first.  I may have a lyrical hook or phrase that attaches melody to the progression, but usually the song itself is fully formed before I write the lyrics.  Once I have the basic structure, melodies, and lyrics, I bring it to the other guys and we craft the song further.

Review Fix: What inspires you?

IKissel: ‘m inspired by other artists in a big way.  I have a deep respect for visual artists, a skill in which I personally have never excelled.  However I work to try and create a landscape for the audience so that they can get lost in the music, create their own reality and memories with the song.  We recently released our first single, and the artist Alex Unger made the art for the release.  His visual response to the music was hugely inspiring for me.  Seeing what the song made him feel made what I do so much more meaningful.

Review Fix: What makes this album special?

Kissel: The songs on the upcoming EP are several years in the making.  I’m really excited for people to hear all the hard work and love that has gone into the process of making this music.

Review Fix: What’s the standout track?

Kissel: First single Made Up is a personal favorite.  It was a total collaborative effort from all the guys in the band, and I’m really proud of how it turned out.

Review Fix: What’s on your musical bucket list?

Kissel: One item on my musical bucketlist is to play drums on Helter Skelter with Paul McCartney, somehow someway. 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 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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