Added on August 22, 2022 Sara Swanson

Michigan music: The Andy Furda Experience

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Heavy metal artist and Manchester resident Andy Furda

by Steve Girbach

Manchester has been home to an eclectic mix of musical styles over the years. I’m thinking about the Blues, Jazz, and Americana artists that played at the Black Sheep Repertory Theater back in the day. More recently, our friends at Riverfolk Music and Arts have hosted a wide variety of World and Traditional music at their Blacksmith and Gazebo concerts. And let’s not forget that Manchester was the hometown of Cub Koda, lead guitarist of 1970s rockers Brownsville Station of “Smokin in the Boys’ Room” fame .(We’ll be discussing those three entities in the future.) Heavy Metal is a music genre that seems to have bypassed our community, or at least flown under the radar. That is until Andy Furda decided to call Manchester home five or so years ago.

Andy is a Michigander who was born in Watervliet, a small town in the southwestern portion of the state, moved to Ann Arbor where he graduated high school, and, after a short stint in Arkansas to be close to his daughter, made his way to Manchester. Sitting down with Andy to discuss, as he calls it, “The Andy Furda Experience” he advises to “Put on your chin strap because it’s gonna be a fun ride.”

Andy started his foray into the music world by designing event posters for a local band called Frakus. Soon he began his tenure as a stagehand for them, saying, “Working for Frakus showed me what it takes to actually be in a band.” Later he worked as a stagehand for the groups Invain and Halloween. Being a stagehand is something that continues with him today as a proud member of IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) Local 395. At 17 he began his journey into creating music of his own, gravitating toward the Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, and Punk genres.

“Kiss’s 1975 album Alive! was a huge influence on me,“ Andy says. “That album changed my life. I bought a brand-new Gibson Les Paul in 1986 with my $600 tax return because that’s what Ace Frehley played. I’ve played that guitar in every band I’ve been in since. Then one of my friends turned me on to the ultra-influential college radio station WCBN (88.3 FM). They played everything and opened my mind to all kinds of music; the Plasmatics, MC5, Stooges, The Rationals with Scott Morgan, The Cult Heroes with Hiawatha Bailey, Dick Dale, Parliament-Funkadelic. Growing up in the shadow of the MC5 and Stooges, the Detroit pre-punk thing was a big influence. I felt Punk Rock had the visceral message to make Heavy Metal better. Any band that is Heavy Metal, and has a Punk side, is probably going to be pretty good. So I started my first band, Roadkill, a band created while jamming in the psych ward.“ Andy started Roadkill with his friend and fellow guitarist “Tim,“ who had checked himself into the psych ward at the U of M Hospital. Andy would come to visit periodically with his guitar, and they would write music together. After “Tim“ was discharged, they started the group.

Lunacy came next (name taken from, and music influenced by, the Plasmatics record Metal Priestess) followed over time by Psychobliss, Head Factory, Cosmic Banditos, KABONG, BONK!, Christ Puncher, Tomb of The Unknowns, Geppeto Files (a national touring puppet show, somewhat macabre in nature, performed to live music, this tour was shared with CRUD, a Detroit-based Industrial Rock band), The Mike Hard Show (national touring act), Thrall, Zen Banditos, and, as of the summer of 2021, Mount Pleasant, Michigan–based Nagazi (Def: A Nagazi is a breed of Georgian mountain dog). The members of Nagazi describe their music as “Groove Metal.“ According to Andy, “No matter the style of music, it has to groove … or die.”

Nagazi is really making waves in the Metal community. 2022 has brought several short tours for the band, supporting national acts like John 5 (guitarist for Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie). Nagazi continues their touring in September and October in support of their most recent EP release, March of the Serpents, and will no doubt continue to increase their Metal fan base as they share the stage with national touring Metal bands such as Exodus and Death Angle Oct 2 at the Elevation in Grand Rapids. To learn more about Nagazi and check out their music and tour schedule, look them up at www.nagazi5.com.

Aside from the craft of music, Andy is also a woodcarver, making pipes, totems, and tikis. He is also a student of the Lichtenberg burning process, a wood-burning technique that requires a machine made with a neon sign transformer that passes electricity at very high voltages between two electrodes while they are in contact with a piece of wood, thus burning the wood. A bit on the dangerous side. Describing what is most important in his life, Andy says, “It all has to be creative. I lose my mind when I become stagnant. I’m an artist first and foremost. The music I create is a picture for your ears. Basically, every tone is like a splash of color, so I try to paint pictures with my music. I try and have fun everywhere I go, and try to inject peace, love, and harmony. Smiles are most important to my life and the people I share them with. This is my world; you may have one like it, but this one is mine.” That’s the Andy Furda Experience.