My first experience of being in a recording studio was walking into the basement of Tom Whitlock, a notable producer. Smooth guitar music echoed out of the basement studio.
Suddenly, the guitar cuts out for a moment and then is played back. Senior, Andrew Manzardo, nodding his head back and forth, is clearly used to the stop and go of song editing.
In the summer, Manzardo spent the majority of his time in the studio.
“Most everyday I recorded until about two,” Manzardo said. “If not, I did other stuff but I spent two to three hours each day writing and playing music.”
Andrew has been recording solo for the past six months. His goal by the end of the summer was to have 12 finished songs.
“Portions of this CD I have written,” Manzardo said. “But usually if I co-write, my producer Brandon Mashburn, and songwriter, Tom Whitlock, will write the music and melodies.”
Manzardo has been recording music since he was 15. But, he hasn’t always been a solo artist. He was a part of a local band called The Flo. Other members, including senior Luke Cormier and Glendale alumni Russell West and Alex Lee, were together for a little over a year.
“I like what I’m doing right now but it was nice being in a band and being with them all the time,” Manzardo said.
Andrew’s main focus is on his music and on the current football season. He would like to start playing locally toward the end of October and to have a group together by the end of this school year.
“I have my web-site and that gets announced at the football games as an advertisement,” said Manzardo. “I can also advertise on Facebook.”
This is Manzardo’s first album with ten completed songs. He considers it more of a demo and plans to go back and re-touch the album.
“I have a plan but mostly it can wait until after high school,” Manzardo said. “I’m going to work on a second album this year but I’ll probably wait until football is over.”
Although Manzardo is unsure about what his future will hold, one thing is definite: he will keep pursuing his music.