Andy Crofts (born Andrew John Goncalves; 23 March 1977) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and photographer. He was the founding member of psychedelic

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

The Moons The Moons are an England, English indie rock band formed in Northampton 2008 by singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Crofts. The Moons have released four studio albums; ''Pocket Melodies'' (2020) on Colorama Records, ''Mindwaves'' (2014) and ''Fa ...

. Crofts is also a photographer and made a

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

while touring called ''One'' and official music video ''These City Streets and She Moves With The Fayre'' for musician

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

. Crofts was a full-time musician for UK solo artist

Early life

Crofts was an only child born in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. His mother, Jeanne Crofts, was working as a dancer in São Paulo for a Circus known as Circo Tihany. Around the age of 14 or 15, a friend of Andy's found an acoustic guitar in a skip, and they learned to play on it. This helped ignite Crofts' love for music and inspired him to start writing.

Career

The Moons

As the group's main songwriter, Crofts is responsible for all of the songwriting and direction of

studio albums: 2010's ''Life on Earth'', 2012's ''Fables of History'' and 2014's ''Mindwaves'' and 2020's critically acclaimed 'Pocket Melodies'. Crofts founded The Moons in 2006 after splitting from The On Offs. A collection of songs had gathered that would become Moons songs. In 2008, Crofts took songs to

The Lodge Recording Studio The Lodge Recording Studio is a recording studio in Northampton, England. It is co-owned by Jason Ducker of The Enid and Max Read. The studio was first established in 1978 in Hertford and then moved to larger premises in Claret Hall Farm, near Cla ...

in Northampton and arranged to use the studio and pay weekly, since he didn't have funds. Crofts recorded five songs on which he played all instruments except drums. He named his time in the studio the Lunar sessions. These songs caught the attention of ''Mojo'' magazine and promoters. His original home demos were initially sent to Paul Weller later earning him a place in the PW band. In 2010,

released their debut album ''Life on Earth'' on Acid Jazz Records, containing 12 Crofts originals including re-worked versions from the Lunar sessions. In 2014 Crofts wrote an album called ''Mindwaves'' that he produced at Black Barn Studios in Woking with help from The Moons drummer Ben Gordelier. Soon after,

recorded a live album from Bush Hall London. The album was limited to 500 copies on vinyl and contained a selection of songs from all 3 studio albums.

Paul Weller

Crofts joined Paul Weller's band in March 2008 and began touring to promote the 22 Dreams album. Crofts had initially met Paul when supporting him in the former band The On Offs in 2006. Crofts started as keyboard player for Weller before moving to bass guitar. He is a regular on Weller's studio albums since his 2010 album ''

Wake Up the Nation ''Wake Up the Nation'' is the tenth studio album from Paul Weller and was released on 19 April 2010. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. The albums was dedicated to "absent friends – John Weller, Pat Foxton and Robert Kirby". ...

''. Crofts' studio efforts contain many instruments such as bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, synths and vocals. Crofts even wrote string arrangements despite his lack of classical training. When Crofts joined the Weller band, he was originally the keyboard player. He played bass guitar on all live shows.

Producer

Crofts mixes and produces songs for signed and unsigned bands, as well as his own music. He worked with Dutch artist Max Meser on an as yet unreleased album.

Personal life

He currently lives in

Worthing Worthing ( ) is a seaside town and borough in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 113,094 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Br ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

with his partner and model Tara Griffin. The couple has two children He is featured in the

music video ''These City Streets''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crofts, Andy 1977 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English male musicians 21st-century English singers 21st-century British male singers