By Mike Henken, Sports Editor
In life, most people have a passion whether they know it or not. It might be something that drives them and motivates them to wake up early and to stay up late.Â
For Andy Jones, a Susquehanna senior, that passion is music, specifically, rapping and producing beats.Â
Born on Long Island in New York, Jones bounced around from location to location before eventually settling down with his family in Shamokin, Pa, not too far from Susquehanna. It was at home that Jonesâ love and passion for music began to take shape, as he was influenced by his mother as well as his brothers.Â
âMy brothers both rapped and my mom even made music back in the dayâ, he said. âThe technology and all of the equipment was there at all times, always at my disposal.â
âMy family was probably the biggest influence on getting me to make music. My mom always wanted me to get on the mic, my brothers were always around it and the technology was always there. If it wasnât for them, I wouldnât actually be making the music.â
Early on, Jones wasnât making the type of music he is today. He wasnât rapping or creating beats. Instead, he got his start in a more traditional way, learning how to play the saxophone and the viola and performing in his schoolâs band and orchestra from elementary school through high school.Â
It was playing the saxophone as opposed to the viola that gave Jones enjoyment early on though.Â
âI never practiced it,â Jones said of playing the viola. âI loved playing the saxophone, so I didnât have to practice it because when I was there, I was paying attention. With the viola, I was bad at it because even when I was there, I didnât like it, so I wasnât even paying attention. I dreaded going, so I wasnât even that good at it.â
Jones has continued to expand the amount of instruments he plays, learning to play the bass guitar and teaching himself how to play the drums, while just recently taking piano lessons.
By playing these instruments and by learning about music in more of a classroom setting, Jones said that he was able to develop his rhythm and his ear, while also gaining knowledge in music theory, all skills he still uses today.Â
Eventually, his interests began to lead him down a different path as he began to experiment with the computer software that he saw his brothers use to make beats.Â
In fact, it was his brother that gave him a quick tutorial on how to use Logic Pro, a digital audio workstation. Jonesâ knowledge and experience with the software soon began to grow and as he began to receive compliments on the beats he was creating, he admits that he became addicted.Â
As the years went on, Jonesâ passion for music never waned , but he wasnât exactly sure what he was going to do after high school, electing not to take his SATs at first and originally, not even planning to attend college.Â
After influence from his friends, however, Jones decided to attend Susquehanna, the closest university to his house. Here, heâs created his own major, which wasnât the easiest process either, as he didnât declare a major until his junior year.
Ultimately, heâs now begun his path towards a degree in audio media studies, which allows him to take courses in both the communications and music departments such as video and audio production in addition to music theory type classes.
It was also at Susquehanna that Jones began to transform into the artist he is today.Â
âI started really making beats when I was a sophomore,â he said. âBut then Iâm a junior and I didnât have anyone to work with because I didnât have anyone good enough to give my beats to. I had these beats and I had a lot of them, but I didnât have anything to do with them. And I didnât want to sell them.â
To come up with a solution for his problem, Jones decided to start rapping. Taking on the name âAndy the Chefâ, Jones has hit the ground running, writing and producing his first song known as âThe Cityâ, which was released in January 2019.Â
Following the release of his first single, Jones continued to hone his craft and create new music, as he then released his first full album.
âThen I put out âThe Chefâ, which is only a half hour long and a 10 song album just to prove that I could make songs for real,â he said. âEvery single beat and every single sound on that album was produced by me, mixed and mastered from the first sound that you hear until the last sound that you hear. I recorded it in my own space, mixed it on my own laptop, made the beats from scratch.â
Since then, Jones has refused to take his foot off the gas, releasing more singles such as âThe Hillsâ and âNeed itâ in addition to another album known as âOf Course. No Question.â. In total, he said that heâs released 28 songs this year.
âIâm most proud of just every single song that Iâve put out,â he said. âEven if a song isnât released, Iâm just like âyes, letâs goâ. Because itâs just growth. Because the more you do anything, the better youâre going to get at it.â
Through this growth, Jones has also stayed true to himself.Â
While others who gain a bit of success and some sort of fame may change or conform to the needs and wants of their audience and of society, Jones remains focused on what he wants to do, making the type of music that fulfills his passion and his drive.Â
âUsually, I make music for myself,â he said. âSo when I make a song, Iâm not thinking about what anybody else is going to like, what anybody else is going to get out of this. Iâm not thinking about what anybody else is going to listen, or hear, or imagine. Iâm thinking about myself and what did I go through, what do I like to listen to, what sounds that I like.â
At the same time, however, Jones realizes that thereâs âcurrentsâ and âtrendsâ in music as he called them and thereâs a reason why certain styles of music become popular at a certain time. So while he takes notice of these trends and is influenced by the endless amounts of music that he listens to, Jones is more so trying to be a trend rather than follow a trend.Â
This idea of becoming a trend is one of Jonesâ goals and itâs this topic that truly brings the emotion, passion and excitement out of the young rapper.Â
âThe plan is to start doing shows,â he said. âGet more and more people at the shows and thatâll gauge my audience and then Iâm trying to just have as many people listening to my music as I can. A talent thatâs not shared isnât a talent.â
âMe, I just love when other people are sharing my experience,â he added. âSo if I could have that feeling with so many people, like hundreds and thousands of people in a crowd. I just want a sold out crowd like at MSG, just all singing the words to my song in unison. Thatâs my goal.â
To achieve such lofty goals, hard work and dedication will need to remain constants for Jones. Itâs not uncommon to find Jones working late into the night at the recording studio at Susquehanna or even falling asleep in the studio.Â
Itâs this type of drive and hunger that has led Jones to where he is now and thereâs no reason to believe that heâll slow down anytime soon. Not only is it not in his nature, but itâs essentially what his stage name represents. Itâs who he is. Itâs all he knows.
âI contemplated [using the name âAndy the Chefâ] and went back-and-forth, but then I started feeling like I was outworking people,â he said. âSo I came up with this slogan that says that everybodyâs trying to eat, but not everyoneâs going to cook. Everyoneâs trying to eat, everyone wants the food on their plate, but not everyoneâs going to cook for it. You have to be a chef.â