Andy Bull is an Australian
alt-pop
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
singer-songwriter and producer, based in Sydney. He is best known for his singles "Dog", "Keep on Running" and "Baby I Am Nobody Now"; as well as his prolific Australian touring.
Bull also provides the singing voice to animated character, Jay, in the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
original cartoon series ''
Beat Bugs
''Beat Bugs'' is an animated children's television series, created by Josh Wakely, and produced for Netflix by Grace: A Storytelling Company and Thunderbird Entertainment since 2016. The series is centred around five young anthropomorphised ins ...
''.
Career
2004–2009: Early years and ''We're Too Young''
Bull began performing in and around Sydney in the early 2000s. He signed to
Island Records, a part of
Universal Music Australia, in 2007. He supported
Joss Stone on her Australian tour later that year. Bull release a 7" single of "We're Too Young", followed by "Small Town Girl," was released in August 2008. It was also released as a part of a four-track self-titled EP; which featured three original songs and a cover of "A Man Needs a Maid" by
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...
.
Bull's debut album, ''We're Too Young'', was released in August 2009.
A music video was made for "Young Man," the third single from the album. Bull toured extensively in support of the album throughout the rest of 2008 and 2009, notably joining
Tim Finn
Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowd ...
's national tour as an opening act, performing solo. He also opened for a
MySpace secret show in Sydney featuring
Duffy that same year.
In May 2009, Bull toured in support of
Lisa Mitchell
Lisa Helen Mitchell (born 22 March 1990) is an Australian singer-songwriter who grew up in Albury, New South Wales. Mitchell currently lives in Melbourne and is working on her fourth studio album. Mitchell finished sixth in the 2006 season o ...
's Australian tour, prior to the July release of her debut album ''
Wonder
Wonder most commonly refers to:
* Wonder (emotion), an emotion comparable to surprise that people feel when perceiving something rare or unexpected
Wonder may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional entities
* The Wonders, a fictional band ...
'', fomenting Bull and Mitchell's friendship, which would lead to their collaboration on Bull's song "Dog" the following year.
2010–11: ''Phantom Pains''
In 2010, Bull began writing new material after relocating to
Surry Hills
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...
. He was inspired to record a duet with Lisa Mitchell after performing a cover of
Madonna's "
Like a Prayer" with her and
Lanie Lane at Sydney's
Enmore Theatre
The Enmore Theatre is a theatre and entertainment venue in Sydney, Australia. It was built in 1908. It is located at 118–132 Enmore Road in Newtown, in the inner west of Sydney's suburbs. It was first opened in 1912 as a photo-play theatre. I ...
during Mitchell's headlining performance at the venue. The resulting song was "Dog". Its popularity resulted in being featured in the
Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...
of 2010, charting at number 68.
"Dog," along with five other new songs, featured on Bull's ''Phantom Pains'' EP. He played piano, guitar and drums on the EP. He was also joined by former
Red Riders
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
guitarist Adrian Deutsh and Deep Sea Arcade/Tim Finn drummer Carlos Adura, as well as Deep Sea Arcade bassist Nick Weaver. Along with Mitchell, the EP also featured special guests Little Red and
Hungry Kids of Hungary
Hungry Kids of Hungary (often shortened to HKOH) were an Australian four-piece indie pop band from Brisbane, Queensland. The band consisted of Dean McGrath (lead vocals, guitar), Kane Mazlin (lead vocals, keys), Ben Dalton (bass guitar, vocals) ...
as Bull's backing band on the songs "Nothing to Lose" and "Last Waltz," respectively. A music video was made for the EP's title track,
in which a man cuts off his thumb in order to get workplace compensation. The EP artwork was painted by Bull, and features a depiction of his left hand with a severed thumb.
In October 2010, Bull joined
Clare Bowditch
Clare Bowditch (born 1975) is an Australian musician, actress, radio presenter and business entrepreneur.
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2006, Bowditch won the ARIA Award for Best Female Artist and was nominated for a Logie Award for her work on ...
's national tour for a series of stops as her opening act, joining
Augie March
Augie (sometimes spelled Auggie) is a nickname for variations of the name August, which derives from the Latin name Augustus. It may refer to:
People
* Augie Auer (1940–2007), meteorologist
* Augie Galan (1912–1993), Major League Baseball p ...
frontman Glenn Richards. For these dates, he was joined by Slow Down Honey guitarist Alex Bennison. Bull and Bennison did a small headlining tour in the following weeks, and later joined Canadian singer-songwriter
Dan Mangan
Daniel Mangan (born April 28, 1983) is a Canadian musician. He has won two Juno awards and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia, having released 5 studio LPs and numerous EPs and singles. He has scored for featur ...
on the New South Wales leg of his national tour in January 2011. He also headed out on a headlining tour of the east coast with Melbourne singer
Owl Eyes
Brooke Addamo (born 2 January 1991), better known by her stage name Owl Eyes, is an Australian recording artist from Melbourne signed to the Illusive / Wunderkind Label with distribution through Universal Music Group. She released her debut s ...
, titled the Bulls Eye Tour, in February.
Shortly after this, the second and final single from ''Phantom Pains'' was announced as "Last Waltz". Bull, Bennison and new drummer Dave Jenkins, Jr. (also of Slow Down Honey, Young Romantics,
Reece Mastin
Reece Mastin (born 24 November 1994) is an English-born Australian singer and songwriter who won the third season of ''The X Factor Australia'' in 2011. Mastin subsequently signed with Sony Music Australia. His debut single " Good Night" reac ...
and Kirin J Callinan) visited the
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...
studios on 24 March 2011, to perform the song acoustically as a part of the station's "
Like a Version" segment. The trio also performed a cover of
Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new ...
' "
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 22 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury ...
."
The segment and rendition were popularly received, and were later voted by a Triple J listener poll into the top five 'Like a Version' segments for 2011.
On 28 February 2011, Bull was a special guest on Channel 10 comedy panel show ''
Good News Week
''Good News Week'' is an Australian satirical panel game show hosted by Paul McDermott that aired from 19 April 1996 to 27 May 2000, and 11 February 2008 to 28 April 2012. The show's initial run aired on ABC until being bought by Network Ten ...
''. As one of the clues in deciphering a news story from the week, he performed a piano-based version of the
Sex Pistols song "
God Save the Queen
"God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, bu ...
."
In early March 2011, Bull was also a part of a campaign for Australian tourism called "Making Tracks," in which he was paired with Taiwanese classical musician Irene Chan, from the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. The pair travelled to South Australia and the Northern Territory, in particular
Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...
and
Kings Canyon. The campaign involved a musical experiment, in which the two collaborated on a piece of music that reflected their journey. The video documentation of this has had over 100 thousand hits on YouTube.
Following this tour, Bull was asked to join his friends Hungry Kids of Hungary on their final Australian tour in support of their debut album, ''Escapades''. Each night of the tour would see Bull performing with his band, as well as performing "Last Waltz" with
Hungry Kids of Hungary
Hungry Kids of Hungary (often shortened to HKOH) were an Australian four-piece indie pop band from Brisbane, Queensland. The band consisted of Dean McGrath (lead vocals, guitar), Kane Mazlin (lead vocals, keys), Ben Dalton (bass guitar, vocals) ...
during their headlining sets.
In June 2011, Bull played solo in support of
Joshua Radin
Joshua Radin (born June 14, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter. He has recorded nine studio albums, and his songs have been used in a number of films and TV series. His most successful album, '' Simple Times'', was released in 2008.
Beginni ...
's Australian tour. In August/September 2011, Bull and his band headlined the official Phantom Pains tour of Australia, twelve months after ''The Phantom Pains'' EP was released.. The tour included sold out shows at Good God in Sydney; the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne and The Spiegltent in Brisbane (as part of the 2011 Brisbane Festival).
In December 2011, Bull, Bennison and Jenkins performed at Your Festival in
Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...
, as well as three shows at the
Woodford Folk Festival
The Woodford Folk Festival is an annual music and cultural festival held near the semi-rural town of Woodford, north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the biggest annual cultural events of its type in Australia. Every year ap ...
in
Woodford, Queensland
Woodford is a rural town and locality in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Woodford had a population of 3,458 people.
The town is noted for the Woodford Folk Festival that takes place over the New Year hol ...
. At these shows, the trio performed a mix of new material and songs taken from ''Phantom Pains''.
2013–2019: ''Sea of Approval''
In February 2013, "Keep On Running" premiered on
Richard Kingsmill
Richard Kingsmill (born 29 January 1954) is an Australian radio announcer, music journalist and currently Group Music Director of triple j, triple j Unearthed, Double J and ABC Local Radio.
Career
His career at triple j started in 1988 as a p ...
's music show. Bull is credited with production, and all instruments but drums. A video was also released for the single, directed by Nelson Alves. In June 2013, Bull signed to US Record Label Republic Records.
In July 2013, "Baby I Am Nobody Now," was released. Bull is credited with production and all instruments. A video was also released for the single, again directed by Nelson Alves. It features cameos from ''A Rational Fear'' creator
Dan Ilic
Dan Ilic (born 20 November 1981) is an Australian presenter, comedian and filmmaker. Ilic has been known for his parody work, including videos and ''Beaconsfield: The Musical'', which he wrote, and more recently for his work on the show '' Hungr ...
and
Bluejuice
Bluejuice was an Australian band based in Sydney, active between 2000 and 2014. The group's final line-up consisted of lead vocalist Jake Stone, backing vocalist Stavros Yiannoukas, bassist Jamie Cibej and drummer James Hauptmann. The band rele ...
frontman Jake Stone. The singles were toured throughout Australia. Bull's backing bands for these tours featured Bennison, Adura, Jenkins,
Dappled Cities
Dappled Cities (formerly "Dappled Cities Fly") are an indie rock band from Sydney, Australia.
History 1997–2003
The band came together as teenagers in the northern suburbs of Sydney in 1997. Dave Rennick and original drummer Hugh Boyce wer ...
keyboardist Ned Cooke and former Hungry Kids of Hungary drummer Ryan Strathie.
Both "Keep on Running" and "Baby I am Nobody Now" featured in the
Triple J Hottest 100 of 2013 at number 57 and number 81, respectively. "Keep on Running" was also featured in the 2CD compilation CD from the countdown.
In May 2014, Bull confirmed details of his second studio album. The album, entitled ''Sea of Approval'', was released on 11 July 2014. The album features both "Keep on Running", "Baby I Am Nobody Now" and a third single, "Talk Too Much". The track was posted to
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...
later that day. A music video for the song was released on 3 July 2014. It featured TV presenter
John Mangos
John (born 9 July 1956) is an Australian news presenter.
Mangos has previously been a news presenter on Sky News Australia. He has also made cameo appearances on the Australian comedy programs ''Pizza (TV series), Pizza'', ''Swift and Shift C ...
and Australian singer-songwriter
Megan Washington
Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986) is an Australian musician and songwriter who has worked mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music, her style shifted to indie pop and alternative rock. She has released three ...
. The song was voted in at number 61 in the
Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Australian and alternative music of the y ...
. ''Sea Of Approval'' was released on vinyl in 2020.
2020–present: ''People You Love''
In November 2020, Bull released the single "It's All Connected". In October 2022, Bull released "Something I've Been Thinking" as the third single from this forthcoming third studio album, ''People You Love'', scheduled for release on 2 December 2022.
Discography
Albums
EPs
Singles
Awards and nominations
Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition
The
Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition
The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. The competition awards a ...
is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for
Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by
Albert Music
Albert Music, formerly J Albert and Son, is an Australian company with an estimated worth in 2009 of more than A$209 million. The company has major interests in music publishing and production and it earns significant royalties through its su ...
and
APRA AMCOS
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...
. It commenced in 2009.
, -
, 2014
, "Baby I Am Nobody Now"
, Encouragement Award
,
, -
Backing band members
;Current members
* Alex Bennison – guitar, vocals
(2010–present)
* Ryan Strathie – drums
(2013, 2015–present)
* Luke Hodgson – bass, vocals
(2015–present)
;Former members
* Carlos Adura – drums
(2009–2010, 2013–2014)
* Nick Weaver – bass
(2010)
* Dave Jenkins Jr. – drums, percussion
(2011–2013), bass
(2013, 2014)
* Ned Cooke – keyboards, synthesizers, sequencer, vocals
(2013–2015)
References
External links
*
*
Interview with Australian Music OnlineVibewire Gig Review3D World ArticleAndy Bull - IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bull, Andy
Australian rock singers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Island Records artists