Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows on his homecoming gig next week
The drummer, who is set to play Southampton's 02 Guildhall on Saturday, April 26, as part of the band's latest UK headline tour, grew up in Winchester and has childhood memories of watching gigs and appearing at the venue.
It's the opening night of the tour and the excitement is building for Burrows, who joined We Are Scientists during Razorlight's ten year hiatus and has also written for Tom O'Dell and Editors.
He told the Daily Echo: "I haven't lived in Winchester for a long time. I moved out when I was 23 and I'm 45 now. But it will always be home to me.
"We don't have a family home there any more, but quite a lot of family and friends are still there. It always feels amazing to come home whatever you're doing, but to play nearby is so special.
"I think playing locally with Razorlight will be particularly special as it feels good to be part of something that got pretty big when I just think of myself as the teenager who played percussion at the Guildhall with the Hampshire County Youth Band.
"I've loved the venue since I saw Blur touring Modern Life is Rubbish there at my first gig when I was 13."
Andy, one of the sons of well-known Winchester GP Frank Burrows, attended the Westgate School and Peter Symonds College.
He was there when Razorlight formed in 2002, the band going on to perform worldwide and produce massive hits including America, a UK number one.
The band split a few years after Andy departed in 2009. Him, Johnny Borrell, Bjorn Agren and Carl Dalemo reformed in 2021 and promise more musical adventures to come. He co-wrote the soundtrack to The Snowman and The Snowdog with Ilan Eshkeri, which was nominated for a BAFTA.
Now a dad of two girls, he lives in the Cotswolds with his family.
Tickets from academymusicgroup.com
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Um, and yeah, I didn't want any inflammatory content to be like, if I can't stand behind it, I'm gonna say no. Um, I wasn't in that scarcity mindset or desperate to say yes to everything just because they wanted me. I really want things to feel aligned and, you know, that could have been a risk for sure if I was pushing. Too hard and someone was like, well, she's, you know, if she's saying no to these projects, like, there's nothing else. I'm like, I don't think that there's nothing else. And I actually think that I can do anything you put me in, and, and that's something I chose for myself. I asked myself like, OK, what do you think you're capable of? And I was like, when I kept going down the types of roles and the genres, I was like, all of them, I can do drama, I can do sci-fi, I can do horror, I love action, you can even put me in period pieces, which I haven't done yet, but would love to, um. I, I just thought, you know, if our job is to be a storyteller, I don't think the body that we're born with and the shell that we are, should be a reason to not book something. I think it's who we are as human, it's our experience, it's our culture, it's our roots, it's our family, our nurture or nature. All of that is what makes us great storytellers, not just what we look like. Uh, just as much as I love being Latina representation, I also don't just want to be typecast or boxed in. I want to play all kinds of roles. It's about the humanity, the story, and the depth, not just the ethnicity or appearance. I believe being authentic in that is really important. That's what makes us great storytellers, not just our look. Uh, just as much as I love being Latina representation, I also don't just want to be boxed in. Latina. I just want to be a human that's a part of a show, and she just happens to be Latina, not just because she's Latina. And so I think I've been able to kind of discuss all of this and, and being successful at it when you look at my repertoire and my, my. My aim to be, I guess it's like I've been able to kind of do a bit of all of that, and it was a choice I made whether the industry wanted it or not. I mean, that's another question, but seems like they do. That's why I keep telling people I'm like, don't let anyone box you and they don't know what they want even. You need to show them who you are. I mean right now you're a Netflix queen because We're besties. They're so obsessed with me. They're just obsessed with Ginny and the Waterfront, which I think at one point was like #1 and #2. So like, literally people were sending me that screenshot, and I was like, what can I tell you guys, you know, they can't get enough of me. And then you shut off the TV and you go play your video games, and there I am. You go listen to your audiobook, there I am. Sorry. I hope you enjoy my voice. Um, let's start with Ginny and Georgia because I think that show is, I mean, what a riot, and some of those lines are, are amazing. What's it like to be on such a strong ensemble cast, because I know that there's a lot of effort kind of placed on, you know, Ginny and Georgia and those characters, but I think what's so impressive about that show is that everyone is really at the top of their game and there are so many characters to love. When we all got cast for season one, we weren't this big yet. I think the show really took a chance on great talent. And 90% of our cast is Canadian. There's something to say about the gifted people that are artists here in Canada. I'm so grateful that it's shot here and people almost started being like, oh, that was shot in Toronto? Oh my God, those are Canadian actors, and it's just, it was such a sense of pride that I'm like, some of these Canadian actors like Sarah Weislass and Chelsea and like they've all been in shows like Degrassi and they were like in these other kind of iconic Canadian shows. And now they got to. You know, show their chops on these big platforms, and everybody grew together, including Brianne and Antonia, who, like, they didn't have a lot of body of work before this. It was like everyone really came in to show up because, I mean the story, the scripts were incredible. I remember reading every time we had a read through, we were like this is amazing. This is like, is this gonna blow up? Like, is this gonna be like one of those shows? Um, we really had no idea until we saw the response to season one and then we were like. Oh yeah, and it's only getting better. I don't know how they do it, but every season just keeps getting better and better and better. They're finding they have amazing creators like, it's just the writing and Sarah Lampert's mind. I mean, I'm so proud of her. I remember her being like, I was 30 and depressed writing the show on my couch, and it was my first time pitching to Netflix. She really had nothing to lose but everything to gain and it's so incredible, such a big lesson on, like, right from what you know and right with what makes you fired up and take a risk, just go for it, because there may be millions of people who are gonna want to watch it. What's it like to collaborate with Sarah in particular cause the storyline between your two characters I think is so great. We hit it off right from the start, um, you know, I think for Sarah this was like a very new, uh, just like a new experience as an actor that she had to have a love interest who's female and like she had never gone there. And I think we had to trust each other a lot. We had to make sure that we were on the same page. Um, so grateful we had intimacy coordinators and so many females on set that we could turn to, uh, so that we felt protected and taken care of and, and we were allowed to play so much, um. You know, we had the privilege of shooting season one outside of COVID. So we all got really close through that first season. We'd go out and have parties and hang out and then things changed and they shifted because once COVID came, we had to kind of be like separated. We couldn't really interact, we couldn't hang out anymore. But thank goodness we had that first year to like solidify those connections. And, you know, obviously now with season 3, like we were able to kind of be more free and Like it's all in the past, but what a whirlwind with the cast. Everyone has really grown up together. Um, some more than others. We know that Diesel was like this tiny little thing and I was taller than everybody on set. Um, it's just really cool, like we all kind of grew up with each other, and it's such a tight knit family. The Waterfront. So when there's a show with Kevin Williamson somewhere, you're just like, I have to say yes, yes. Yes, I mean, oh my God, the second I knew that he was the writer, like producer, I was like, Kevin Williamson, like I'm a huge horror fan. I watch all, like, you know, Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer. He did Dawson's Creek, and the fact that he is a North Carolina native and he wanted to shoot this there. I knew that that was going to be such a beautiful, personal project for him. Um, Marcosieega was also producing and was directing the first, uh, like the pilot episode, I think the first two. That's all I got told, really. But when I saw the team, I saw that it was like Universal Studios for Netflix. I was like, okay, and then they have Holt McCallany and Maria Bello cast. And then I heard that my chemistry read was gonna be with Jake Weary, who's also an incredible actor. I was just like, I mean, guys, yes. And my only hesitation was like, oh well, like, I got in my own head about being Latina and I'm like, do I fit into this North Carolina fishing family, and like I was like, how, how does a Latina end up there? I don't even know, but I could be, and, um, you know, Kevin let me know that they always intended Jenna to be Latina, which is amazing. So really, without knowing, I had a bit of a leg up and they really did want me. Um, Jake and I were the only two actors who did a chemistry read over Zoom. reads that once I hung up the call, I was like, I don't know who else it could be. I'm sorry, but that was like the best chemistry of my life, and it was only through Zoom. If we have that much chemistry through a computer, like please put cameras in front of us, we'll show you, and it was exactly that, like it was such a seamless relationship like from day one it was just so great to work with actors who know what they're doing, who trust their choices, who are so generous and kind, because it renders this, it's what you saw on screen just great relationships, great acting, so much fun, soapy fun. When you know you're reading a script or you're seeing a breakdown of a character or you're seeing something, is there something that you've kind of identified or, like, if there's this or if I can see this, then I'm really excited to do it. For me, if the lines come easy to me, I can read a script once and remember the lines completely because it means that it had clear intentions and I was understanding everything that was happening. Um, so that excites me. It means that the writing is fluid, that they really thought this out, all the beats and everything, and, um, if I read it for the first time and I get goosebumps or I have an emotional connection to it, instantly, I'm excited because if that's my first instinct from a cold read, then it means that there's so much in there I can work with. And that's usually how I work. I mean, it doesn't really, I don't struggle with learning the material, um, but I do work from instinct, and if it doesn't fire me up from the inside, I'm like, then there's something that's missing. And so my instinct is my compass, my body like. I think I can read something and I'm exposed to something and it instantly hits. It's like when they say goosebumps don't lie. When you listen to a song or you watch something and you're instantly emotional, it's like our bodies know when something connects, and I've learned to really listen to that, and that's how I work on set. Whether it's from the first time I read a script to going to film the scene, it was a very instant thing, and, um, for me, for Jenna and the Waterfront, the first and last scenes were my audition scenes. And it was so intense. Like, literally, I think I learned the material that same day I shot it, and I was in San Diego about to go into my Comic Con panel. It was such a rushed thing in a hotel room with my co-star, but I was like, wow, the material just came so easy and it was so fun. That I said to myself, look, even at my worst, this is still my best. I think it's pretty good. Before I let you go, is there something on your bucket list that's like, Oh, if I have the opportunity to do this, I'm gonna be really excited. Oh, listen, I want to do a musical movie. Um, I auditioned for In the Heights, and I actually got to meet John M. Chu over Zoom. It was a really cool callback. Uh, Melissa Barrera ended up getting that role and she's incredible. And I'm even honored that I got to go out for something that big, shot in New York. I mean, that's my dream. It was like, Lin-Manuel Miranda, anything he touches, it's gold. I would love to be in a musical movie. I hope that it can also be with like Latin roots in some way. And listen, if it's not out there, maybe I'm just gonna have to write it. Maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda wants to collab. Maybe it'll have to do with Venezuela, which hasn't been done. We have such a rich culture in music, uh, specifically gaita, which is our Christmas music, and I've always had this like, like I, I envision it, seeing gaitas on screen, which I haven't yet. So yeah, maybe it's something I have to create, but um I love singing and that's my first love and to do a musical movie, which is just like, uh, just like so wholesome, you know, we just got Wicked and it did so well and I'm like it would be so fun to be a part of that.
