Andy Dane Nye - Author

PARALLEL UNIVERSE

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Quite a few years

Andy thinks we all live many lives... although he points out that we can never be 100% certain that reincarnation is an actual thing. He says he also pointed it out when he was a latrine attendant at the court of King Hammurabi of Babylonia in the 2nd century BC. But he is 100% certain we inhabit parallel universes because, in addition to the one where he's an author, he also lives a rather interesting 'other' existence.

He entered both at coordinates uncannily similar to those of the maternity unit at Edgware General Hospital, London in your particular one, on 8th April 1959. He thinks it was a Wednesday.

Determined to make the most of this extraordinary stroke of good fortune - given the unimaginably huge improbability of it ever happening in the first place - and finding himself surrounded by a musical family, he set about expressing his gratitude by blowing air through various instruments as soon as he had enough to spare... and playing the piano on days when he didn't.

Keyboard

A planned classical music career adolescently migrated to a rock one, having realised he wasn't really expressing himself by playing other people's music... most of whom were dead anyway... and that he could now look forward to wearing far more interesting trousers.

This resulted in an extremely disappointed form tutor:

School Report

His parents weren't too pleased, either. Not that they were bothered about the trousers.

But they needn't have worried. Despite becoming a musician so that he wouldn't have to work, Andy found himself exceptionally busy.

Andy Nye

He toured the world alongside artists such as Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, The Scorpions, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Leo Sayer and, if you dig deep enough, the legendary Bay City Rollers. He has worked directly with the likes of Sheena Easton, Barbara Dickson, Toyah Willcox, Gerard Kenny, Dennis Waterman and even Princess Stephanie of Monaco, dutifully tickling their ivories for them... metaphorically speaking, of course. His recording career has had him collaborating & performing in the studio with everyone from John Entwistle of The Who to Jahn Teigen, Norway’s top singing artist and first ever scorer of ‘nil points’ in the Eurovision Song Contest. His extremely handsome face [citation needed] has been seen on iconic television programs ranging from the UK’s Top of the Pops to the USA’s Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin Shows. Sometimes, they even bothered to show his hands.

MSG logo

In his own right, and as a member of the Michael Schenker Group, he headlined Reading Festival, amongst many others... was chased through the streets of Tokyo by a mob of screaming fans... has accumulated a number of gold disks - of which he is extremely proud, and was voted 7th best keyboard player in the world by Music Life magazine… though he doesn’t think he’s that good.

MSG in Japan

(Andy's the one on the left showing off his towel)

A parallel career as a songwriter has seen his work covered by rock icon Roger Daltrey, multi-million selling supergroup Asia, Woodstock legends Ten Years After, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Zombies, revered vocalists Chris Farlowe and Colin Blunstone, as well as many of his own projects.

Drawing on his many years of touring experience [what a book that would make!] in 1995 he set up his own International Music Agency, with the aim of providing work to other artists that bettered the conditions they were sometimes expected to work under. He was soon approached by classic rock legends Wishbone Ash and asked to become their UK representative. He thought it rude to refuse.

Wishbone Ash

He's rather glad he didn't, as they've been with his agency now for over 20 years.

Still hungry to entertain live on stage, but tired of constantly travelling around the globe, he created and performed with PLATINUM - The Live ABBA Tribute Show, which he hoped would allow him to spend more time in one place. But it quickly established itself as one of the world’s top tribute acts... leading to him constantly travelling around the globe and never being in one place.

Finally... looking to grasp that missing "something" and eclipse all his other achievements... he started writing fiction... a combination of 12 chromatic notes no longer enough to express what he had to say. He wanted to create the sort of books he himself yearned to read... ones that entertained, amused, educated and inspired... all at the same time. Books that took you into a world you didn't want to leave... ones that left you a little wiser and warmer at the final page. As he himself says, "Having someone give up three minutes of their time to listen to your song is an honour. Having them devote numerous hours to reading your words is a massive responsibility".

Combining a lifetime's interest in all things creative, spiritual, scientific and even quantum, he has taken on his biggest challenge yet by putting what goes on in his head into print.

For the lovers of trivia... he also has a black belt and instructor’s qualification in Karate, is an ex world-record holder at five-a-side football, performed a citizen's arrest on an off-duty policeman, played the lead role of Chandler Tate in Alan Aykbourn’s Comic Potential at Wokingham Theatre, once inadvertently razed to the ground a two-storey building that happened to be next door to a fire station, and goes to bed each night praying that people find him moderately interesting enough to explore his books… and turn the moderately interesting into extremely interesting.