Andy Andersen and hi musical message: from Bullied to Brave

Welcome to Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide?
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world one story at a time. Hi, I'm Tony Mantur.
Welcome to Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide.
Joining us today is Andy Anderson, a dynamic artist whose
passion for music has carried him from a challenging childhood
to international stages. Overcoming bullying and insecurity, Andy found his
voice through music competing on IDOL in Belgium as well
as Britain's Got Talent and Belgium's God Talent. He released
the twenty fourteenth cover of I Am What I Am
and his new single I'm Unstoppable, a powerful reflection on
his journey of self acceptance. Andy continues to inspire with
his message of hope and resilience. Let's dive into his
incredible story. Thanks for joining us today, Thank you for
having me. Oh it's my pleasure. So if you would
give us a little information about yourself.
Well, what do you want to know? Because it's a
whole story.
I think that your story starts that you was bullied
as a child in school.
Yes, as a child, pretty much from six years old
till like about sixteen years old. I've been bullied in
school and not only verbal but also sometimes physical. So
that left me with no self esteem whatsoever.
Yes, that can be very tough. So what did you
do from there?
I worked really hard to myself.
Yeah, since I was six years old, I was always
dreaming about.
Thinking and being on a stage. I took what happened with.
Me and instead of going under, I took it to
grow and to become the person I am today. And
I wanted to reflect in my music and to inspire
other people as well.
I think that's really good that you want to use
your platform to help others. So tell us what you
learned going through your early years and then through your
formative years, then ultimately getting out of school so that
you could use what you went through to help others.
Wow, that's a good question.
It's hard working on yourself physically and mentally.
You know, physically.
I was overweight, so I started dieting and eating properly,
but also mentally working on yourself and that's a little
bit a spiritual way, as I say, like meditating, like
following courses to get and to build self esteem, to
get things together, to resolve.
Traumas from your past and stuff like that. So that's
basically that.
Yeah, so did you get any professional help at all?
Sometimes you can make change as far as weight and
diet and all that, but you need to get some
outside help to handle the thought process of everything. So basically,
physical looks can be changed relatively easily over a period
of time, that deep seated mental thought process sometimes takes
some other help. How did you approach that?
Well?
I read a lot of self help books, and I
went to a lot of courses, like meditating courses or
like more workshops and stuff like that, and try to figure.
It out what works for me.
Sense.
What I can say is like I always compare it
to a scar.
On your skin.
It fades with the years, but it's still there sometimes,
you know, Like people always think of me when they
see me performing. When they see me, they always think like,
oh my god, he has so much self esteem. But
you know, sometimes that little kid that has been bullied
is sometimes still there. You know.
It's it's it's it's it's.
Constantly every day working on yourself and improving yourself, and yeah, mentally.
It's it's it's yeah, it's it's not that easy.
You know. You can say it like you say it like, physically,
you can work out and you can change and that's
pretty much easy if you do the work every day,
you go to the gym and you do your workout.
And you stick to your diet, it's pretty easy. But
mentally it's yeah, that's that's the only challenge I must say.
But I think a lot of people, especially today, are
dealing with those things.
So that's why it's so important for.
Me that when I do a song or when I
put music out that there is a positive message in it,
because I want to inspire people, like I'm in it
today and still today, even today, I have to work
on myself and I have to not every day is
like a walk in the sunshine.
You know, you have clothing days as well.
So but it's not important how many times you fall,
but it's important how many times you get up again,
you know, and show some resilience.
That's a great point. Never give up, just keep getting up.
You said you wanted to do music at an early age.
What age was it that you actually started doing your music.
That was pretty much after high school, because I was
like five six years old and I was already singing
and in school plays and stuff like that. But then
because of being bullied, I get pretty much into myself
and I didn't have any self esteem to get on
a stage and to sing and to perform.
So it started pretty much after high school.
Slowly I was losing weight, I was working on myself,
and slowly, step by step I picked it up again,
and I started taking singing class and vocal coachings again.
Then I entered some singing contests local singing contests started locally,
and then came television shows and from so on I
worked my way today.
That's great, that's a good way of building. Now I
understand you started out doing some of those contests in Belgium,
Is that correct?
Yes, First there was in two thousand and one there
was a show called pop Stars where they were searching
for different kind of people to put up a band.
And then in two thousand and three Idols came on
television like pretty everywhere in the world. I entered the
competition and I went through to the live shows and
to the last twenty finalists. So that was a big
thing because suddenly, overnight I was recognizable on the street.
It was very crazy because it was very It was
the first time they aired that show, and it was
a very.
Popular and successful show.
From that time on, I had a lot of gigs
and performances and I worked with several producers and stuff
like that. But big, big, big, biggest success wasn't there yet.
Yeah, it takes time to get where you want to go.
So how long was it after that that you went
on Britain's Got Talent.
Britain's Got Talent was in two thousand and six teen.
I guess, I want to do something big, and I
want to do a television competition again. But I want
a big competition, so I thought, you know what, I'm
gonna enter in Britain's Got Talent and till my surprise,
there were a lot of pre selections, harder than in Belgium,
I must say.
But I went through to the television shows and in.
Front of the famous Britain's Got Talent jury, So that
was quite an experience.
That's great. So how far did you go into it?
Did it go well for you?
Unfortunately?
I think timing wasn't a big me so it ended there,
But for me it was a big How I can
I say it? It was really quite big experience for me.
It was a nice experience for me, and I learned
a lot from it because there were a tough selection rounds.
Well, that happens, for sure. Sometimes some of the very
best things that happen are those things that don't happen
because you get to learn from it, you get experienced
from it, you move forward with a new outlook because
of what you went through on that show. So being
on it learning from it, that's really what you was
meant to get from it. So that's a good thing.
Yeah, that's true, that's true.
So what's next. You've learned from the shows, You've gained
more experience, what are you doing now? What's on the horizon.
Well, then after that, pretty much I stayed busy with music.
I was working here and there with the producer or songwriter,
someone who has a song and I recorded it, but
for a few lives on social media it wasn't worth anymore.
So I was in a time that I didn't even
know it anymore.
I was like, what else can I do to stay
involved in music and to pursue my dream And I
was pretty much in a sort music burnout a little bit.
I was like, I always said I'm never gonna give
up on pursuing my dreams, but if I admit.
I was almost giving it up.
I was like, I did a lot of things independent
as an independent artist, but what people doesn't know is
that for putting one song out there, it takes a lot.
You know. People always were asking me, oh, why don't
you put a new single out there? And I was like, Okay,
I have to do everything. I have to arrange the video,
I have arranged studio, a producer, and I had to
financially pay for it all. You know, It's a lot
for one song out there. So I was like, it
doesn't work anymore. For a few likes on social media.
Then at the end of last year, I was at
the party and I've met Carolina Julini and she was
the brain and the force behind the nineties girl band
dev Dims Dope, who were huge here in bell and
I knew she was involved in music, and she knew
that I was involved in music. So we started talking
to each other how things goes and stuff like that,
and I was telling her my story that basically I
didn't know what to do, what's next, and stuff like that.
And a few weeks later I got a.
Call from her and she was like, what do you
think if we work together? So I have a record
label and management label, so I want to work with you.
And so the journey started again. A new fresh, positive
energy entered my life and she arranged everything like the studio.
She contacted the producer Seymour and it clicked immediately. And
I had those lyrics from my song written about ten
years ago, and that song is basically very howto biographically
and with a positive message that I'm unstoppable. So I
talked to Carolina like, look, I have those lyrics from
ten years ago, still from ten years ago, and the
producer Simolar liked the two and says like, hey, we
can work with that. And so ten years later the
song came to life. Here I am today promoting the
single I'm Unstoppable.
That's a really good thing to hear. If you talk
with anybody just made it in this music business, they
will always tell you that it was an overnight success
ten or fifteen or twenty years later. Yeah, so here
you are ten years later with your song. How did
it feel. You've been through all these emotions and now
you're in the studio, you're working on your song. It's
all coming together, and now you're out here promoting something.
So how did that feel? What was your emotions?
Yeah, that's crazy, you know. It's like I had those lyrics.
I had those lyrics in my head and those melodies
in my head. Over the years, I tried to contact
some producers to make something out of it, but it
wasn't just that it never felt that good. It wasn't
what I wanted, and the producers similar came with an arrangement.
I found it pretty cool, and so it was a
little bit surial that like lyrics that I wrote ten
years ago became suddenly my new single, you know. And
I was also surprised that as well as a producer
as well as Carolina were really supportive and behind that
message of that song. You know, this message has to
be heard, so they were really supportive as well. So
that's important for an artist like me who has a
message to tell, I can be myself as an artist.
You know that thought.
It was very important for me that I have to
say in it and that my lyrics finally gets some recognition.
Yes, absolutely, let's dive into your song just a little bit. Yes,
if you would expand to the listeners and give them
the meaning behind the song that you recorded.
Well, you literally hear my story from early age on
people I've been bullied. You hear this literally in the
song I've been bullied, I've been oppressed.
But also like people are very judgmental. If you want to.
Pursue your dreams and you go for it, then get
easily a lot of criticism of other people. I was like,
you can criticize me, but did you already looked in
the mirror.
You know you're not perfect as well, and we're all human.
We're all human and we all want to do our
best and try to do our best with what we have.
So Basically, the song says like you can judge me,
you can bully me, you can bring me down, but
take that and instead of going under, it makes me
stronger and it makes me more determined to be unstoppable
and to pursue the dream and to show the world
like what I've built up from.
So, in closing, what would you like to tell people
that are listening to tell them about you? What you
think it can be about music, about your life? What
do you think is very important that they should hear
about what you're doing well?
I hope for me that the lyrics and the messages
of my songs are most importantly for me. I grew
up and my idol was Mariah Carey. Mariah Carey is
also a great songwriter. If I hear a song, I
listened first to the lyrics. Mariah Carey had a lot
of songs with positive messages to be strong and to
overcome things, and her music literally saved my life when
I was a teenager. You know, those lyrics put me
on and she inspired me to be an artist like that.
I literally want to inspire people everywhere who have a rough.
Time in their lives. You're not alone.
Everybody's having some rough time, sometimes get up and fight
for it, fight for your dreams, fight for your life
and make something out of it.
You know, let's all get together.
I love also to bring like positive lyrics with a
good dance beat, because I always say when I perform,
I'll always say, like, be nice to have a good
time together and to dance and to party together.
Then bringing each shut down.
Be positive, be open minded, and let's all celebrate life
instead of and supporting each other instead.
Of bringing shut it down.
And I hope that my messages reach people and can
inspire people to do that.
I think that's a really great way of looking at things.
You've got a really good platform, you can help people
with your lyrics. You've got lived experience, so you're very relatable. Yeah,
I think you're doing everything the right way. Now, tell
us what do you see in your future? What's the
plan for the next three, four or five years?
Ooh, that's a big question, if I have to say
in it, I.
Aim for the moon and higher than that. I've learned
to take things step by step, So for me, this
is a new beginning.
It feels like a new beginning, like a new single,
a personal one with a personal message, but we are
already talking about a second one, and from there on
we see how it goes.
If I can dream a bit.
In five years, I toured around the world and inspire
a lot of people and bring a lot of joy
with my music. And I've learned to take it step
by step and building on the next step, you know,
building a foundation, and then from there out we're going
to the next step, and from there we see what's
the next step.
Sometimes life isn't that predictable, you.
Know, So yes, absolutely, life can definitely be upside down
at times. So with that said, let's take a brief
moment here and play part of your song for everybody
to hear. Here's Andy Anderson. I'm unstoppable.
They can help me, they can judge me, but did
they ever take a look into the mirror.
I am shattered but not broken. But I can take
it because.
I'm a winner. Here, Ryan standing after Roddy's store, Just
steal our lies. Here, Ryan standing after Roddy's Store, Just
steal a r.
I'm stopping ball.
I'm stop the ball. I'm stopping them stop a ball.
I'm stop the ball.
I'm stopping.
I'm stopping ball. I'm stopping the.
That's Andy Anderson's song I'm Unstoppable one that he wrote
ten years ago. Great song. I really like it, so again,
if you would expand on the meaning behind that song
and why you wrote it.
What was going through my mind? Oh my god, Like
why are people so cruel? I'm always being a gentle being,
you know, and I can't understand why people do such
things to each other. It's like, why why did they
do that? And even because there was it was not
only with words but verbal but also sometimes physical, and
even then, I didn't want to fight back. I didn't
want to hurt I didn't want to hurt someone. It's
it's it's really crazy how I thought that that time.
But yeah, what was going through my mind, like what why.
Do people such thing?
You know?
It's like I can't grasp it in my mind.
Yeah, I get that. So with everything that you're doing,
you must have people at times that will come up
to you and tell you how your music or your
lyrics or what you're doing has inspired them to change
their life some Yes, yes.
That's the beautiful part of it. Yeah, that's the beautiful
part of it. Like I can remember when I was
performed a few years ago on the Pride in Here
in Belgium and Antwerp. I always and my set with
my version of I Am what I Am, because that
song tells it all. Afterwards, a young guy to me.
He was seventeen, and he came to me and he
was all in tears and he said, like, you know,
I was thinking of taking my own life tonight, he said,
And I saw you performing and you are such a
force on the stage. You're free, you express yourself, and
you had such a strong message and you gave me
hope again. And I was like, oh my god, I
was in tears too.
Then I was like I didn't know that.
And I get sometimes several messages from other people too.
That's very special. That's maintain why I do those things,
you know, to inspire someone. That's most beautiful thing there
is as an artist.
So now in closing, if you could tell people how
they can find.
You, well it's very easy. It's Andy Anderson music. So
on Facebook, it's Andy Anderson music. On Instagram it's Andy
anders music. But I think with underscores, but it's always
Andy Andersen music.
Well, this has really been good. I appreciate you taking
the time to come and join us on our show today.
I'm very grateful for that.
It's been my pleasure. Thanks again, thanks for taking time
out of your busy schedule to listen to our show today.
We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed
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