Andy Sturmer

Last updated
Andy Sturmer
Birth nameMarvin Andrew Sturmer [1]
Born (1965-03-11) March 11, 1965 (age 59) [1]
Los Angeles County, California, U.S. [2]
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
  • record producer
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • drums
  • guitar
  • keyboards
Years active1987–present
Labels

Marvin Andrew Sturmer (born March 11, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who co-founded the rock band Jellyfish in 1989. He was the group's lead vocalist, drummer, and primary songwriter. Following their break-up in 1994, Sturmer became involved with Tamio Okuda, as writer and producer for the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. Although Sturmer maintains a low public profile, he continues working as a songwriter for cartoons produced by Disney and Cartoon Network. [3]

Contents

Jellyfish

Sturmer attended Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California in the 1970s. [1] There, he was a drummer in the school's jazz band, and met keyboardist Roger Manning. Manning recalled of Sturmer: "I've never seen anyone of his age with that expertise and command of his instrument. Andy was one of the first kids in our town who took it seriously and had a goal. He was my hero." [3] They later joined the group Beatnik Beatch. When the band dissolved in 1988, Sturmer and Manning formed Jellyfish. [4] [3]

Jellyfish released two albums, Bellybutton (1990) and Spilt Milk (1993). Sturmer wrote all of the lyrics, but composed the music with Manning. [5] He had the rare distinction of not only being a drummer who regularly sang lead in a rock group, but also one who played a stand-up drum set at the front of the stage instead of sitting on a throne at the rear of the band. [6] [5] While their records earned critical praise and they toured the world several times, Jellyfish failed to meet commercial expectations, and intra-group friction led to Jellyfish's dissolution in early 1994. [7] [3]

In a May 1994 article published in the San Francisco Chronicle , it was reported that Sturmer and Manning would form new bands in the aftermath of Jellyfish. [8] Sturmer nearly released a solo album on Virgin Records before deciding against the proposal. [9] Manning later said, "It was a surprise to me that Andy chose the route he did. I felt sure he'd make solo albums of his own material, like [one unreleased] ballad he played me. That was a brilliant song and the world should hear it." [3] Elsewhere, Manning attributed the break-up partly to Sturmer's discomfort as frontman: "Andy never wanted to be in the spotlight, but he was never honest with himself. With Jellyfish, he couldn't have been in more foreign territory." [7]

Puffy AmiYumi and other work

Sturmer is credited with naming the Japanese band Puffy (pictured 2006), as well as writing and co-producing their records with Tamio Okuda Puffy Amiyumi.jpg
Sturmer is credited with naming the Japanese band Puffy (pictured 2006), as well as writing and co-producing their records with Tamio Okuda

Sturmer subsequently devoted his career to producing and writing for other artists. [10] [3] Among his first projects was the Japanese pop duo Puffy (known as Puffy AmiYumi outside of Japan). [11] He was already a friend of main Puffy composer and producer Tamio Okuda [12] and was credited as "godfather" of the band [13] for giving the group their name. [14] Sturmer also worked with the Swedish pop band the Merrymakers, who tracked him down through the Internet. He ultimately played all the drums on their 1997 album Bubblegun and co-produced four tracks. [15]

Puffy were approached by Cartoon Network to sing the theme song for the 2003 animated series Teen Titans . Originally suggested by the series' producer Sam Register, creator Glen Murakami was delighted when he learned Sturmer would be writing and producing the track. [16] In 2004, Sturmer also became the consulting producer and theme song composer for the cartoon Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi . After composing and producing most of the songs on Puffy AmiYumi's Nice. (2003) and 59 (2004), his involvement with the band lessened.[ citation needed ]

Following his work on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Sturmer composed theme songs for other Cartoon Network series, including Ben 10 (alongside its score composition), Batman: The Brave and the Bold , and the third season of The Batman animated series. He also composed the score and wrote the songs for the Disney series My Friends Tigger & Pooh and performed the theme song for Transformers Animated .[ citation needed ] In 2006, he worked with Mike Viola on the album Alpacas Orgling (credited to LEO). [3]

In the liner notes for the 2002 Jellyfish box set Fan Club , it is stated that Sturmer had been planning "an imminent solo record to be released over the Internet." [9] In 2015, a journalist reported that Sturmer had refused all requests for interviews about his past or current work, [10] although Sturmer agreed to be interviewed for the 2016 book Brighter Day: A Jellyfish Story. [17] Also in 2015, Manning commented in an interview that the reason Jellyfish has never reunited was mostly due to Sturmer's "lack of interest". He added: "I know many people that work with him in film and TV always tell me how happy and successful he is. Last I heard he had four or five shows on Disney that he was scoring." [18]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Dorfman 2016, p. [ page needed ].
  2. ↑ "THE BIRTH OF MARVIN STURMER".[ better source needed ]
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rees, Paul (October 8, 2014). "Squids in: are Jellyfish the great lost band of the 90s?". Louder Sound . Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ Mendelssohn, John (June 1993). "Just for the Jell of It". Creem .
  5. 1 2 Saccone, Teri (August 1993). "Portraits: Andy Sturmer of Jellyfish". Modern Drummer .
  6. ↑ Flans, Robin (August 1994). "Drumming and Singing". Modern Drummer .
  7. 1 2 Rowland, Hobart (May 17, 2008). "Jellyfish; The Man They Used to Be". Magnet.
  8. ↑ Snyder, Michael (May 15, 1994). "Jellyfish All Washed Up". San Francisco Chronicle .
  9. 1 2 Fan Club (liner). Jellyfish. Not Lame Recordings. 2002.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. 1 2 Everley, Dave (May 22, 2015). "The Outer Limits: Jellyfish". Louder Sound .
  11. ↑ Segal, David (July 22, 2002). "Puffy: Pop With A Japanese Accent". The Washington Post .
  12. ↑ Hrrundi (May 31, 2007). "The Greatest Prock Artist You've Never Heard: Tamio Okuda". Rock Town Hall.
  13. ↑ Weller, Jam (August 26, 2005). "Japanese Beatles". Chicago Tribune .
  14. ↑ Pool, Josh (May 17, 2012). "Puffy Ami Yumi - Splurge". IGN .
  15. ↑ "Billboard Spotlight". Billboard. December 13, 1997.
  16. ↑ Titans Tower Animated (September 2003). "The 80s-era DC Comics superteens are back in the new Cartoon Network animated series". Archived from the original on October 19, 2008.
  17. ↑ Dorfman 2016, p. 257.
  18. ↑ Valcourt, Keith (February 3, 2015). "Roger Manning Jr.: Jiggling from Jellyfish to the Grammys with Beck". The Washington Times .

Bibliography

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