About Me
Halfway through the thirteenth hour of the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month of the 1,983rd year AD, "muppets" creator Jim Henson was probably celebrating his 47th birthday somewhere. Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a soul entered the world under the Hassenger name, which is derived from the german name Hasenjager, meaning "rabbit hunter". The name Andrew was chosen for reasons unknown. Then nothing happened for six or seven years. When the 1980s came to an end, Jim Henson died, "Life In Hell" creator Matt Groening began work on a television series called "The Simpsons", and Andrew was given his first lessons in the ancient secrets of melody. His progress pleased the spirits of the trees and elephants whose lives were taken so the instrument could be built. They were disappointed four years later, when the boy turned away from his teachings, seeing no use for this skill. In the few years that followed, he spent very little time with the piano. Interest was rekindled only slightly by the wise men known as They Might Be Giants, but even the fun of playing their songs faded. By late 1998, Andrew became fascinated with the ways of punk rock, completely abandoning the piano. Cloaked in the sacred bovine hide, he learned the art of beating the shit out of the drums in the earliest months of the third millenium, but by the Spring of 2001, the metal demons slowly lured this young one in the direction of hardcore, then grindcore, and soon enough, death metal. Knowing the percussion skills required for these styles were far out of reach, Andrew laid the drumsticks to rest. At the same time, he rejected the idea of finishing high school, in favor of a long-term (ongoing) firsthand study of marijuana and its effects. He found his place in society as a washer of dishes. There was no outlet for Andrew's desire to create music of his own for a short period of time, but the discovery of black metal inspired him to search the attic for his old keyboard. As time passed, the bond between these fingers and the world of melody grew ever closer. A vision formed soon after: a solo project combining elements of hardcore, black metal, classical, ambient, rock, and other styles of music by overdubbing keyboard sounds. Unfortunately, Andrew has always lacked motivation and discipline, so very little became of this vision, other than some lyrics that are a complete abomination of the english language and some musical pieces that remain unfinished to this day. This went on for quite some time. Finally, in the middle of 2005, "Flying Too Close to the Other Sun" was written, opening a possibility previously feared by this young man: writing music that would consist entirely of piano and vocals (YES, IT TOOK THAT LONG). A handful of songs came into existence in the eighteen months that followed. Nine of these songs (adding up to 34 minutes) can be found on an album named after its closing piece, "Bullshit!" and the songwriting process slowly continues like never before. Legend has it Andrew has been sighted in Saratoga...
