Andy Frasco is in therapy. His sessions are unorthodox. His shrink lacks the typical training and credentials. He knows he’s still got lots of growing to do. And yet, it might just be working.
Many people know Andy as the party animal, the ringleader of the circus, the crowd-surfing specialist, the audience Horah guy. Others may see more of his unobscured introspective side, the defiantly optimistic personality who hosts the popular World Saving Podcast, based around conversations with notable musicians, actors, athletes, comedians, and Jeopardy! champions alike that straddle the line between mindful and playful.
Still more connect to the Monday morning pick-me-ups he posts on his Instagram, which often depict him fighting through the haze of Sunday night’s hangover as he offers words of encouragement. His off-the-cuff lessons on self-love and perseverance strike a poignant chord for his ever-growing fanbase—not because he knows these things inherently, but because he’s learning them as he goes. When he’s telling you to chase down the life you want to live, to let the blows of misfortune glance off of you, to not take no for an answer when it comes to your dreams, it’s clear that he’s reminding himself as much as he’s advising you.
When we linked up on a quiet balcony overlooking a vast ocean on Jam Cruise 19 in February, he was going through a particularly dark spell in his personal life. The recent end of his first-ever serious relationship, his mother’s ongoing battle with leukemia, and a months-long struggle with depression weighed heavily on his mind. Still, his musings pulled toward the light, toward a sense of perspective and self-actualization that has grown more acute over time.
His new album, L’Optimist, is packed with songs that highlight his commitment to a bright-side mentality amid struggles and setbacks. Earnest pleas for love and acceptance wind their way through tracks like “Love All of Me” and “Lost and Found”, while songs like “Busted Nose”, “Nothing That I Wouldn’t Do”, and “Everything Bagel” reflect a sincerity of intention and an openness to evolution within his antics.
For Andy, the journey of personal growth is as endless as the tour schedule. Maybe that’s why he utilizes them as one and the same: You might think you’re seeing an Andy Frasco show, but what you’re really seeing is an Andy Frasco therapy session. And he’s glad you made it.
Read our conversation with Andy below, edited for length and clarity.
Live For Live Music: At this point, people have started to know that your show is a party. But there’s a pit inside the Frasco party peach, and that pit is sincerity and vulnerability. You know what I mean?
Andy Frasco: Yeah. People think I party all the time [nervous laugh], and I don’t. I’m working. I edit podcasts, I edit music videos. I fill my time with work because I feel like this music is important, and the culture is important. So, if I could try my best to be a leader in helping musicians keep going and show people there’s a different route to music, then that’s what I’m trying to do. Trying to keep people happy through just working hard.
Live For Live Music: That’s a tough tightrope to walk. Your outward M.O. is the “we’re going to party like there’s no tomorrow” thing, but you know you’re playing 200 dates this year, and there is another gig tomorrow, and the next day, and next week. How do you square yourself with that duality?
Andy Frasco: Being accountable for it. This is why I stopped really doing uppers and staying up all night. You need sleep to be productive. Yeah, I’ll power-drink for three hours at the shows, but I’m not drinking all day, there’s too much s— to do. I think it’s delegating your time, knowing that you do music to stay present, but you also have to think about tomorrow and think about the next day. So I think one of the things I’m really good at is putting my brain onto one thing for that certain amount of time, and then moving on.
Also, you have preparation. That’s what Kobe [Bryant] taught me. He was prepared. If he had a bad finger on his right hand, he started shooting from his left, he’s taking shots from his left. You just prepare your brain by saying, “Okay, I know who I am, I’m going to drink. I need to just pull the rip cord when it’s time, and I need to know that I have other responsibilities.”
Live For Live Music: Self-awareness is a beautiful thing. It can almost make that hangover feel good in some strange way. You came by it honestly, doing what you love, and you wear it like a badge of honor when you’re fighting through it to continue that mission.
Andy Frasco: Find something that makes you wake up tomorrow. I get more depressed when I’ve got nothing to do and I feel like I’m just floating. I took two months off, just got out of a relationship and I was kind of just depressed for just two months of just, “What am I doing with my life? I’m giving up love to keep this dream going that I’ve been doing for 15 years.” It’s like, is it worth it? Is it worth not dedicating myself to something else, like a girl, to keep this music alive? And then I go on these things like this and it’s like, “Oh, yeah [with a note of certainty], everything’s worth it. Music is that important.” To dedicate my life to music and dedicate my life to art is probably the best-serving thing I could do in my life.
Live For Live Music: Ah, man, I’m sorry to hear about the breakup. That kind of stuff always sucks.
Andy Frasco: Yeah, it’s my first. I’ve never had a relationship, it’s my first one ever. [At] 35… It was good to try, and it made me feel like I’m not damaged. Sometimes I was afraid, like, why have I just been living on the road for 15 years? Never had a relationship, just f—ing and drinking my way through the days. And it gave me hope that I can find love.
Live For Live Music: Love is a weird one…
Andy Frasco: It is. What’s the difference between loving a girl and loving this [gestures to the ocean and the cruise ship]?
Live For Live Music: The devil’s advocate answer is that this is over in three days.
Andy Frasco: Yeah, but [in] my life it’s not. It’s every day. But am I suppressing? Am I running away?
Live For Live Music: Do you feel like you’re running away?
Andy Frasco: No, because it’s just what this job entails. It was nice to do the music at home for two years during the quarantine. But my idols are, like, Bill Murray and, you know, Kobe Bryant, and these guys who just love to travel, love to work. I think about, like, I’m just not a guy who’s going to get a nine-to-five in a town. I’m always just going to be on the move. I’m happier when I’m driving—because I drive the van, too, and I do the spreadsheets. I do a lot for the band. Even if I stayed up till 4:00 or 5:00 a.m. and I’m driving, I’m so happy because I’m here. I’m doing my f—ing dream. … I’d rather feel like s— that way than just feeling like s— just drinking at a bar with people I kind of like. Or just sitting at a bar by myself just to get f—ed up to suppress my feelings.
I’m pushing this dream to the next day. I think we’re afraid to push our dreams further if it takes more effort because a lot of people are afraid to keep going when s— goes bad. The ones who prevail are the ones who just never gave up.
Live For Live Music: A career in music is this open-ended thing. There’s no concrete moment of, “I got the job, I got the promotion, I’ve made it.” It’s always, “Let’s see how far we can push it.” It’s hard to know what the goal is. It’s a different kind of ambition, I guess.
Andy Frasco: Yeah, because the music industry is kind of like this ocean [gestures out to the water]. I don’t see an island to go to. I’m going to circle… I’m going to stay on this ocean until I find something that’ll get me to the next step, but the music industry doesn’t have a map for how to be successful. Everyone has a different path to get to whatever the finish line is, but maybe there isn’t a finish line.
Success has to be defined on your own terms. I’ve always beat myself up or my managers have beat me up about, “Well you’ve got to stop doing mushrooms on stage. All the big bands, they’re not going to have you open for them,” and blah, blah, blah. Or, “Your show’s a little too rowdy, no one wants you to open for them.” And I’m like, “F— that. If they don’t want me to open for them, what, am I going to change myself just so I could move up the ladder?” I think the reason why people relate or dig what I do is because I’m just authentic to who I am. I’m not bulls—ing anyone with who I am or how I feel. I drink, I work hard, and sometimes I’ll eat mushrooms, sometimes I’ll get a little too into the juice [laughs]. But I wake up and I go back to work.
I want music for our next generation to be more authentic than it is now. I’m not saying that it isn’t authentic now, but I want us to keep on finding ourselves. We’re so afraid to find ourselves and be exactly who we want to be. I want to do it my way, and I know some of the things I do are not for everybody, and that’s fine, but I’m growing. My show 10 years ago is way different than it was… Even two years ago. We all mature.
Live For Live Music: It’s true. The last interview we did, a few Jam Cruises ago, my big takeaway was that your show is this glorious mess, and it’s sloppy, and it’s great, and that’s why I loved it. But the other night when I saw you, same room, four years later… It had all the same markers of what’s always drawn people to you—getting everyone involved, the organized chaos, the attitude, the humor. But it did seem like you were more in control, and overall it was probably a better show because of that.
Andy Frasco: Yeah, I’m dialed in. I realize that I’m just starting to just find out who I am, my strengths. I’m not the greatest soloist, I’m not the greatest piano player. I’ve got an okay voice. I’m not a great vocalist, but I write lyrics that people respond to, and I’m a good conductor. I could be a point guard. I just want to fine-tune my conducting, fine-tune how to get all these musicians to sing together and be together. My goal is to connect people, be the glue for the music industry.
Live For Live Music: You mentioned that you’ve toned down some of the partying that had previously served as a focal point of your act. Do you think that has helped or hurt your goal of forging connections?
Andy Frasco: I was taking my opportunity in the music scene for granted because I was doing it every day, and I was getting a little jaded. Took two years off and when you miss something, you actually wake up and you’re like, “I’m going to be in this moment now instead of just blurring it out from drinking and stuff.” I used to do it all the time, now I know when to stop. I used to just black out because I thought it was funny, but [then] I don’t even remember the great show we did. Let’s remember life, and be there fully when you want to be there. I think that’s more important.
It’s so hard to be present. Why is it so hard to be present? That’s the most important thing about life, to enjoy the present moment. Look at us, we’re on a f—ing ocean.
Live For Live Music: Why is it so hard to be present?
Andy Frasco: Because I think we fill ourselves with stuff that doesn’t matter sometimes—ideas in our brain that we’re not worth it, or ideas in our situation with our significant others. We put all these hypotheticals that don’t f—ing exist, and we put more pressure on ourselves. We put more pressure on ourselves than we put on other people. People f— up and treat us like s— sometimes, and we just let it go. But if we treat ourselves like s—, we can’t let it go.
So, how do we be nicer to ourselves? I think if we’d be nicer to ourselves, we could be more present. Because it’s okay to take a day off or a week off and go look at the ocean without screaming at yourself that there’s no internet, or I have to do deadlines for my podcast. You’ve got to just trust your judgment on why you’re doing what you’re doing for the day. If you trust yourself on what you’re doing and who you are and have no regrets on it, then I think we could live happier, and I think we could live more present, because you’re choosing this. We’ve got to trust the life we choose, I guess.
Live For Live Music: How do you cope when you’re dealing with something you didn’t choose? The other night you dedicated “Somedays“, one of your more vulnerable songs, to your mom, and spoke about her illness onstage. It was a powerful moment, somber but hopeful. It gave the impression that you were working that stuff out for yourself in real-time.
Andy Frasco: 100%. I’ve been depressed for the last three months, really spiraling depression thinking about my mom’s leukemia and my ex-girl and stuff. I just haven’t been in a good spot, and I realized I haven’t been playing music to fill my cup, I’ve been thinking about everything else. I just got off the tour in January and went straight into podcast mode. I love doing the podcasts, but music is where I’m f—ing glowing, and to get back on the stage and have my cup filled made me feel I have purpose again. I’ve been following this dream since I was 18, and I know my mom, even if she was sick, she would say, “I know you love me and care about me, but this is what you love and this is what’s going to help you help me.”
That’s something that I’ll always love about the people who inspire me, like my mom, who always taught me, “Follow your dreams, be happy. Life’s going to have these ups and downs. You need to figure out a way to stay in the middle. And if it’s by filling up that battery, that’s for you. Some people need a girl, some people need kids. You need the people.” And I realized that I need the people to help because I’m at full potential when I feel like I’m giving people joy, happiness, and getting them out of their heads for a second. That’s my goal in life.
I think what gives us cancer, or what grows it, is suppression. When we suppress how we feel and we just let it sit there and sit there and sit there, that ain’t going anywhere. It just turns into a rock. We’ve got to be cool with our feelings and understand that there’s going to be f—ing horrible days and we can’t let that affect the good days that will come, because it’s not always going to be bad.
My mom, even though she’s sick, she’ll fly to Red Rocks, go watch me fucking play for 10,000 people. She’s flying to Denver, we’re going to see Bruce Springsteen. Even when we’re feeling low, we still need to live. I am the saddest I’ve ever been, but I’m happy because I’m living. That’s better than the alternative. If I could do 88 shows in 100 days, sleeping in every bar, venue couch, or frat house couch, no money, still smiling, I could get through a little bit of depression.
Live For Live Music: Whether because or in spite of your struggles and perseverance and changing perspective, your career seems to be hitting a new stride of late.
Andy Frasco: I’ve been doing this since I was 18, and this is my time. I wish it came when I was more f—ing energized and f—ing a little more youthful [laughs], but the time is now. And now even through all the road tear and the beat-upness, I’ve got to appreciate that I finally got here. Headlining, selling out shows.
It didn’t go the way I thought it was going to go. I thought I was going to get big when I was 20, but that was just my ego talking. Everything takes work and time and focus and dedication. And for me, I’ve got to stop judging myself over other people’s success, I do that all the time. I look at dudes like Goose or Billy [Strings] or Neal Francis. Sometimes, I’ll look at myself like, “Damn, I’m bummed out about that, that they got there quicker than I did.” Then, I realize that’s not my path. We all are on different paths in life. Some get us there quicker, but we all end up meeting in the middle eventually. We’re all going to get to the place that we all want in our heads if we just never give up.
Live For Live Music: What does that place look like for Andy Frasco?
Andy Frasco: I’m trying to make people think again, and I’ve been seeing it in the last two years: Everyone used to just remember my antics and my Horahs and s—, and now people are remembering the words I’m saying. I already feel that shift changing with how people are perceiving me. And I f—ing thank God because it was driving me nuts to be just the party boy when I was talking about all this really dark mental health and depression stuff, and the people just saw the crowd-surfing and the Horahs. It devalued why I was doing this in the first place, and it bummed me out.
I’ve always been taking it seriously, I just didn’t know how to take it seriously. When we were first in the music industry, we were like, “Oh s—, what is the music industry? Just f—ing partying backstage, doing coke, f—ing girls, let’s gooo.” And then once you’re in the music industry, it’s, “Oh no, it’s a quiet green room with all dudes hungover looking at their phones or texts.” The idea of the music industry when we were kids is so different than what it was, what [it] actually is, and it’s hard work. But I realized [that that flawed perception was] not the reason why I wanted to do this in the first place when I was 16. I fell in love with music, and then I just lost course a little bit. Now, I’m f—ing back and I’m finding music, I’m finding myself, and it’s just making me happier.
L’Optimist, the new album from Andy Frasco & The U.N., is now available on all major platforms. To stream or purchase the album on the platform of your choice, head here. For information on the band’s upcoming tour dates, head here.