Artist You Should Know: Andy Suzuki & The Method
There’s something so familiar, yet individual about Andy Suzuki & the Method’s sound. The duo from Brooklyn, NY is made up of Andy Suzuki and Kozza Olatunji-Babumba who have been making music together for about 10 years. Their first debut album "Born Out of Mischief" was heavily rooted in folk-pop music and really put this dedicated group on the map. Following the album's 2013 release, the Method began to expose itself. Their interesting sound stuck with listeners, allowing Andy and Kozza to find themselves opening shows for huge names like Ringo Starr and Joshua Radin.
"Born out of Mischief," is a harmonious, nostalgic song about growing older. The music video is sweet and exciting, flashing back between old home videos and the present pensive Suzuki, Kozza and friends roaming in an amusement park and city throughout the course of a day. The music video features a touching old home video of Andy as a toddler singing a Japanese tune with his father. The visual story of "Born out of Mischief," was directed, filmed and edited by Lee Loechler.
These two artists have a natural chemistry that is easily heard while tuning in to any of their songs. Andy Suzuki has been infatuated with music and singing from a young age. Growing up, the half-Japanese, half-Jewish artist sang in both Japanese and English, constantly covering new unknown boundaries since high school, when the humbled singer first began to comprehend he had great talent after gracefully preforming a solo he was stuck with.
Kozza was also influenced by music at a young age — with little choice to ignore it. Kozza’s grandfather was a musical prodigy named Babatunde Olatunji, a Grammy award-winning percussionist highly regarded by legendary artists like John Coltrane, Max Roach and Stevie Wonder. Kozza followed in his grandfathers legacy taking up hand percussion for a majority of his life, until he attended college at Brown University, explored his other musical and non-musical passions and ultimately connected with Andy Suzuki in his senior year.
There was a great sonic spark between freshman Andy and senior Kozza by the end of their first session together. They knew that had something here. "Our first time playing together didn't go very well, until Kozza played these two drum hits: immediately we both knew this had potential," Suzuki said.
The group's latest album release in 2017, "The Glass Hour," finds Kozza and Andy under no specific genre, shifting from pop-folk, to R&B, with country twang and rock qualities. The Method’s rhythm section takes preeminence and gives this group their swagger. The album begins with one of their strongest tracks, "Runaway." The opening track holds an R&B vocal on an alternative beat/melody with the spirit of rock. The song has clean producing with an interesting drum beat accompanied by a lovely piano tune and intriguing guitar-picking. It’s not completely obvious there are added audio layers in this track, keeping the group within a rock ‘n’ roll band sound.
"Forgiven" is vibey with more recognizable electronic synths and a pulsing beat that leads the entire song. The electric guitar supports Andy’s timely vocal delivery.
A heavy bass guitar technique sounds similar to The Black Keys typical style in another great song on the album named "Fight." Suzuki’s voice is mellow, patient and strong here. Andy has great skill in putting the proper energy into each part of the song. The singer will burst aflame for the incendiary chorus and harmoniously soften his voice for the verses and sentimental portions of each song. The music video shows controversial “fights” throughout US history such as the Vietnam War. The song is quite alternative and busy with impressive production by Juny Mag who was hired as the producer for "The Glass Hour." The song is structured very creatively, making us almost unable to decipher this from a pop, rock, or EDM song.
"I Can’t Live," is an easily relatable song with a strong catchy melody about that one person in your life you really love, but can also really despise at times. The music video explores an insecure and in-love couple on the subway who run into lots of confusion.
I really enjoyed this music video for being seemingly simple, yet really more intricate as you re-watch the video and pick up on more of what is happening. On the subway, the presumed girlfriend of Andy points to something on the floor. At the same time, an attractive woman drops her glove. The video tries to portray Andy as the unsettled boyfriend, interested in flirting with another woman in front of his girlfriend. Then the video is played in reverse, and we can gather this is a huge misunderstanding on the grounds of misinterpretation and unreceived communication—a common issue in communication that constantly induces more problems.
In addition to their album release tour currently taking place, these two artists will continue to put out new music videos and remixes of songs on "The Glass Hour." Andy and Kozza plan on traveling and playing their long-awaited album across state and country lines this year. Andy Suzuki & The Method have just begun, so don’t go away.