Andy Dixon (b. 1979) is a Canadian musician, who gained notoriety as a member of the North Vancouver punk rock band d.b.s. Afterwards, he played in The Red Light Sting. Beginning in 2003, during the final months of The Red Light Sting, he began to cut up audio recordings he made himself and compose glitch/IDM music under the alias Secret Mommy, though he used The Epidemic for his first solo release.
Biographical background
The son of two accountants, Dixon was the creative spark in the family from early on. Growing up in the suburbs of North Vancouver, his parents were extremely supportive of their son's musical endeavors, allowing him to go on tours with his band for weeks at a time, and often lending him money so he could keep doing so.
Musical projects:
d.b.s.
Andy Dixon began playing guitar and singing in the band d.b.s. ar
ound the age of twelve in 1992 with band mates Jesse Gander (vocals), Ryan Angus (bass guitar), and Paul Patko (drums). Drawing from influences such as Metallica, and later Jawbreaker, he skanked, then thrashed and finally shredded melodic lines of post-rock/punk bliss. The sound was dominated by a combination of the DIY, 'raw' punk interests and vocal stylings of Gander, combined with the metal-driven, artistic vision of Dixon.. The group decided to call it an end in October 2000 after over eight years, four full length records, and the release of their final EP, Forget Everything You Know, which, while their last, is widely regarded as their greatest and most mature effort. Forget Everything You Know was released on Dixon's Ache Records. Gander has said "it was just time" in regards to the reasoning behind the break up. The members remain close both professionally and socially.
The Red Light Sting
Near the end of d.b.s., Dixon, along with future business partner Zoë Verkuylen and friend Gregory Adams of The Self Esteem Project started toying with songs under the name Hooray for Everything. Due to other members leaving the group, the original three took their songs to Paul Patko of d.b.s, who agreed to be their drummer. This change in personnel warranted a change in the band's name to The Red Light Sting. (They have also called themselves "The No Light Sting" in jest, after a rough tour that led to the breaking of all nine of their spinning red stage lights).
Their sound was predominantly post-hardcore, wavering somewhat to noise core. Adams, the vocalist, ranged his style from screaming to soft singing. Verkuylen played a Roland Juno-60 keyboard as a rhythm instrument, often playing off key notes and dissonant riffs. Dixon took his melodic guitar lines further and further as the band moved from . Though Dixon was the leading creative force behind the group, Adams has been quoted as saying in Discorder that when they were together, "the songs write themselves".
After four years, The Red Light Sting disbanded, holding their last shows in Seattle and Vancouver in early September 2004. They released two EP's—And Our Love is Soaking in It and Rub 'Em Out—as well as a split LP with Hot Hot Heat. Their final release Hands Up, Tiger, a ten song LP which came out less than a month before the band split up.
Early solo work
It was at this time that Dixon realized the potential of his computer as a musical medium, something he had already been doing in his spare time: he produced a record under the moniker of The Epidemic on Ache Records. This solo debut saw Dixon "combining an indie rock sensibility with vague electronic flashes and jilting experimentation with arrangements".
In an interview with Discorder, Dixon explained that he needed to take time off from playing in a band, something which he had been doing since he was twelve. Instead he focused his efforts on his record label, Ache Records, and his solo music project, now called Secret Mommy.
Secret Mommy
His first full length album as Secret Mommy, Babies That Hunt, was released on Orthlorng Musork of San Francisco, a label know for their "laptop musicians" and "electro-punk" artists. He released his first full length Secret Mommy record before the final Red Light Sting album was released. On the opening song of the final Red Light Sting record, We Put the Hot Tub in the Back of a Truck, there is a Secret Mommy-like breakdown.
The second full-length, Mammal Class, was released later in the same year on Ache Records. Mammal Class includes samples of P!nk, Mary J. Blige, Andrew W.K., Britney Spears, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake, Arab on Radar, as well as some more unconventional sounds: elephants, frogs, pigs, French educational records, balloons, eating noises.
For his third release, Dixon used samples from a trip to Hawaii, known as the Hawaii 5.0 EP (playing on the popular show Hawaii 5-0, but adding the period between the five and the zero in order to make the connection to technology, commonly used in reference to version numbers, e.g. v1.2 or v4.0). The five tracks (hence 5.0) on this record feature a cut from the 50 Cent song "P.I.M.P.", including the steel drums heard at the beginning of the song. The Dixon track is respelled to say "S-E-C-R-E-T-M-O-DoubleM-Y", out of the available sounds 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg provide. In this way he is mimicking the name dropping "hype factor" of hip hop by way of a hip-hop icon.
Making use of hand made hidden condenser microphones Dixon compiled recordings for his third full-length record Very Rec. All of the sounds recorded by Dixon for this effort were in places of recreation such as tennis courts, a swimming pool, a soccer field, a yoga studio, an ice rink, a squash court, a dance studio, a dojo, a daycare, a weight room and a basketball court. This style of sampling from the natural world, the world around us may sometimes be referred to as "organic sounds".
The Wisdom EP, release on Sublight Records in September 2006, is the fifth Secret Mommy release, composed entirely of sounds made during an operation where Andy had his wisdom teeth removed.
Plays is the most recent Secret Mommy release, a full length put out by Ache Records, which was made to "showcase [Dixon's] experience as a guitarist, songwriter, and lyricist". It was recorded at The Hive in Vancouver.
Other musical projects
Andy plays guitar and piano, and sings in a group called Winning, with Paul Patko (who played with Andy in d.b.s. and The Red Light Sting) on drums and percussion. Their debut album, This Is an Ad for Cigarettes, was released 20 March 2007 by Ache Records. Andy played with The Secret Mommy Quintet, consisting of many people involved in the production of Plays, during the first day of Music Waste 2007.
Andy was also a member of Tights with Tyr and Todd from The Winks. Their only release is a split they did with the Winks in 2006 on Drip Audio Records.
Ache Records
While Andy Dixon is an extremely active member of the Vancouver, British Columbia music and art scenes, Ache Records may be his greatest legacy. Dixon claims to have put every penny he has made back into the label to release more records. The most well known releases to date are probably their Death from Above 1979 albums, and the "Divorce Series" split 7" records, which feature artists who break away from their typical genres.
Ache Records has released albums by Hot Hot Heat, Radio Berlin, Femme Fatale, Death from Above 1979, and Konono N°1, among others.
Discography:
The following are solo albums released by Dixon.
* I Am Compltley Oprationa l (as The Epidemic) – Ache Records, 2001
* Babies That Hunt (as Secret Mommy) – Orthlorng Musork, 2003
* Mammal Class (as Secret Mommy) – Orthlorng Musork, Ache, 2003
* Hawaii 5.0 EP (as Secret Mommy) – Ache, 2004
* Very Rec (as Secret Mommy) – Ache, 2005
* The Wisdom EP (as Secret Mommy) – Sublight Records, 2006
* Plays (as Secret Mommy) – Ache, Reluctant Recordings (Double LP), Powershovel (Japan), 2007
* The Mice of Mt. Career (as Andy Dixon) – Ache, 2008
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