Andy Fowler

"My biggest fear is the day I wake up, and I'm not in music. I was born to be a musician, in some capacity. Might not necessarily be a boy band member, but that's where I am right now, and I love every second of it."

Andrew Robert "Andy" Fowler (born 16 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He began as a solo artist and guitarist for HRVY in 2013, then a member of Overload Generation in 2014. He was part of the boy band RoadTrip from 2015-2020. After the May 2020 disbanding of RoadTrip, he did regular streaming over Twitch and performed several of his original songs, including "Jekyll and Hyde" and "Mind".

Early life
Fowler was born in Manchester, England, to Lesley Fowler. His parents separated when he was young, and he was raised by his mother during his formative years in Stockport. His grandparents would also take care of him whenever his mother worked away. He was educated at Priestnall Secondary School and later attended Xaverian College, where he studied music as a GCSE.

When Fowler was six, he began to learn how to play the guitar, inspired by Charlie Simpson from Busted, and took lessons until the age of fifteen. The first guitar he received was a Fender, which his mother bought for him. It was an acoustic guitar, followed by the electric guitar. He also played the piano in high school, learned the violin when he wanted to be a session musician, and a bit of percussion after seeing artist acoustic live and in his school's orchestra. He taught guitar and singing lessons as a teenager, and worked in retail for about three months. Not finding the Manchester music scene a way to pave into the industry, Fowler moved to Reading, Berkshire, to pursue a career in London. He would have gone to the Royal Northern College of Music, but decided to defer his enrolment.

Personal life
He lived in the two major cities, Manchester and London. His two main passions are music and football, and he supports Manchester United. If he wasn't a singer, he thought about being a commentator or a lawyer, as he likes speaking.

Around the age of 17, Fowler struggled with depression and took counselling. He relapsed but wanted to overcome it himself, without medication, taking two and a half years to battle it. His first tattoo is around his right ankle ('The ageing superhero in me is tired'), a lyric from Newton Faulkner's song, "Ageing Superhero". He named it his favourite song, as it helped him cope in a dark period of his life. In 2020, he opened up about his struggle with anxiety during COVID-19.

While being in the boy band Overload Generation on television, he felt self-conscious of his weight as he believed he was letting the group's image down. In the first few months of RoadTrip, he concentrated on getting into shape as soon as possible and developed an eating disorder. He recalled taking a pre-workout drink and would starve himself, then late at night would eat and throw up. Eventually, he got out of the habit and recognised that he was bulimic at a time within the band. He reflected in 2019, "When I got home, although I was starving, I―something in my head told me you are not allowed to eat. 'Cause you've just done all this work and no matter what you eat is healthy, you can't put food into your body because your body is just so exhausted that you can't ruin the work you've just done. [...] You should never put yourself through that to conform to any sort of constraints that society has".

In May 2016, his grandmother passed away. In April 2019, his father passed away. Fowler paid tribute in the form of music. The song was one he learned on the guitar when he was younger, called "For My Father".

He has once said, concerning the social construction of gender, "I'm a lad. 'A supposed lad'. I like football. I like a whiskey. I like going to the bar with my mates, and putting the sports on. [...] And then I come online, and I am PG, and extrovert, and flamboyant. So, am I a lad? No, not really. Does it matter? No, not really". In an interview, he stated, "[Y]ou can influence someone to wear something, or you can influence someone to be anti-discriminatory, or accepting of races, and genders, and sexualities, and stuff like that. And I think that I made the decision very early on that my social media will be 'I'm a musician, not an influencer, and I accept everyone, and I'd love it if everyone else did, as well'".

In August 2021, he donated funds to Stockport & District Minds, a local mental health charity. In November 2021, he participated in Hashtag United's Movember football match, to raise awareness of men's health issues.

Trivia

 * He is asthmatic and dyslexic.
 * His height is 5'6".
 * His favourite colours are pink and green.
 * His favourite animal is the penguin.
 * His favourite Pokémon is Charmander.
 * His astrological sign is Aquarius, known for rationalising their feelings. He also does not like astrology.
 * His favourite flavour of ice cream is vanilla.
 * He refuses to go to zoos because of animals in captivity.
 * The moment he liked football was when he was seven and saw the England versus Germany match in 2001.