Andy Santos

Andy’s first attempt to learn guitar at age 15 was unsuccessful. He was a drummer in a Jazz band at the time. However, 5 years later, he was in a position to learn guitar more comprehensively, and discovered that he could learn and play by ear. During the 70's and 80's, Andy was in and out of various bands. His musical influences were initially Jazz, Folk and Easy Rock, and later Blues and Rock, preferring to compose instrumentals rather than songs with lyrics.

Andy is originally from the United States and met his wife Shirley (a Kiwi) in 1995 while working at the same company. They married in 1997, and moved to New Zealand the following year. Shirley’s mother was living in Whitianga, so that’s where they decided to settle down. After 2 weeks, Andy got a job at a mechanic (he’s a self-taught mechanic), and after a year, was hired at Beta Electrical. From there he moved to 100% Whitianga and then did contract work for Sky TV for a time.