Andy Jossi grew up during a time where the best alternative music was at it's peak (late 80's/ early 90's). He was especially drawn to the melancholic sounds of bands like The Cure, Cocteau Twins and Joy Division and he eventually went on to become a big fan of the shoegaze movement. These influences are still evident in the music he writes today.
In 2010 Andy began his own musical venture as a one man band, which became what we now know as The Churchhill Garden. Although he had previously spent some time casually playing with other local musicians, he had no desire to play live. Because of directional differences in that regard, he realized it was time for him to take that pressure away and just focus on writing music at his own pace and comfort level.
Prior to 2010, Andy never thought he could actually write and record his own songs. However, after an inspiring session with his friend Dagmar ( aka: "bunny girl“) he found out how easy it actually was to record simple things in the comfort of his own home. She showed him how to use the software "Garage Band" and he was excited to try it out for himself. During that time in his life he was looking for a place to plug his emotions into and discovered that music was the perfect outlet for that. He was determined to learn how to play the guitar better and learned from his mistakes along the way, which helped his musicianship flourish and grow. He also discovered a new recording platform called "Logic", which expanded his ability to layer and add effects and helped him to improve the quality of his recordings overall.
As he continued to create, Andy began to notice that the songs he was writing for The Churchhill Garden seemed to have a few common threads, while also taking on their own signature sound. The songs grew longer, often exceeding 7 minutes in length, and built up into an immense wall of sound. That "wall" was inspired by his love of Phil Spector's music and method of songwriting. The songs also drew heavily on the influences of the many different bands he listened to as he was growing up and there were elements of shoegaze, postpunk, and jangle pop strung throughout each of them.
Initially all of Andy's songs were instrumental and he gradually released them on Myspace. He wasn't expecting much in return, but was pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the positive feedback he received. While he enjoyed writing these songs, he also still felt like his music was missing an important element and that was vocals. Hoping to broaden the horizons, Andy sought out a few local vocalists to collaborate with. His first song with a guest vocalist was with one of his local music heroes named Max Burki (member of the legendary Swiss MOD band "The Reaction"). He then went on to record two more tracks that featured the vocals of Eva Tresch.
Home recording studios were on the rise and file sharing between musicians was becoming a more popular way to collaborate. Realizing this, Andy began to reach out to vocalists outside of Switzerland and discovered Damiano Rossetti from Rome. Damiano agreed to do vocals for the song "Noisy Butterfly". This song helped to reach a new audience for The Churchhill Garden. It was part of two different German compilations. Having a darker sound, it definitely helped bring in new listeners and expand the fanbase. That song was followed by collaborations with Craig Douglas (USA), Alistair Douglas (AUS) and Hideka (JP).
In what now feels like a twist of fate, it was in 2016 that Andy crossed paths with Krissy Vanderwoude. Krissy is also a vocalist for the band Whimsical (USA) and was already a fan of Andy's music. She commented on Facebook, under one of his songs called "Sleepless", expressing to him how much she loved his music and how deeply moved she was by the emotional aspect of his songs. She recalls telling him that she could "hear his heart" coming through in these songs and they really resonated with her. A mutual friend of theirs, Kev Cleary, chimed in under Krissy's comments and suggested that Andy and Krissy collaborate on a song together. They were both excited about the idea, as Andy was always looking for new collaborations and willing vocalists, and Krissy was already a huge fan of his music! They didn't know what to expect, but committed to working on a song together. At that point, neither one of them could have ever imagined the beautiful things that would come about as a result of Kev's suggestion. Andy sent Krissy files for a few different instrumental song ideas and encouraged her to choose whichever one she wanted to work on. She immediately gravitated to one of the tracks in particular and remembers having tears in her eyes when she listened to it. She heard an instant melody and decided to write and record vocals for the song that would become "The Same Sky". This collaboration felt like magic, as it was so effortless and came together so quickly and perfectly. After "The Same Sky" was released, the feedback was so overwhelmingly positive and people continually referred to there being something uniquely special about this collaboration between the two. Andy and Krissy were encouraged by the response and it became evident that others could hear the magic and musical chemistry between them as well. They immediately talked about working on another song and continued to release several songs together after that. Each songwriting experience between them felt so natural and effortless and always yielded positive feedback from Churchhill fans. Eventually it became pretty undeniable that this duo were a musical match made in Heaven and Andy decided to invite Krissy to become a permanent member of The Churchhill Garden.
While Krissy is a permanent fixture, Andy has also continued to collaborate with a few other people such as Demi Haynes (Seashine) and Ben Aylward (Fables and ex Swirl)
Churchhill songs were coming together so quickly and every few months a new single was being released. With each new release came new fans and the positive feedback continued to grow. All of the songs were being released as one single at a time on Bandcamp and other streaming platforms. However, there were many people who expressed interest in owning a physical copy of a collection of these songs and began asking if there would ever be an actual Churchhill Garden album released. Being that this had also been a a dream of Andy’s for many years, he realized it was time to start thinking about making a record.