It's hard to think of a time when Newcastle dominated the cultural headlines as much as it has over the past week.
The Toon takeover sent shockwaves through world football while local hero Sam Fender has released his long-awaited second album Seventeen Going Under to widespread acclaim.
And, to complete a Tyneside hat-trick, rapidly-rising singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin has signed a record deal with the Strap Originals label, which happens to be owned by Libertines legend Pete Doherty.
The 21-year-old musician is this week recording brand new tracks in the Libertines' very own Albion Rooms Studios in Margate but he's taken time out of a busy schedule to chat exclusively about his career so far and his future plans with Philip Tallentire.
Go here for more what's on updates, news and reviews from around the North East
It could be argued that Andrew Cushin is leading a blessed life just now.
Aged just 21, he’s already fulfilled several of his musical ambitions on and off stage. From recording with Britpop legend Noel Gallagher to packing out Newcastle’s Boiler Shop, the multi-skilled musician is quickly climbing the slippery slope of success.
And now he’s put pen to paper on a record deal that gives him a genuine chance of earning promotion to music’s Premier League.
But, it must be stressed, Cushin has made his own luck. From a humble background, he proudly brands himself a ‘council estate kid’ who writes about issues that affect him, his friends and his family.
He didn’t go to stage school or try to take the TV reality show shortcut to success. Educated at Hotspur Primary School in Byker and Heaton Manor, he didn’t pick up a guitar until he was “15 or 16” but learned fast and, inspired by legendary singer-songwriters Neil Young, Donovan, Bob Dylan and Paul Weller, was soon penning his own originals, including his first four releases: It’s Gonna Get Better, Waiting For The Rain, Where’s My Family Gone and Memories.
Such prodigious creative talent, combined with a warm, soulful, deceptively mature voice has attracted admirers throughout his career so far, starting with his own mother Victoria, who thought her son should try to break into the big time by entering a high-profile BBC TV talent show.
It’s fair to say Andrew was not in agreement with such a strategy.
Looking back to that fateful time, he recalls: “I wrote Waiting For The Rain when I was 16. I’d had that written for two years and then, when I finally played it to a couple of family and friends when I had the guitar out one night, they couldn’t believe that it was my song, never mind that I wrote it when I was 16 years of age.
“Then my mam signed me up for The Voice! Anyone who knows me personally knows that there would be nothing worse for me than to go on one of those sob-story, music TV programmes! I said, ‘Mam, I’m not going’. And we had such an argument my mam almost kicked me up the behind and I was thrown out of the house! I had to go and stay at my girlfriend’s just because I refused to go on The Voice.
“Anyway, two weeks later, we got an email off Noel Gallagher inviting me down to London and two weeks after that we signed a record deal! If I had gone on The Voice who knows where I would have been? But, needless to say, my mam is incredibly pleased now.”
As well she might be.
The link-up with Gallagher may have come out of the blue but it didn’t happen by accident. Leigh Macfarlane, a friend of Andrew’s through their involvement with Newcastle Benfield FC, had contacts in the music business and soon took over as his manager after hearing him sing live.
“He only came to heckle me!” claims Cushin with a laugh when looking back on that evening. “I’ve been with Leigh since I was 18,” he continued. “You need somebody behind closed doors who believes in you. Leigh came to my second ever gig and he was as surprised as anybody that I had something.”
The early fruits of the relationship were a development deal with major record label Virgin and the Gallagher-produced single Where’s My Family Gone.
Working with the hugely-successful Oasis songwriter was, understandably, a dream come true but also an opportunity not to be wasted.
“It was amazing. I’m a massive fan of Oasis and Noel’s solo material but I never went there with a fanboy attitude,” he insists. “All I wanted to do was get a record done for a major record label and to learn as much as I could. He was an absolute pleasure to work with and I’m still in close contact with him. I phone him every few days.”
Gallagher is a high-profile Manchester City supporter with strong opinions on football. Not surprisingly, Andrew wanted the Mancunian’s take on the takeover of Newcastle United by Saudi Arabian billionaires capable of matching – and even exceeding – City’s incredible spending power on players and infrastructure.
“I was asking him about the takeover,” confirms Toon fanatic Cushin. “He made out that he doesn’t care, but he surely does? Surely the supporters of any club - whether it’s Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United – are frightened of Newcastle right now and rightly so.”
Reflecting on the takeover, he adds: “When I woke up last Friday it was like waking up in a different city, there’s such a buzz around the place.
“I’ve already got a £200 bet on that we’ll win the league in five years. That’s incredibly optimistic, though. It’s still going to be a struggle this season, don’t get me wrong. We’ve still got to spend in-excess of £160m, £170m to ensure we’ll finish mid-table. I think we’ll be alright and in a few years’ time there’s no reason why we can’t be a Champions League club.
“It’s something that I try not to think about because it blows my mind. I’ve supported the club all my life and St James’ Park is like our church. I just want to watch the kind of entertaining football my dad and grandad enjoyed.”
Back onto the subject of music, Andrew parted company with Virgin after the dust settled on his Gallagher-produced single.
“It was what’s called a development contract and it was more about my development as an artist,” he explains. “It was a one song deal, we put that song out and it was time to move on. There was no bad blood, they took what they could from me and I took what I could from them. It was a good experience.”
And now he’s got a new record label and a new working relationship with another member of a famous, some would say infamous, English band.
The Libertines emerged a few years after Oasis but, like the Manchester band, attracted as many headlines for their behaviour away from the stage and studio than they did for their music.
Pete Doherty, who eventually left the Libertines to form Babyshambles and now tours solo and with his band Puta Madres, had a well-documented battle with hard narcotics and even served time in jail for a drug-related offence but has since cleaned up and even got married recently.
Now back with the Libertines – who are heading out on a sell-out tour next month - Doherty spotted Cushin in Newcastle when the young Geordie supported him in July.
“We were invited down to do three shows with Pete – one in Newcastle, one in Derby and one in Hull. Pete initially thought I was the first (act) on, the new kid. When he was told I was the main support he was a little bit taken aback by it.
“From what I’ve heard from Leigh, when I played the second song, which is a bit bluesy, a bit rockabilly, Pete ran down the stairs at the side of the Riverside stage to watch.
“From the second song he watched the full set and at the third show we were talking to Pete’s manager who expressed interest in signing me and then we spoke to Pete about it and he was head over heels about the fact that we didn’t have label at the time and we worked something out. We finally signed the deal last week.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Pete,” Andrew adds. “I’ve got a good relationship with Pete, a good relationship with his manager and, hopefully, we’ll have a good relationship with the label as well.
“After the whole Noel Gallagher thing, I thought, ‘that was my moment’. I’d met and worked with someone so iconic in the music industry. And then, all of a sudden, a couple of months on I’m doing a similar thing with a Libertines legend. It’s just amazing how things are still happening for me.”
But was Andrew wary of Doherty given his ‘bad boy’ reputation?
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what I was going to be walking into. Whether it was going to be a dressing room or a drug den! I’m pleased to say it was the first scenario. I didn’t know him in those dark days but he was cleaned up, we were talking about sport – he’s a QPR fan, I’m a Newcastle fan – he was just a really great guy. I was pleasantly surprised how well spoken he was and how respectful he was.”
The start of what could be a beautiful relationship is this week’s recording session.
“We’re recording four or five songs, potentially for the new EP, and one or two singles as well at the studio for the new record label,” explains Andrew.
“We are in here for five days and we are going to get as much done as we can. The band are down here as well. In an ideal world I’d like to get four songs completely finished. The biggest thing is to get the EP done because that’s coming out early next year.
“We’ve got plenty of plans for the record deal,” he continues. “We’ve got the EP we’re currently working on this week and potentially another of those next year. We’ve got a few singles to crack on with and there’s also talk of an album as part of the deal if everything goes well.
“They’ve got a really good team behind the scenes, a really good producer and a lovely little studio so it’s a great position to be in and the best thing I can do now is to start grafting and turn those demos into finished songs.”
Away from the studio, Andrew will support DMA’s at Newcastle O2 Academy on October 23 and there are hints that he’ll announce major tours with major acts in the not too distant future.
He experienced playing in front of a festival crowd last month when he supported Sam Fender and Fontaines DC on the final day of This Is Tomorrow at Exhibition Park.
The headliner is not only a fellow Geordie and Toon fanatic, he’s someone who’s an inspiration having blazed a trail as a 21st Century North-east musical success story.
“Sam is totally flying the flag for Newcastle at the minute,” he says. “I have a very good relationship with Sam, we talk regularly, I’ve been round his house a few times and he’s given me lots of support and advice, he’s a really great lad.
“We did This Is Tomorrow together and we shared a couple of glasses of wine when he came off stage. It’s amazing I’ve got someone like that backing me, it’s surreal. I’ve got a lot of time for that fella. I’m not sitting here saying, ‘I want to be the next Sam Fender’, because I don’t, I just want to be the best I can be.”
Looking ahead he adds: “We’ve got the Hit The North gig at the Academy which DMA’s are headlining and that’s going to be amazing. We’ve got some unbelievable shows next year with some of the big boys in the game which will be announced soon.”
One thing Andrew won’t be doing is resting on his laurels.
“The day I sit down and reflect on everything is the day I start taking things too seriously,” he warns. “We’re getting a lot of support in the North-east as a local lad coming through but I cannot survive on just local hype, I need the songs to go with it.
“Writing the songs and being the creative person really does keep me grounded and I know that if I don’t write good songs, these opportunities will just be a one-off. We’ve got to keep on grafting, there’s not a lot of time to sit down and reflect. But the writing’s incredibly enjoyable and the band are really coming along well and the label’s in place so we’re definitely in a good position.”
So which musical mountains remain to be climbed? Cushin admits he’s already fulfilled several objectives but a few peaks still remain.
“I’ve still got a check list,” he reveals. “We had Newcastle Academy on there and we’ve ticked that off by supporting The Lathums. We’ve done most of the iconic venues in Newcastle. We’ve done the Cluny, the Boiler Shop, the Academy, the Riverside. Everything I’ve wanted to do, we’re doing.
“Noel Gallagher producing my record was amazing but I’d probably say selling 1,000 tickets for the Boiler Shop show is the highlight.
“Who wouldn’t want a No1 album? I’d adore a No1 album, that would be brilliant. In terms of local stuff, doing the Arena, doing St James’ Park – even if we could play in front of one stand with just 50 people there! Brixton Academy and the Roundhouse in London I’d like to do. But we can’t think too far ahead, we’ve got to keep on grafting and moving forward and hopefully more will come.”
