Last changed: 06/24/06

“It’s really a matter of not what you play. It’s what you DON’T play that counts.” says Fuzz rhythm guitarist Andrew Wheeler. “I heard that a long time ago, and as I progressed through the years, those words became part of the methodology. The way I go about tying up the loose ends…filling the gaps…doing the dirty work. I’m kinda like the lineman in the band. There’s nothing worse than a band with two lead guitars and neither plays true rhythm. Most people want to be the star, the quarterback I’m happy writing songs, and watching audiences react to them.”

Wheeler began his music career in Boone, NC in 1988. While in college, he discovered Bluegrass music. “My first impression, coming from the Chicago area, was ‘What the hell is this hillbilly crap.’ I was raised on Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and then the Clash, but after I sat and listened to what they were singing, Bill Monroe I believe, how they were picking, the simple complexity of the whole thing, I just knew that I stumbled onto something.”

  “I just really wanted to write songs, and so I figured that I better learn how to play a guitar.” Wheeler said. “So I bought this old acoustic from a garage sale and started to find my way. No books, just watching friends playing simple chords. I figured that it would be easier if I played songs I knew, so I think the first song I ever learned all the way through was Roger Waters’ Wish You Were Here. Then I just applied those chords I learned to different lyrics I had written, and songs began to form. That was the process then. Now, it’s a much different process.”

Then Came The Dead

While in Atlanta in the Spring of 1989, a friend asked Wheeler to join her at Grateful Dead concert at the Omni. “Man, that was kinda like the old ‘Light Fuse and Get Away’ type of thing,” Wheeler said with a slight laugh. “It was everything. The whole landscape of music that I loved….Rock, jazz, bluegrass,….I remember thinking that these guys were as musically schizophrenic as I was. I was waaayyy out there, and so was the band. It felt like home, so I moved right in.”

“I was only on tour from ’89 until ’95, but it seemed like a whole separate life, honestly. I look back now, man…almost 10 years later, and I can still FEEL it, you know? I’ve seen a lot of bands over the years, some of the greats, but I have only really FELT it a few times: Once with U2 and the Unforgettable Fire tour, Janes Addiction, and on roughly 100 occasions at Dead shows. Some people feel it when they go see Metallica or Brad Paisley or whatever other crap they like. I personally am not a huge Skynard fan, but I know other people FEEL it, so I put everything into it when playing live. People are paying their hard earned money to come see us, and to get loaded, so they deserve it.”

Past Projects

In 1994, Wheeler joined the Kankakee area band Buffalo Fluff, and brought his cohesive style of playing to the group. After a couple of years and an “incredibly fun but economically disastrous” tour to Big Sky Montana, Wheeler left the group to form Space Madness with J.D. King in 1997. Their high energy fusion sound, original music written by Wheeler and King, and overall musical adventurousness packed establishments around the area until the band disintegrated in January 2000. Wheeler took a break from band life to concentrate on his three young children born in 1997, 1999, and 2001. Then in 2004, Wheeler formed the mainly Grateful Dead cover band Tastebud with other Kankakee Deadheads. In 2005, he left that group and joined The Phuzz as rhythm guitarist, part-time keyboardist, and songwriter.