ok, we know this cool dude series is supposed to spotlight dads in honor of father’s day, but when we had the chance to chat with andrew huang of mosaic, a super awesome indie-folk band based out of athens, we couldn’t resist. he started writing music at 16 as a solo act, and in 2014 he joined forces with current bandmate, kamron munch, to form what is now mosaic. not only is he an insanely talented musician, he is incredibly kind and a true friend of umano, generously giving backpacks to kids at an orphanage in jamaica during a recent trip he took.

 

even though he may not be a dad, during our q+a he let us in on what inspires him, how it really feels to go on a giving trip and even told us his favorite dad joke. read on to get to know this cool dude even better.

 

ah: the reason I did that was wanting the songs to be separate from the name, so they could just be their own thing, like mosaic songs, and not have just one person’s name on it. it’s been a really fun year, and I’m just continuing to believe that this could be something really special in the years to come.

 

ah: a big challenge for me has been feeling like I identify as many different things. there is a pressure from somewhere for you to be one thing, and in some ways I think it doesn’t have to be defined to one thing. we sing about everything. our songs have such a wide spectrum- from really really dark to really really hopeful. so I think the name is kinda suggestive of the fact that we have all these things, and that’s what makes the bigger picture.

ah: amped. I wanna walk away every show and be like ‘we tried something new,’ and if it was off the mark that’s okay, but hopefully just being like ‘we really gave ourselves to this.’ so the excitement now-a-days is different. it’s more of an excitement to play, which I think is more pure than being excited to see all these people come, or being more excited to have a cool night. but now it’s more of being pumped to just play again.

 

ah: I’m still thinking a lot about it. I want lots of people to know about it, but that can’t be the first thing. I think maybe a more important question to ask is, is it meaningful? and is it true to who we are as people? if we get a platform, no matter how big or small, and it is pure and true, then I think that’s success.

 

ah: you gotta find purpose in doing it where no one can take it away. it has to be you.

stay in that place of innocence, and loving it for it, and protect yourself or your group from getting out of that.

 

we were privileged to have the chance to partner with you by providing backpacks to give on your latest trip to jamaica. tell us about your experience on the Giving Trip.

ah: it was like nothing you expected. I got to just give them the bags. there’s a lot of value in things that aren’t seen, and it was so protected and so special. no one was there with cameras. I felt totally invisible, but I think that’s how it should have been. there’s a certain purity of not having anyone there. I think it was meant to be a gift for gift sake. because what is the purpose of giving things? I just feel like it needs to be so rid of yourself. and that’s really hard to do.

 

ah: what’s brown and sticky?

 

ah: a stick!

 

 

for more on andrew, check out his blog.