Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Ricci. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Andrew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I realized that this music was the direction I wanted to go when I was about 16 years old. I didn’t grow up with much but this old guitar and a mission to find peace in a wicked world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Andrew Ricci, I grew up from a single mother and an only child lifestyle. We didn’t have much but my momma always said “as long as we have each other we have everything we need”.

I spent a majority of my teens learning how to play the guitar. I held inspiration from from a lot of artists and genres such as Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden to Punk rock and emo music and all the way to reggae music, along with Folk/country that my mom used to play on Sundays when she cleaned the house.

At that time in my life I didn’t understand where this love for playing music came from. No one in my immediate family really played music or enjoyed it as much as I did. Years later I had found out the reason as to why and that was the day it all made sense. We’ll get to that in a bit..

Once I had entered my sophomore year of high school I had met a few kids that wanted to start their own garage band. I took the leap and the rest was history. We were called “Substandard”. We loved playing music such as The Clash, Misfits, Iron Maiden, The Smashing Pumpkins, AFI and more. This was the feeling I had been looking for which was Sorta like family and a group of kids who had each others backs. We grew together, we learned about life together, we played lots of shows throughout the following 7 years. Of course some grew out of it and some started new bands but we all remained close and even to this day we all still stay in contact. Those guys gifted me some of the best days of my life.

Fast forwarding to the age of 25, I had since 21 YO left the latest band I was in and set sail to Colorado where I started a new life but this time music wasn’t as prevalent and as I was finding myself and who I was as an adult. I had always wanted to meet my biological father. The catch was, he lived in San Carlos Uruguay, South America. Rewind to 18YO I found out my blood came from a strong root there and a lot of my family was involved with music. With that knowledge I found myself wanting more and more to meet my father, Eddy Ricci. By sheer luck I had met a man in a bar when I was 24 that also never got to meet his father. My drive to meet my own father resonated with this man and he had the purchased me a round trip ticket to meet my father an hour later. That man changed my life for ever and I will never be able to thank him enough for it. I saved all my money the following year and I was off on the adventure of a life time.

When I arrived it was like a day had never passed between us. He greeted me with open arms, I met my cousins, aunts and uncles. I finally had family…. It was something I had always wanted. A group of accepting people that shared the same blood and even better a passion for music. There it was, the reason why I am who I am today… A Ricci. Most of my family couldn’t speak English and I couldn’t speak Spanish but the day I met them all that didn’t matter because we spoke throughout this music. My dad set up a PA, drum kit, bass and amp aswell as a few guitars and amps aswell. We played some old family tunes my dad wrote and some others that family members wrote aswell. We didn’t need to speak the same language, the music said it all. That was one of the best days of my life and I can’t help but cry thinking back on that beautiful day.

I returned with a new head on my shoulders, everything looked different, the reason I breathed even felt different. I was full of love and I was so damn grateful.

I absolutely loved reggae music since I was 16 and my love for it grew into a life style. At this point I was 26 and lost because I had realized the lifestyle I was living then just wasn’t me and I needed music back into my life. I couldn’t escape tho and for about 2 years I fell into a deep hole of “the party life”. Late nights with no reward was killing me and my depression set in. I needed out bad.. shortly after I had gotten an opportunity to move to St. Croix USVI and I took it immediately. Off on another adventure, this time to better myself and hone in on who I truly was not that I had mad that transition meeting my father.

I spent roughly about a year in the Caribbean, I absolutely loved the culture and the people. I began really diving in and writing my own reggae songs… in 2017 I had then went through hurricane Maria and Irma, lost my house job and had to relocate back to Fort Collins, CO. That story is told over and over again as it was also a huge turning point in my life. You can find more about that story on our website lunashademusic.com.

When I returned I had promised myself to never return to who I was before and so I started Luna Shade. The reason I play this music is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The reason I named the band Luna Shade was after my fathers favorite phrase, and the reason we welcome any member or fan into the “FamiliJah” is because we could all use a strong family. As Cas Haley (one of my favorite artists) says “More Music, More Family”.

Today we stand tall and stronger then ever. Some members have left and some have come in. It seems we have finally found our core 6 years later. Each member holds a special place in this music and we try our hardest to make sure it’s family first and music second.

We have had the opportunity to play with some amazing acts and we will continue to chase these dreams as the years go by. The family, music, memories and growth are all reasons why I am here today.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

My return on my investment with always be the people, the adventures I’ve had and the ability to inspire others through this music.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I really don’t have much of a story with this one but my advice would be to just remain authentic, be open and vulnerable and always be kind. People relate best to real humans. SM is to artificial these days.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/lunashademusic

Image Credits
Darrin Williams Media Merissa Wellmann