Musician · Co-founder · Filmmaker

From the Blue Aeroplanes to Sonicstate

Before he became one of the people behind Sonicstate, Andy McCreeth was a professional bass player in Bristol’s The Blue Aeroplanes. He joined the band in 1988, at the beginning of an especially eventful period, and played on the major-label albums Swagger and Beatsongs. The group toured internationally, supported R.E.M. and became part of a distinctive chapter in British alternative music.

One landmark came on Friday 26 June 1992, when The Blue Aeroplanes played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. The Victoria and Albert Museum’s festival archive records the set at 4pm. Andy has spoken of that appearance as something close to the summit of live playing in the UK — a fitting high point in the performing career that preceded his focus on music technology.

Building Sonicstate

In 1995, Andy and Nick Batt started Sonicstate, when music information on the internet was still in its infancy. What began as a resource for musicians evolved into an independent destination for synthesizer and music-production news, reviews, interviews and filmed demonstrations. More than thirty years on, the site is still a familiar presence at NAMM, Superbooth and other major music technology events.

Nick is the best-known on-camera face of Sonicstate, but Andy’s contribution as co-founder, organiser and filmmaker has been fundamental. Sonicstate’s own contact page identifies his work in media and finance — the less visible side of sustaining an independent music technology publication. Their joint work was celebrated at Superbooth in 2025 for Sonicstate’s thirtieth anniversary.

The person behind the camera

Andy filmed and encouraged my 3 Big Questions interviews for Sonicstate. The idea was simple — three questions about the past, present and future — but it was Andy who helped make those encounters happen and recorded the conversations. Guests included Phil Oakey, Bob Clearmountain, Vernon Reid, Leland Sklar and Billy Sheehan.

He has also filmed my music outside Sonicstate’s usual technology coverage, including a performance by The Rumble-O’s at Bristol’s Cube cinema. I wanted to give him a page here because he is a musician with a substantial history of his own, as well as an essential figure in Sonicstate’s story. Andy deserves to be recognised alongside the people we see in front of the camera.