It all started when Andy was a young child banging pots and pans with wooden spoons in South Bend, Indiana. He and his big brother, John, began writing songs in the basement crawlspace, with only the pet gerbils as their audience. During a trip to New Orleans at 13 years old, Andy was so impressed with the rich musical atmosphere of Bourbon Street and a one-man-band street musician playing a set of junk drums that he began taking drum lessons on his first drumset, an old pieced-together Slingerland. When a neighborhood friend wanted to form a heavy metal group, the band Zarcus was born.
Andy played in a number of bands (Zarcus, Blue Wail and Model Citizens) while studying with Billy “Stix” Nicks, a brilliant drum instructor in the South Bend area. His musical momentum flourished with the continuous support of his dad, as he performed diverse musical styles including rock, new wave, blues, jazz, Latin, and pop rock.
After moving to Arizona, Andy began to take drumset lesson from Don Bothwell (who he studied with for two years) and Chris Armstrong and orchestral percussion from Mark Austill at Mesa Community College. He improved his music theory and legit skills enough to enroll in the music program at Arizona State University, where he studied drumset with Rob Schuh (and later Dom Moio) and orchestral percussion with John Pennington. He graduated with a degree in music in 1991.
Along the way, he developed an interest in teaching drum lessons at Linton-Milano Music in Mesa, Arizona. Inspired by his first wife, Rena, he earned a master’s degree in Elementary Education in 1995. He continued to play freelance gigs around town, while teaching fourth graders for five years at Kyrene de las Brisas Elementary and middle school science for one year at Arizona School for the Arts. Drum teaching and performing have remained a constant in his life for more than 20 years.
Studying drumming has led Andy to connect with numerous mentors such as Grant Wolf, Chuck Marohnic, Jeff Hamilton, Colin Bailey, and Dom Famularo. Thanks to funding from the Arizona Commission on the Arts grant program, for many years, he expanded his training to include one week per year in New York City studying jazz with John Riley.
Andy released the 2nd edition of a drum instructional book called Drumscapes in 2007. The book received favorable reviews in Modern Drummer, Drumhead, Percussive Notes magazines, and the Drummer Cafe website. He also designed Sticky “Notes”, post-it notes with staff paper imprinted on them (these are currently out of production).
Andy also recently published a tool which uses the Rock Band video game to help transform gamers into drummers.
Andy’s has had a number of drum-related articles published in Modern Drummer Magazine, the Drummer Café website, and the Destructoid blog. Recently, he received a publishing deal with Cherry Lane Music Publishing to transform Drumscapes into a book called Drumcraft. It will be released soon and distributed nationally by the Hal Leonard. Hal Leonard also hired Andy to write two instructional packages (book and play-along CD): Drum Aerobics and Daily Drum Warm-Ups. Both Drum Aerobics and Daily Drum Warm-Ups were released in 2010.
Recently, Drum Aerobics received a favorable review in the Drummer Cafe website and Modern Drummer Magazine,
and Daily Drum Warm-Ups received a positive critique in Mike Dolbear’s website. Drum Aerobics also placed as a runner up in Drum! Magazine’s 2011 Drummies Poll.
In 2008, Andy established a Preschool Drumset Program at the Barness East Valley Jewish Community Center in Chandler, Arizona and is now teaching percussion classes to 4th-8th graders at Self Development Charter School in Mesa, AZ. Besides working as a free-lance musician, he is currently playing in thirteen music groups: the Andy Ziker Trio/Quartet, DH4, the Jerry Rulon Quartet, the Tommy Eggleston Trio, Nu Wrld Jazz Project, Stan Sorenson and Jazz Prose, Stevie Ray and the Allnighters, Avalon, North Phoenix Baptist Church, The New Westerns, the Pita Jungle Jazz Jam House Band, and Jed’s a Millionaire.
Andy has played with many well-known musicians and groups including the Ronettes, the Shirelles, the Drifters, the Tokens, Ike Cole (brother of Nat “King” Cole), and Tony Malaby.
Andy is available for session work, private lessons, clinics and workshops. He endorses TJS Custom Drums and Aquarian Drumheads. Visit Andy on MySpace, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube and Facebook. He has recently joined the ranks of Percussion Partners, a conglomerate of drum dealers, percussion manufacturers, and industry experts throughout the Southwest United States.
Andy is happily married to Dr. Cindy Ziker and is the proud father of 4 step-adults.
