Editor’s Note: For over 40 years Andy Anderson has been molding, flaking, pearling, striping, and shooting his way through life. A cornerstone of custom bike finishers down South, Andy has been squirting out legendary paint from his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, since he was in his teens. We were lucky enough to get the spray gun and masking tape out of his hands long enough to ask him a few questions regarding his past, present, and future.
What year was it when you started professionally?
I never intended to be a custom painter or bike builder as a professional. I wanted to be an illustrator doing album covers. The painting was just something that happened at the right time and really worked for me. One of my first paying jobs was in 1969 or early ’70 doing some pinstriping. By ’72 C&S Custom Cycles had seen some of my work and that led into being their painter. My grandfather was very supportive of my work, so I pretty much set his garage up as a paint bike shop until I got my own shop in 1976. What/who got you into painting?
There really wasn’t anyone that got me into it. I was just interested in it. Got into it because I thought I could do a better job on my own bike than anyone else. There was an older guy in the area named David Garfinkle who had chopped a ’46 Knucklehead. Heshowed me how to mold frames in fiberglass, but he didn’t paint. At some point around that time I discovered a painter in California who was selling epoxy clear and primer like Paint by Molly used on the AEE bikes. I called and spoke to him and was given a lot of useful info. My first jobs were candies out of spray cans. I didn’t know where to buy real paint. I eventually borrowed a compressor to put the clear coats on. I even cut my own 1/8- and 1/4-inch tape from a roll of 3/4-inch masking tape because I didn’t know you could buy that size. I’d even heard guys taking rolls of tape to a deli and getting them to slice them on the meat cutter. Were you a rider who got into painting bikes or vice versa?
With one of my best friend’s families being one of the original Harley dealers in the area it was a natural choice. There’s something about motorcycles that attracted me at an early age. I was riding with a license at 14. Nobody in my family had a motorcycle when I was young, but my cousin and I loved them. He was like an older brother to me. The painting happened because I immediately wanted my bike to be different. That has never changed.
Were there any other painters who influenced you?
I started reading Cycle Guide Magazine because I saw some of Newt’s drawings of a Yamaha custom Twin Jet 100 on the front. I can’t remember the year. In Modern Cycle June of ’69 Larry Watson had an article. Those articles fueled the fire. The later ’60s, I think Tom McMullen wrote an article on customizing his Knucklehead called the Mindbender. This is where I was most influenced. He used Molly on his paintwork. Later on I respected other painters such as Art Himsl, Yosemite Sam, Kelsey Martin, Ron Finch, Bill Carter, Jeff McCann, and later Arlen and Dave Perewitz. What has influenced you outside of the motorcycle world?
I’m not sure because I was so absorbed with motorcyclesthe only other influence might have been some of the rock artists of that time. The guys who did album cover art. Mouse and Kelly, Rick Griffinthose guys.