One of the most revered bass players in alternative music, Andy Rourke helped craft the iconic sound of the '80s with seminal band, The Smiths. Rourke spent his early years honing his bass and guitar skills at the tender age of eleven, before joining the funk group Freak Party alongside his school friend, John Maher a.k.a Johnny Marr.  

It was Marr who introduced Rourke to The Smiths in 1982, and he replaced former bassist Dale Hibbert after the latter played just one gig with the band. It was obvious from those early audiences that The Smiths would emerge as one of the most significant alt-rock bands of the era’s British independent music scene. Rourke’s playing style, evolved from a fully cranked tone knob and pick, gave each record a distinct tone that still sounds fresh today.  

Those instantly recognizable and undeniable iconic bass lines— from his funk solo on “Barbarism Begins at Home” to the rumbling beats of “How Soon Is Now?” which helped solidify the sound of The Smiths. Is it any wonder Marr declared Rourke’s playing on the The Queen is Dead LP as "something no other bass player could match”?  Before the release of their fourth studio album, Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, The Smiths split apart.  Attempts were made to continue recording together, but in the end the group moved on their separate ways.  

Rourke went on to play and record with many talented artists in the years to follow, including Morrissey, Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, and Aziz Ibrahim. He formed Moondog One with Oasis’ former guitarist Bonehead, Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon, and he created the unique bass super-group Freebass in 2005, bringing in Peter Hook, formerly of New Order and Joy Division, and Gary Mounfield “Mani” of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream. In 2016 Andy joined the multi-talented actor James Franco and Tim O’Keefe writing for their project Daddy which was released through Kobalt. During this time he also created a band with Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries) and Olé Koretsky called D.A.R.K. and they released an album through Cooking Vinyl. Unfortunately in 2018 Dolores passed away unexpectedly which devastated all who knew and loved her.

A man of many talents, Rourke created a TV show called Tune In Tune Out, a short format online show on FKR TV with creative director and comedian David Cross. On the show, Andy sat down with different guests to find out what song they wish they heard when they were born and what they want to hear when they die. He's interviewed The Flaming Lips, Jackson Browne, Adam Green, Jaleel Bunton from TV on the Radio and Little Boots. 

Currently, Andy has been composing for film and TV and his original score can be heard in Northern Blvd (Film), Rebel (Short Film), Raw Craft w/Anthony Bourdain (TV) and The Wrong Guy (Short film) which premiered in June in LA and at the Soho Film Festival in October 2022. He also has a new project called Blitz Vega with Kav (Former guitar player for Happy Mondays) who have single releases scheduled for 2022/2023, as well as many other co-writes and creative endeavors in the works.