Andrew Shearer was born and raised in Atlanta. He went to Cross Keys High School. Growing up, he worked in his dad’s lithography shop. After high school, he moved to Athens when his then girlfriend, now wife, got into UGA in 1997. After getting fired from his job at the Eastside Blockbuster, he got an entry-level job in the production department at the Athens Banner-Herald, where he worked his way up to reporter and remains today. He is a lifelong art and culture buff with a passion for independent and horror films. Since 2004, Andrew has helmed Gonzoriffic, an indie microcinema production company which has been holding film festivals at Ciné since 2007. Andrew published a book in January of this year, titled Everybodies, a collection of interviews with people about their relationships with their bodies. Andrew lives outside of Athens in Historic Commerce, with his wife Julie, their daughter and their rescue dogs.
What is your favorite part of the work that you do?
My favorite part is getting to go to places and meet people that I might otherwise have never known if I had a different job. I’m someone who loves to listen to people and hear stories. I’m curious about how things are made and what makes people make things. It’s different every single day, and I get to talk to strangers every single day. I’m very much in love with it.
When you’re not working, what are some of your favorite things you like to do in and around Athens?
When I first got to Athens, I worked at night. Even when I first got a job at the paper I worked at night. We were in the news building at that time, and one night I ran over to Tasty World, a live music venue I kept hearing about. This was the time when the hip hop scene in Athens was in its earliest days, when they were organizing rap battles at Tasty World. Anyone who knows my coverage knows that I’ve covered a lot of the Athens hip hop scene, and I still love to see hip hop shows here. They are the most welcoming environment I’ve ever been in, and they’re the most celebrated in terms of the people that follow that. It doesn’t matter who’s performing– everyone is excited and happy, and the performers are excited and happy to be performing. They welcomed me and I wasn’t even from Athens. I just kept showing up and people would shake my hand and introduce themselves. It’s been a wonderful thing to be a part of. So when I’m not working, I love to go see whatever they’re doing. And now, as luck would have it, as a reporter, I’m kind of working when I’m there, which is easy to forget because I’m just hugging so many people and shaking so many hands.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I would love to go to Malta to visit Popeye’s village. When they made the Robert Altman movie Popeye in 1980 with Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall, they had to build the entire set. It is still there, and it’s a tourist attraction and it’s fully painted and you can walk around in it. That to me would be just amazing. Just to stand there.
Do you have a favorite movie?
Yes I do. That movie is Harold and Maude, starring Bud Court and Ruth Gordon, directed by Hal Ashby. It’s just everything that the art of film can do to you. Beautiful music by Cat Stevens, just a wonderful outsider, oddball movie that everyone at some point in their life could identify with, either with the younger character or the older character. It ages with you. It’s just a miracle, that movie.
Do you have a favorite book, or one that you often reference, reread or gift to people?
My favorite book is called the Psychotronic Video Guide by Michael J. Weldon who lives in Augusta, and runs the Psychotronic Record Store. It was a guide to all these weird movies that he watched. I had to save up my money to buy it because it’s huge. I read that thing every day for years. Now we live in this era of streaming video where pretty much anything we think of is available to instantly have. But back when it came out, which was the year I graduated high school in ‘95, it was the most I could hope for just to read and learn that these things existed, because there’s the world of film that we’re familiar with, but then there’s an entire universe of film that exists on the outside. I love it endlessly, the copy of it that I have is worn to bits but gosh, to own that book is to know me. The Oconee Library has a podcast, Classic City Vibes, and they had me on as a filmmaker but all I did was talk about the book. I was like, “This is a library podcast! Let’s talk about books!”
What advice would you give to your younger self?
To my younger self, I would say “Take care of yourself.” I think as a young person you’re used to being a kid, bouncing around, getting into bike accidents and skateboard wrecks, even car accidents. Usually you bounce back! You get sick, and then you get better. But mental health is something that I’m super transparent about, and I think that maybe when I was younger, it was something folks didn’t take seriously for youth. But I definitely would tell myself “Look man, pause. I know you’ve got all these things you’re concerned with, but please, please stop and take care of yourself.” Your body is your vehicle for the rest of your life, and the more you look after it– and I’m not saying “don’t eat Doritos or drink soda”– but one thing I can say about myself is I didn’t smoke, drink, or do any drugs, and thank goodness. That’s why people can’t believe I’m 47 years old! But in terms of mental health, gosh, just take care of yourself. You’re not bigger and stronger than the problems that you have.
If you could put any message on a billboard, what would it be?
“Watch more horror movies!” I have a bumper sticker that says that. I can’t tell you how many people have said they love that sticker. If you meet me, you wouldn’t necessarily know that I’m a massive fan of horror movies. My dad was, too, and now my daughter is. This is not because I made her watch, I was actually super tip-toeing around it because I didn’t want her to be scared or disturbed or have nightmares or anxiety. Even though my favorite movie in the world is the opposite of that, it does have a little bit in it. But horror is my… if I had to give up everything I do, I’d say please let me keep watching horror movies. They make me happy when I’m sad, they make me happier when I’m happy, and I’ll watch any single one of them.
If you could see any band or show, any time, anywhere, who would you see and where?
I think I’d like to see Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore for the second of his Band of Gypsys concerts. The second night, not the first. I think Hendrix was the most brilliant artist who ever lived and obviously I was not able to see him. He was only with us for a short time. But I have the live albums, and I can tell the difference between one night and the other. If I could only stay for three minutes I’d want to see “Machine Gun,” the song. I’m getting really specific with it.
If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and where?
I’d like to have lunch with my dad. He passed away the year that my daughter was born. He met her about six months before he passed. He was in a motorcycle accident, very unexpected. He was young– 63. So I’d really like to be able to hang out with him and show him some pictures, and show him the book that I wrote. I’d just wanna let him know what’s going on, because I was close with him and he was my hero growing up. My experience working an after school job with him at his lithography business is what got me in the door at the newspaper. I told them about my experience and this and that, and they already had a guy interview that they liked, but I said “but I’ve put my hands in it!” And I always believe that that was what got me the job. In fact, I know it was, because the guy told me. But my dad lived long enough to see me move up through that as an occupation. And we would go to the Three Dollar Cafe. It was his favorite place. Or, if we were in Athens, I’d try to get him to try Saucehouse, because that’s the best wings you can probably have. We may have to do lunch at Three Dollar, and then head to Athens for Saucehouse.
What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word home?
Comfort, peace, and support.
