Andrew Baena was born on July 18, 1992, in Canada. In addition to being in the band Carcosa, he has also been in Galactic Pegasus and One More Slice. These are ten things you didn’t know about Andrew Baena.

10. Riffs

According to Bonnewshaiti, Baena’s first inspiration to pick up a guitar was a riff in A Place For My Head, a song by Linkin Park. Even though it’s not difficult to learn, it sounded significant to him, and he was inspired to learn how to play it. At the time, he didn’t have a guitar, so he went to his friend’s house and borrowed his and tried to learn how to play the riff. However, it was too hard for him, so the first riff he learned to play was Aerials by System of a down.

9. Podcast

Besides doing Youtube videos, he also has a Podcast called The Just Noise Boy with John Ciardullo. Each episode talks to a band, creator, or songwriter asking them questions about what it’s like, their live shows, touring, and many other topics. Some of their most recent guests include Spiritbox and Angel Maker. The Podcast is another addition to Baena’s long resume of using Social Media as a vehicle to skyrocket his career.

8. No atmosphere

According to Punk Rocker, Andrew Baena and Johnny Ciardullo decided to take dad jokes to epic levels. On TikTok, they did the time-honored cheesy jokes adding metal screams. Additionally, they said some prop comedy when delivering one of the jokes: what do you call a fake noodle? An impasta. This wasn’t the only time they’ve skewered cliches. They did a similar video spouting their favorite mom sayings like “live, laugh, love,” turning them into metal classics and one where they used pickup lines. Like many other things Baena has done, he’s managed to go against the grain.

7. Changing it up

Originally, Baena was in the Galactic Pegasus group. However, there were several line-up changes, and over time they realized they were playing much different music than they had initially. So, they decided to change the band name to Carcosa since they had already reinvented what they were doing. Moreover, they didn’t worry too much about the change in character because they realized those who enjoyed the music they were releasing would continue with the band, and a name change wouldn’t bring on new fans.

6. What’s in a name

One of the hardest things for Baena is picking out a band name. He feels that name has to represent the band. In an interview with rekchords, he talked about some of the questions he asks when considering a name: “are they trying too hard? Does it sound metal enough?” Additionally, he added, “like a tattoo, there can be some deep, meaningful reason for getting it, or you can just say forget it.” Since Baena has been making a living off social media for so long, he knows that one of the most essential parts of marketing is making sure you have a catchy name that fans remember.

5. New Band

The process for naming the new band was similar. Initially, Baena threw out the name Carcosa early on, but everyone else didn’t really like it. Initially, they decided on Viscera. However, record label Unique Leaders announced another group by the same name before the group had started new projects under the same name, so they scratched it. Carcosa came back up because both he and another bandmate liked the show, True Detectives; Carcosa is the name of a place where satanic rituals took place. The name stuck, and they have gone on to release albums and continue their journey into the world of metal.

4. Postive in the negative

Many people can’t say they had a good experience during the Pandemic. Baena started charting his path to fame during the Pandemic; he had to find creative ways to draw in fans, so he chose Tik Tok and other similar music platforms. As the unique style started to take off, many people started posting the group’s first metalcore band they had heard. According to Press Reader, Baena said, “I guess we’re kind of a gateway band for the genre.”

3. Music is his life

Aside from using Tik Tok and other social media to promote his band, he has also found ways to make a full-time living with the channel and has been doing so for a decade. He promotes different music-related items on Baena’s track, does affiliate marketing, and does many other things. It’s not a common way to do something, but you have to respect someone who can jump headfirst into the world of social media and a decade later be elevating his career to new heights.

2. Socially conscious

Even though people don’t think about heavy metal musicians making careful considerations where their merchandise comes from or how to support their local economy, Baena is the opposite. Since he hails from Canada and sells many products online, he tries to make sure as many as possible support the local economy, primarily as the Pandemic unfolded.

1. Experience and evolution

Since Baena has years of experience playing the guitar, he could make the switch from playing in a group that was more focused on guitar chords to a metal band. He’s a music lover through and through and is constantly experimenting and thinking outside the box to keep fans engaged.

Takeaways

Music has made significant evolutions over the last few years. Today it’s more about marketing and finding a niche that hasn’t been fully actualized. Baena has created a way to use social media tools to create an ever-expanding fan base. Additionally, he’s taken years of experience and turned it into something that not only pays the bills but keeps his fans engaged.

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