Andrew Huang (musician)

Huang was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario.[3] He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts at York University studying music and since then has been self-employed as a music producer and YouTube personality. He currently resides in Toronto with his wife, Esther.[4][5]

After little success finding a part-time job during his university studies, Huang began auctioning off his songwriting skills to the highest bidder on eBay. The winning bidders received a custom song in any genre, written and recorded to their specifications.[6]

In response to the success of the eBay auctions, in April 2004, Huang launched the website Songs To Wear Pants To, where visitors to the site could commission songs based on personal requests.[7][8] The popularity of the site grew as Huang also began to take on commissions for free, provided the song idea interested him.[8] The free songs often took on a comedic angle, either by poking fun at the person who requested the song, or simply because Huang would choose the most outrageous of submitted ideas to write about.[8][9] What resulted was an eclectic archive of hip hop, classical, doo wop, electronic, folk, rock and heavy metal tunes performed entirely by Huang.[9]

In October 2006, Huang started a channel on YouTube and began uploading fan-made music videos for the songs he created through Songs To Wear Pants To.[10] Huang's channel is known for a wide variety of musical genres, influences, and projects, often thematically focused.[11][12] Huang's videos often feature the artist himself, and frequently aim to showcase various elements of the song.

Huang is most widely known for his "Song Challenge" series, an extension of the idea behind Songs To Wear Pants To, in which Huang takes on musical challenges submitted by viewers via social media.[12] In 2013, he released a rap song titled Vass Tunga, written in five different languages.[13]

Huang occasionally uses unusual instruments to record cover versions of songs. One of his early efforts was released a week before AMC's Breaking Bad aired its series finale, featuring a cover of its unsettling title music using clandestine chemistry equipment.[14] Other examples include a cover version of "99 Red Balloons" recorded with balloons,[15][16] and a cover of The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face", using dental instruments filmed in his dentist's office.[5]

Huang is currently signed to the YouTube network Fullscreen.[17]

Huang and Hannah Hart performing at VidCon 2012

Huang has collaborated with various other YouTube personalities, most notably with Boyinaband and Hannah Hart.[18][19] He provided instrumentation and songwriting for Hank Green and the Perfect Strangers' Incongruent, and toured across the United States with the band.[20] Huang produced the music for Rhett and Link's "Geeks vs. Nerds" music video in 2013.[21]

In 2010, Huang teamed up with musician and internet personality Gunnarolla to produce videos and music, including the popular series We Are What You Tweet and New State Plates. The pair have toured North America, Australia, and New Zealand together. Huang and Gunnarolla later created electropop music duo Dreamz. As a duo, they entered CBC Music's Searchlight contest under this new name, and their debut single "Come On" was selected as CBC Here and Now's Song of the Week on March 11, 2013.[22] Dreamz reached the Top 16 of the contest representing Toronto.[23][24]

In 2008, Huang entered a contest run by American Express and won a chance to develop a music project with Emily Haines, lead vocalist for Canadian indie band Metric. He created an interactive installation featuring a series of videos that visitors could use to create ambient music.[25] The piece was exhibited at the Four Seasons Centre in Toronto during November 2011.[26]

Huang composed the anthem for WWF-Canada's official Earth Hour in 2012 using lyrics from user-submitted suggestions, taking the title of "Canada's first official crowd sourced song". Huang later performed the song live during Toronto's 2012 and 2013 Earth Day celebrations.[27]

In late 2018, Huang formed a duo with Rob Scallon called First of October, where Huang and Scallon record an entire 10-track album in 1 recording session. The group has made 2 albums, Ten Hours and Gourmet Ravioli both written and recorded in a day each.

In June 2019, Andrew began a new project with YouTuber and science educator Hank Green, Journey to the Microcosmos, a YouTube channel uploading short videos of microscope slides accompanied by voiceovers explaining different mechanisms of microscopic biological life. Huang produces all of the ambient tracks for the show's background music.[28]

• andrewhuang.com