A musician raised in Broughty Ferry has finally been able to afford his own estate after living in his car for eight years.
Nick Andrew, 41, who grew up in Cedar Road, closed the door on a normal way of life in 2006. He put all his belongings in storage and moved into a Volkswagen Passat before upgrading to an Estate earlier this year.
Nick, who plays in the band Zipper Tongue, decided that four walls and a roof were getting in the way of his dream of being a professional musician.
He explained: “I was teaching seven days a week and living in a house when I went to see a French guitar player called Sylvain Luc. My guitar playing was getting worse and worse as you are only as good as your worst student.
“He blew me away and I realised then that if I wanted to be any good at guitar playing that I’d have to devote my life to it. After about five minutes thinking about it I decided to go and live in my car and experiment for two weeks.”
Eight years later and Nick, who used to work for Stage 2000 Studios on Dundee’s Riverside Drive, has never looked back.
“I thought it was a temporary thing but before I knew it I’d done it for a year, then it became eight years. It took about a month to get used to it, to work out how you sleep and how to stay comfortable.
“To sleep I put the front seat forward, then a bean bag in the footwell to level things out. I level out the back seat by using pillows then a foam mattress over the top of that. I then use a sleeping bag and a duvet and can sleep straight out but at an angle.
“I’m 6ft tall and I find it very difficult to sleep in a normal bed now,” Nick said.
Nick uses music studios, gyms and supermarkets for the toilet and showering, while perfecting his culinary skills in his vehicle home.
“I cook in the car with a little gas stove. I have a fire blanket and it’s all perfectly safe. The heat from the gas stove goes straight up so if you’re cooking something very smoky, like burgers or a fry up, you have to be careful.”
He insists he is happy to park anywhere, but prefers to use laybys, although that hasn’t stopped a few curious visits from the boys in blue.
“In winter when the windows are steamed up, a couple of times a member of the public has reported that somebody’s unconscious in the car. It looks like someone has gassed themselves and I have woken up to the police getting their truncheons out ready to smash the window in.
“It took about a year for friends and family to get their head around it. They realised that I was happier doing that than the 9-5 thing, then trying to have a musician’s career on top of the 9-5. I’ve written a book about it and am looking for a publisher. It’s a mix of a guide to how to live in a car with comedy stories and what I’ve learned over the years.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I would have done it years ago had my head been in the right place. It’s been good for me and hopefully it will inspire other people to follow their dreams.”
Visit www.zippertongue.com to find out more.