Andy Gorel

Andy Gorel is an American writer, photographer, and musician. He is a graduate of Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, and a self-proclaimed burrito connoisseur.

  • Photographer: Andy specializes in travel, lifestyle, portrait, concert, and event photography. He has toured and/or worked with artists like Third Eye Blind, Switchfoot, Noah Cyrus, ARIZONA, The Aces, Kiiara, Olivia O’Brien, Smallpools, Elohim, Dreamers, Meg Myers, Everclear, and many many more. His photo portfolio can be viewed here.

  • Musician: Andy is a singer-songwriter, producer, and self-managed artist who performs under the stage name LA Parties. Andy has performed everywhere from basements, to corporate events, to Firefly Music Festival. Andy plays guitar, bass, drums, and sings.

Instagram: @andygorel

Selected Writings

Photo: Theo Wargo/WireImage via SPIN

The ‘Cult’ of Third Eye Blind: Out of the Vein Turns 20

Spin Magazine

“We’re an underground cult band,” says Third Eye Blind frontman Stephan Jenkins. “We’ve been camouflaged by hit songs.”

It’s late March, and he’s just finished soundcheck at Pennsylvania’s regal Hershey Theater. The quintet warmed up with everything from deep cuts (Ursa Major’s “Monotov’s Private Opera,” outtake “Second Born”) to singles (including “Box of Bones,” from 2021’s Our Bande Apart), with attentive VIP fans watching…

Photo: Andy Gorel. Design: Joseph Ratliff via AllSides

One Year at AllSides: What I’ve Learned About the Media

aLLsIDES

At AllSides, we watch the media so you don’t have to. That’s not AllSides’ official slogan, and in reality, we help readers understand the media and people who hold different views from each other. But in my head, that’s sort of how I make sense of what drives our work.

When AllSides hired me in early 2023, I had a basic level of interest in “politics” and “the news,” but that was it. I didn’t realize that keeping up with the news and seeing a full picture of what’s actually happening in the world was nearly a full-time job…

Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty

Camila Cabello Keeps Getting Better and Better. Why Don’t People Take Her Seriously?

The Daily Beast

Camila Cabello, everyone’s favorite 19th-most-streamed artist in the world, released her third album last month. While I do think the record, Familia, is very good — as were its two predecessors, Romance and Camila — her third effort’s high quality is not what intrigues me the most. What I can’t get over is how, for the second time in as many albums, I didn’t even hear about Familia’s existence until it had been out for more than a month.

It wasn’t until I was on Camila’s Spotify page to queue a song that I realized Familia was, and had been, out…

Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images via Newsweek

Americans Don't Hate Taylor Swift. They Hate The Class Divide She Represents

Newsweek

As the Kansas City Chiefs gear up for their fifth Super Bowl appearance in six seasons, one of the biggest stories surrounding the team has little to do with the players actually on the field. It's Taylor Swift.

While it's long seemed like Swift has had no room left to grow, the popstar has seen her star reach new heights over the past few years. Her internet-breaking Eras Tour has become the highest-grossing tour of all time, having raked in over a billion dollars in one calendar year, and it's still got nearly a full year to go…

Photo: Andy Gorel

Spend a day with The Aces at Budapest’s Sziget Festival

C-HEADS MAGAZINE

Utah’s The Aces would be a long way from home playing a gig in Boston, let alone Budapest. The foursome, comprised of Cristal Ramirez, Alisa Ramirez, McKenna Petty, and Katie Henderson, has been together since adolescence, not just as a band, but friends too.

Earlier this year on June 2nd, the group released their third studio album, I’ve Loved You For So Long, which by their own accord is a reconnection, to themselves as teammates and bandmates. While it seems to be a hit with the band’s diehard fan base, it’s clear the quartet is pushing for more…

Photo: AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze

What Just Happened in Tbilisi, Georgia — and Why it Matters

aLLsIDES

In Tbilisi, the capital of the country Georgia, citizens recently found themselves in a battle with their own government for what they believe is their Western future.

Georgia – a country not often covered in American media – is strikingly similar to one that now is. While battle rages in Ukraine, the also former Soviet Republic was in a similar situation as recently as 2008. With aspirations to join NATO, Georgia found itself fighting against two Russian-backed breakaway republics within its own internationally-recognized borders — Abkhazia and South Ossetia…