How do i know if my car amp is bad?

So ive bern having some audio problems with my system. Ill be playing music and then one side of my speakers gets super quiet and sound only comes from the other side. So i turn my equalizer to play sound only from the side that isnt working and i hear nothing. So i turn the volume up louder till the sound begins to play but its super staticey and very distorted. On top of the volume having to be all the esy up to hear it. It alao switches sides, sometimes the right side will go quiet and distort and somtimes the left. Plus both sides somtimes do it at the same time. Its unpredictable, and embarrassing. What could be the problem?