On stage, Andrew WK is a throwback to a musical era that never quite existed. He combines pulsing power chords from a three-guitar band with his own hammering on a piano, all while showering affection upon his fans like no one since Ozzy Osbourne in his prime. On Sunday, WK headlined Party in the Park, delivering an abbreviated, but blistering set through rain, wind and technical problems, then signing autographs in the rain for an hour. Afterwards, he talked to The Daily Cardinal about music, partying and his connection to UW.
So is it true you have a family connection to UW-Madison?
My Dad went to school here as a Badger. I never knew this until recently, but he was accepted to Harvard. I think he didn't go, because his parents couldn't afford it. And that was really intense to me, not because Madison's a bad school at all, but I don't think anyone would argue that getting an opportunity to go to Harvard is a really big deal. And he already was not being encouraged to go to school by his family. He was really trying to break out on his own and go for things. And knowing that he had an opportunity like that-and he's still done really well for himself. He did graduate first in his class as a Badger.
Were you encouraged to follow that path?
By him, yeah, a little more-I think because it was such a rare opportunity in his world, from his youth, the idea that his son now has no problem going to school. He can afford it, he teaches at the University of Michigan now. He's a professor there, so I could have gone because of the family thing. But I never went to college. I'd like to some day. He was very concerned about that, about me not going right off on that road.
You know, we were watching a documentary last night about Pink Floyd, and I never really knew about how their music was rebellious, or how in spirit, they were talking about not having to conform. There are so many different ways to look at conformity or a regiment that people expect you to follow. In my dad's family, years ago, the expected regiment was that you finished high school-maybe-and you go to work. You don't go be a student-some fancy pants, think you're so smart? No. The expected regiment was that you don't go to college. You just get to work. And then to my dad, and a lot of people our age, the expected regiment is that you go right after high school to college.
It's very interesting to think about how you can do anything you want, for better or for worse. You just start thinking along these lines about how you're going to do things and what you're going to do, and if you do something against the grain, you still base it on what's accepted and standard. It's all just a way of doing something. It's all just a choice of how you're going to live. The decisions that you make are going to add up and give you more decisions in the future. It's hard to explain and I'm not doing a good job. There are just so many things you can do and it's good to remember that your options are pretty much limitless, at least in what you can try to do.
We really make efforts to impose our own sensibilities on reality, and it's amazing to think that things could be any other way. What we think of as standard and normal could easily be flipped. I think when you feel like you're doing something wrong, that probably means you're doing the right thing. It should never be wrapped up and easy. You should always feel risky. It's good to always be challenging yourself. At least once a week, and why not every day, do something that you think is almost impossible, whether it's a physical challenge or a mental challenge of your patience.
With that philosophy, how do you feel about playing to all these young audiences?
It feels fantastic. We've only been doing this, in terms of touring and all stuff, for about two and a half years, maybe less. So it's brand new. It's really just started. And sometimes I'll think about that and think, \Are we going to be able to keep doing this?"" But on the other hand, I think, ""That's so great. We have so much to still do."" It's interesting. As time has gone on, rather than getting more used to this-playing concerts, making this music, getting so excited with people-I'm more blown away that we get to do this now than I ever was. I even look back at stuff we did a few months ago and I can't believe it. I hope it only gets more amazing the more we do it, because so far it has. And it's not because of anything I'm doing. It's because of the reactions people are having to it.
I would go to see a band play and I would think, ""Wow, if I could be doing this, I would just get this place completely going crazy."" I would go to concerts and leave so excited, not necessarily about the band, but at the idea that someday maybe I could play a show and people would be that excited, maybe more. It would be so cool to play songs and have people know them and sing along. And it would be so amazing to have even just one person feel a fraction of what I felt for the music, and know that I wasn't alone. And that was the goal for the music; not just to communicate my own self and experiences necessarily, but to create something that includes everyone and that instantly invites you in on your own terms, not on my terms, not on the music's terms; that who you are and what makes you you is already accepted, before anyone even knows.
And I think that's always important, especially to younger people-and I consider myself a young person-that in a world of uncertainty and intimidation, to have something that accepts you right off the bat. To look at someone in the band or someone else in the audience and not even know them, but to feel already like you're on good terms is an amazing feeling. And that's what the concerts are for, to give you a charge that might stay with you for weeks afterwards. And I can't thank everyone enough for making all this what it is. I think music that inspires thought is great, but more than that, I hope what initially happens is a feeling. Creating that physical feeling with the music is more important than anything, where you can't believe how great you feel. Music is a magical feeling, and I want to join people together to celebrate that feeling.
There were fans out there with fake blood on their face to look like the cover of I Get Wet. What did you think of that?
I saw that. Yeah, I couldn't tell. I saw one guy and said, ""Whoa, are you okay?"" He had blood and everything, and I thought it might not be real. And all he said was, ""Don't worry, it was an accident."" It was intense.
You're pretty mild-mannered off-stage, but on stage, you bring the energy out in everybody...
I try to go for it, yeah. And it's not a situation where I say, ""Okay, now I'm on stage, so I act like this. I don't like to think of it as putting on a show. I want people to feel good about themselves. I don't want to impress them, necessarily. I want them to say, ""I can dance like that. I could get up there and do that."" And I hope they do.
And they did...
Believe me, they out-dance me a lot of times. I learn dance moves from watching people out in the crowd, and that's the goal. People will say to me, ""Hey, it's really cool how you're making music fun."" And I'm like, ""When is music not fun?"" You can play the most sad, distraught song to me, and I still wouldn't think it was anything but moving and good, as long as it's a good song. I think all music, if it's a song that you like, will get a feeling out of you, and that's what I'm talking about. That feeling is going to be good. Even if you just lost someone very close to you and you're listening to a sad song about someone dying, you're going to be consoled and comforted by it. You're going to share that feeling, and that's inherently a good thing. So I don't try to make music to make people happy. I try to make music to make people have a feeling. If there's emotional content to it, it's going to be a good feeling. No one listens to music because it makes them feel worse.
Marilyn Manson got a lot of crap for that stuff.
It's absurd. People turn to that music for the opposite. They already feel bad and that music helps. That's a refuge, a safe haven. That's good. There's no way you can make music anything be anything but good. Even if you don't like the song, the mere fact of music existing is one of the most powerful things in the world.
I guess you can use sound waves to kill people now. So that's kind of a bad way to use sound, I guess. Kind of evil.
But other than that, you're in the clear?
Other than that, yeah. I don't intend on using weapons like that.
How was playing in the rain?
It was good. We knew there was a possibility we would have to play early or cut it short. It was just a drizzle, so we said we'll start and if it starts to downpour, we'll just play ""I Get Wet"" and leave, because we don't want to get electrocuted. It can happen and we don't take it for granted that we didn't get injured. And we managed to play quite a bit. I think it intensified things. When I saw the band walk up there in the wind, with the rain, and the water was right there, I said, ""Wow, this is going to be really cool."" I felt really good, so I hope people were happy. People seemed excited, and it was fun because there was an unlimited amount of space to run around in.
So how crazy is your touring schedule these days?
It's pretty intense. We have like 45 shows in five or six weeks and we have three or four days off in that time. It's good. I just want to keep going, that's our main point. I was just writing to this guy the other night, who said he wanted something to keep him full of power. I just said, just when you think you can't keep going and everything is against you, that's when you really start working. That's how I've always felt. Just put one foot in front of the other and keep trudging. So I just intend to not stop, and the people who are made happy by this music matter so much that between them, me and everyone else, I think we can keep doing this as long as we want. And right now, that's forever.
You spent almost an hour with fans in the rain after the show.
It was a little tricky. Sometimes the pen didn't work, but if people are going to stand out there, I'm going to try to do the same. It's important to show appreciation. Any of us in the band can make music forever, but we can't do this, this thing, without everybody else. That's what makes this what it is. People say, ""I would make this music if it was just me listening to it in my room."" And that's awesome and I commend that. But I wouldn't want to do this if it was just me listening to it in my room. I would just be foaming at the mouth with desire for somebody to dance with, for somebody else to sing along with. Being someone who didn't have anybody else to sing with for a while really pushed me to get it out there. After all that, to see them out there, to see people get into it, was so awesome that that is what this is now. For that, I'm so thankful that I want them to know how much they mean to this.
Your whole crew and band is amazingly cordial. It's not always that way.
I'm thankful for that every day. I was sitting in here last night and said, ""I can't believe that we're doing this. I can't believe we're traveling around with cases that say 'Andrew WK' on them. I can't believe that anybody came here to see this happen."" You get caught up in things, but then you remember there's no reason I couldn't not be here. Any little thing could have kept this from happening. But things are just progressing. I've been given an amazing opportunity and I'm not going to blow it.
Gotta ask: so you like to party, huh?
Yeah, of course. We just had a party. People always say ""What's the meaning of party?"" The beauty of the word is that it doesn't have to have any meaning other than what it means to you. How do I explain party? I chose the word because I don't have to explain it. It's an effortless word that everybody understands. To me a party is just having fun and doing what makes you feel good, and allowing other people that same freedom. That can be you and a friend, you by yourself, or hundreds of people. I want this to be what people want it to be-whatever makes them most happy. Even if it's something I don't particularly like or agree with, who am I to say he's wrong? I'm just another person who writes this music. I've always tried to open my mind to other people's understanding of all this. If thinking about it one way or feeling one way about it makes one person happy, I'm just going to tell them to go with it. And that's what we call a party.
Where do hope to take your music in the future?
There are a couple of things I want to talk about. Thanks for reminding me. Starting May 22nd-that's a Saturday, I believe-at Nine p.m. on MTV2, we have a TV series beginning. I'm very excited about it. Knock on wood, it goes to air that day. It's called ""Your Friend, Andrew WK.""
Is it the reality thing?
There's no script, but it's not like a documentary thing.
Not like Nick and Jessica?
Yeah, it's not documenting our lives. It's just another thing continuing the vibe in all this of trying to make people feel better and help them out. It's basically an advice show, not that I'm qualified in any real way to help. You can write in questions on MTV's website. Some of them are simple, some are really hard. At the end of the day, it's about trying to help this particular person, going to their house and hanging out. And at the same time, hopefully people watching can relate.
Have you started taping yet?
Yeah, we've taped nine episodes so far and hopefully we'll do more. And if not, it's already been an amazing experience. Also, we're starting to record our third album. There are a lot of things I still want to do. I want to make versions of the songs on the first two albums with just piano. I plan on doing that after this tour and just continuing. For anybody out there who doesn't know about this, I hope you get into it and like it. If you don't like it, I will get bummed. I don't take it personally, but it will make me work harder. For anybody out there who loves it, thank you. You're making my life worth living. And for anybody who hates it, let it be know that you're only motivating me to work that much harder to prove to you that you can like it. I'll keep working on it until even somebody who hates it now can like it. There's nothing stopping us from trying and we always will.
