Who on earth is this guy with the long hair, the bloody nose and these huge arena-rock anthems? His name is Andrew WK and he hails from the streets of New York City, via the metal haven that is Tampa, Florida. He makes music that morphs a gigantic speed metal sound into some insanely catchy pop songs. After receiving mounds of hype from UK magazines (who called him "Bigger Than Jesus" and "Rock's Next Superstar") for his debut album, I Get Wet, expectations for Andrew WK are extremely high, and he feels that he can deliver. In his own words, "Andrew WK is just a person who stands for doing everything he can in his power to making people feel as good as possible."
But because of the infamous photo on his album cover and that ridiculously demonic voice, some may find him too hard to believe. In person, however, Andrew WK is dead serious. Sincere, polite, although maybe a little too enthusiastic, he relishes explaining his attitude towards music and life. In both cases, he's an optimist: "For me, music, in the truest sense of the word, is about making people happy. There aren't any rules and guidelines. Do what you want. There is no wrong reason to like this music. It is so vast, bigger than me or any one person or thing," he says. "The songs are so wide open, so huge that they allow anyone to feel that they can do whatever they want, as long as they're being true to themselves and feeling good about themselves."
With song titles like "Party Till You Puke," "Party Hard" and "It's Time To Party," it's easy to understand what the word on the street is. But Andrew WK fancies himself more of a prophet than a party animal, using his music to spread the word. "This record represents nothing more and nothing less than total and utter freedom. Each song is unstoppable yet simple to the point of a truthful statement of the wonders of being alive. It is an open invitation to the biggest and best and most infinite and ongoing party there is," he explains.
To get this message across, Andrew WK feels that he has to go big or go home. "This music was made to be as huge and as wide as possible. It's real and true and I chose to use big sounds, big drums and big guitars instead of small ones, because small sounds bad to me. To me, life is huge and thrilling and exciting and explosive and loud. If I can make music that communicates that and reflects that, then that's an achievement." Though his music may not seem so, Andrew WK is for real.
But because of the infamous photo on his album cover and that ridiculously demonic voice, some may find him too hard to believe. In person, however, Andrew WK is dead serious. Sincere, polite, although maybe a little too enthusiastic, he relishes explaining his attitude towards music and life. In both cases, he's an optimist: "For me, music, in the truest sense of the word, is about making people happy. There aren't any rules and guidelines. Do what you want. There is no wrong reason to like this music. It is so vast, bigger than me or any one person or thing," he says. "The songs are so wide open, so huge that they allow anyone to feel that they can do whatever they want, as long as they're being true to themselves and feeling good about themselves."
With song titles like "Party Till You Puke," "Party Hard" and "It's Time To Party," it's easy to understand what the word on the street is. But Andrew WK fancies himself more of a prophet than a party animal, using his music to spread the word. "This record represents nothing more and nothing less than total and utter freedom. Each song is unstoppable yet simple to the point of a truthful statement of the wonders of being alive. It is an open invitation to the biggest and best and most infinite and ongoing party there is," he explains.
To get this message across, Andrew WK feels that he has to go big or go home. "This music was made to be as huge and as wide as possible. It's real and true and I chose to use big sounds, big drums and big guitars instead of small ones, because small sounds bad to me. To me, life is huge and thrilling and exciting and explosive and loud. If I can make music that communicates that and reflects that, then that's an achievement." Though his music may not seem so, Andrew WK is for real.
