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Andrew W.K.

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Andrew W.K., Circa 2006

Andrew W.K. (Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier, born May 9, 1979) is a pop/rock musician/songwriter from the United States. He is known for his brand of fast and upbeat rock 'n' roll music, his unique and confounding image, and his powerful 'party hard' message.

Biography

Andrew W.K. was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where, at age 4, he began classical piano training through the University Of Michigan Music School. He attended the private college preparatory Greenhills School for middle school before attending the alternative Community High School from 1993-97, where he studied jazz keyboards. His father is Professor James Krier, a well-known legal scholar at the University of Michigan Law School and co-author of the widely used Dukeminer & Krier Property casebook. Much of his early background is unclear, with significant doubts arising as to exactly who "Andrew W.K." is and how he came to his present situation. He supposedly released a number of singles with the Bulb record label as a solo musician before moving to New York at age 18. There he performed regularly and developed his music throughout the late nineties. After a memorable solo keyboard performance at a coffee shop on St. Mark's Place, W.K. was hyped by the local press. He released a few songs as a solo keyboardist and continued to tour, playing any shows he could up and down the east coast. Later, he recorded an EP of his first official "Andrew W.K." songs titled AWKGOJ in 2000, which included songs such as "Girls Own Juice", "Make Sex", and "We Want Fun", a few of which he has re-recorded for later releases. Around 1994, Andrew had a somewhat solo project titled Art of Ancient Boar. Not much is known about it. More info is available at http://dontstopthenoise.com

"I Get Wet"

W.K. released his first solo release, I Get Wet, in 2001 on Island Records. The album was complete with pounding guitars and background synthesizers, as well as some prominent piano playing. It is also known for its recognizable and controversial cover art: a photo of Andrew W.K. with a large stream of "blood" running from his nose, down his chin and onto his throat. This cover art caused a controversy in Europe, as it was seen as endorsing cocaine usage. This was not the effect that Andrew had intended; in reality, Andrew has stated that he created the nose bleed with a self-inflicted blow from a door knob. There are also other stories regarding the creation of the cover art, such as a story that the effect was created through the use of pigs' blood, or that the nosebleed was inflicted by an over-enthusiastic fan at an Andrew W.K. live performance. The truth however, is a mixture of the above theories. The blow was self induced, and the visual effect was enhanced with corn syrup and red food coloring.

"I Get Wet" soon rose to the #1 position on Billboard's 'Heatseekers' list. Its sound garnered a good deal of attention, earning Andrew W.K. a spot in Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest that summer, along with acts such as Down, Black Sabbath, and System of a Down. Although some critics reviled the album for its extremely simple, direct message and its somewhat over-the-top approach, I Get Wet was considered by others to be one of the best albums of the year, as it heralded the return of enjoyable and upbeat hard rock music after the often-dour alt-rock and metal of the nineties and early new millennium. The songs "Party Hard" and "She Is Beautiful" became recognizable singles and received substantial airplay, the latter being covered in 2005 by Finnish melodic death metal quintet Children of Bodom on their "Trashed, Lost, and Strungout" E.P.

His work also showed up in some television spots. The opening track, 'It's Time To Party', was featured in commercials for Hotwire.com, Coors Beer, Expedia.com, and several movie and T.V. soundtracks. He also recorded an original song for KitKat chocolate wafers entitled 'Gimme a Break'. In 2002, he re-recorded his old song "We Want Fun" for the soundtrack of Jackass: The Movie which was also made into the lead music video, filmed and directed by Spike Jonze.

"The Wolf"

In late 2003, W.K. released his sophomore album, The Wolf. The Wolf was more elaborate and ornate than his first effort, with a grand and melodic sound that showcased Andrew's classical training to a much greater degree than "I Get Wet." The album also found Andrew playing all the instruments on the recording (he had employed some session musicians on "I Get Wet," although he played much of the music himself as well). This did not stop it from being a hit, and it spawned the singles, "Never Let Down" and "Tear It Up".

In 2004, MTV2 gave Andrew Wilkes-Krier his own television show, Your Friend, Andrew W.K.. The show was an "advice show"-style format, where viewers could write in to "Andrew W.K." and ask for his help on a variety of subjects. If the problem could not be solved with a simple on-air answer, Andrew would actually meet the subject in a one-on-one format, lending his talents to the problem until it was solved. While the show was well-liked by devoted and casual fans alike, it was relatively short-lived, and episodes are now difficult to find.

Outside of his solo work, Andrew W.K. also produced music for the band To Live and Shave in L.A., featuring vocalist Tom Smith.

"Who Knows?"

Andrew W.K. fans became puzzled over his disappearance from the limelight, with many conspiracy theories (see "Controversy") arising amongst fans. Andrew continued to be elusive when it came to live appearances, due to his seemingly endless recording schedule, but he did find time to release a live-concert movie entitled, "Who Knows?" and present five screenings of the movie in both New York City and Hollywood, February and April, 2006. Much to his fans' delight, Andrew re-confirmed his gracious dedication and attended, as promised, to perform piano solos and spend time to thank his fans. Despite this, rumors continued that it had not actually been the real Andrew W.K. at the screenings, and many fans refuse to believe otherwise without some sort of further proof.

"Who Knows?" was released on DVD from February 7th, 2006. It is mostly a DVD of live performances, with 16 songs included, but it also contains behind-the-scenes moments with W.K. and his band.

Close Calls With Brick Walls

Andrew WK's latest album, Close Calls With Brick Walls, was released in Japan and South Korea in July 2006. During an interview on Japanese radio, Andrew explained that the title related both to his life and music as he narrowly avoided hitting a dead end, and instead sought new horizons in his work.

The album contains 18 tracks (the South Korean version includes an additional 4 bonus tracks)

Preview tracks, further music

Some tracks on the album were known to the public prior to the album's release. Previews of two songs, "You Will Remember Tonight" and "Kicks and Bricks" were available on Andrew's official website during late 2005 as teasers for the upcoming album, but were later removed. A modified version of "You Will Remember Tonight" appeared on the new album, but the fate of Kicks and Bricks is unknown.

In March 2006, during an episode of Sex Pistol's guitarist Steve Jones' radio show, "Jonsie's Jukebox", Andrew WK debuted the song "Vagabond", which did not appear on Close Calls. A day after "Vagabond" was played on the show, an unknown source leaked a new song, the title of which was rumoured at the time to be "No Love (Just Friends)but it has since transpired that the song in question was "One Brother".[citation needed]

Andrew was also involved in filming the Japanese promotional video for "Not Going To Bed" in a Pennsylvania hotel;[citation needed] this song has since appeared on Close Calls.

In May 2006, a 5-track CD was released, containing versions of the previously-heard tracks "One Brother", "Vagabond" and "You Will Remember Tonight". The two new tracks were "My World" and "I Need To See You".

In early June 2006 , a radio interview featuring Andrew was leaked onto the internet. The interview was from "Bay FM" radio in Japan, and featured 3 new songs. The songs were "Not Going To Bed", "Pushing Drugs", and "Into The Clear". A few days later, another Japanese radio station played a new song, titled "The Background". This track was soon leaked onto the internet.[citation needed]

On July 4th 2006 he was the main guest on the Japanese show Rock Fujiyama with Marty Friedman. Since then and through August 2006 he is often seen attending the TV show.

Andrew announced on his website that he will be releasing three new albums in 2006-2007. In addition to Close Calls, the two other albums are "Young Lord", and "The Carrier". Additionally, two new websites are in the works, and there are rumours of a TV show. Future song titles are rumoured to include "We're Never Gonna Get Old."

"Steev Mike" controversy

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The Steev Mike 45

Many contradictory versions of Andrew W.K.'s history and rise to celebrity have coexisted, with some of the contradictions seemingly coming from Andrew himself, however the source of the confusion is difficult to pin down. As a result, some have claimed he is an actor merely playing as a rock star, and a front for some sort of songwriter or songwriting team. It has been suggested that Andrew W.K.'s appearance is the creation of this entity. Rumors have circulated that before there was an "Andrew W.K." the press was holding interviews with a "Steev Mike" whose image and sound later became known as "Andrew W.K." (the first appearance of "Steev Mike" was inside the pages of the cutting-edge UK magazine "Dazed & Confused".) Furthermore, an 1991 unreleased vinyl record on Bulb Records by Steev Mike has been discovered and is the same music as the first 7" EP by the band Couch. The record is copywrited by Andrews father and Pete Larsen. A radio promo and a full album by Steev Mike have also been leaked onto the internet by unknown sources. The promo contains demos of tracks from I Get Wet and The Wolf, and even a demo of the new song Kicks & Bricks. The album has 12 tracks, 2 being not songs, but a spoken word piece and an interlude. The rest are songs from I Get Wet and The Wolf. The songs on the album have changed drastically on their appearances on I Get Wet and The Wolf.

Though seemingly no one knows who Steev Mike really is, he is listed as the producer of Andrew's first album, I Get Wet, his third album, Close Calls With Brick Walls, and his live DVD, Who Knows.

One thing that is related to Steev Mike is the number 55. This number became related to Steev Mike when Andrew W.K.'s website became "Hacked" and this number appeared in a bit of code. Now the number has been turning up everywhere A.W.K. related. Some places are the picture on his own homepage (The picture shows Andrew standing in an an alley under a sign, and the sign says "Lane One", with the number 5500 above it). Another place 55 has appeared is the Steev Mike 45 record. Etched into the dead wax of the vinylon side A is "SM-A 55". It is the same on side B, just replacing the letter A with B. But most strange of all places for the number to appear is Andrew's own album, Close Calls With Brick Walls. First off, on the front cover, Andrew's watch reads 5:50, and the watch reads that time in many pictures inside of the album booklet. Second, on the back of the alum, the 5's in track 5 and 15 are tinted gree, while the rest of the track numbers are white. Since this is a Japan/Korea-Only release, it is unknown whether these references will remain in the U.S. version.

The Steev Mike 45 is available for download at http://awk.dudeguy.com/

Discography

Albums

Singles


DVDs

A set of bootlegs DVDs titled "You Can't Stop What You Can End-The Andrew W.K. collection 1998-2006 are being created by a fan, and the the set will have three volumes, containing music videos, TV appearances, live footage, interviews, and lots of other things.

References

  1. ^ The Reeler, February 01 2006, "Andrew W.K. and the Cryptic Movie Missive": [2]
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