Since the release of his debut album I Get Wet, with its infamous bloody-nosed cover, Andrew W.K. has constantly provoked the question, "Is he serious?" His music is so over the top with its propulsive, frenetic good-times that it would seem like a parody were the artist behind it anything less than sincere.
But Andrew W.K. is serious. The man behind such songs "It's Time To Party", "Party Til You Puke", and "Party Hard" is on a mission; a smiling, populist anomaly in a business where being happy and [gasp] wanting to please your fans are taboo. Andrew W.K. is serious about wanting everyone to enjoy their life. He's serious about his dreams, his fans, and the meaning of it all:
Keith Daniels: It's kindof funny, I took a nap after you called earlier, and I ended up having a dream that we were in a car, and we almost got hit by a train twice.
Andrew W.K.: Twice?! Like, we dodged it and then the next thing you knew we were in that situation again?
KD: Yeah!
AWK: Well, that's terrible. Can I tell you something? That's so weird that you just brought up dreams, because we're just beginning this current tour... I mean, it's all one big tour as far as I see it, but we have a new bus this time. No one in our band has been on this bus before except one of our crew guys, Big Daddy, and he said, "It's a good bus. I've been on it before, but there's one thing about this bus you gotta know: people dream a lot on this bus." I said, "What do you mean?" He's like, "All the boys, when they're in their bunks, they dream. They wake up and they say 'Big Daddy, I had the most crazy dreams all night.'" Well, I didn't really think much of it, and I kindof forgot about it until the next morning when I woke up so blown out of my mind from intense dreaming that I couldn't even believe it. You know, they say you always dream... I dunno, I guess I don't remember 'em, but I remembered all of them [from that night] very clearly. They were very intense, and they weren't nightmares; they were just heavy. There was a lot going on, and so when I woke up I felt like I was rested - but my mind had been completely jogged the whole time. So anyway, that was the first night. Last night before I went to sleep I really focused on trying to dream. I was trying to think of things I wanted to dream of as I was going to sleep, and I had way, way more dreams dreams again - and they were all very intense, and they were sortof related to what I had thought about. So it's actually now an exciting possibility.
KD: So what do you think causes this?
AWK: I have no idea! It's very strange. When he had said that the first time, if I had really, really gotten freaked out by that, or maybe remembered it, or had been thinking about that a lot, maybe I would've caused that for myself, y'know what I mean? Just by superstition, and ended up making myself dream, but I didn't remember that he had said that until the next day after I had dreamt a lot, so... I dunno. It's pretty exciting. I definitely have dreams, but I'm not the kind of guy who always remembers them. Some people I know remember them every night, and it's just nothing but dreams. I was kindof scared going to sleep last night, because I thought, "What if there're nightmares?", but they were really, really good dreams.
KD: Do you know who owned the bus before?
AWK: A million people have been on the bus. The band that Big Daddy was on was Six Feet Under, which is a death metal band, and they had dreams. It's the dreams that are so intense that you're just like "What's going on?" I still feel a little boggled, [but] I don't know if that's from the dreaming. I'm just in a kindof dizzy, spun-out state, but I think that talking to you will definitely help me come back to the center. Now, Suicidegirls by all general descriptions is an adult website?
KD: Yeah. I think you've actually worked with a couple of the girls a long time ago for something. I think you had some of them dance at a show.
AWK: Yes. Oh yeah, Suicidegirls asked if they could be part of one of the shows, and I said "Why not?" I met another one of them another time. Very interesting characters. So is the site developing, or is it more just pretty consistent?
KD: From where I sit it's blowing up, man. So what can you tell us about The Wolf? Are you excited that it's about to come out? And what did you learn from I Get Wet?
AWK: The Wolf. September 9th, so what is that, three weeks or something? Well, what do you want to know? I could talk about it pretty much non-stop for hours if that's what you'd like. How long is this piece supposed to be?
KD: Shit, 30 minutes, 45 minutes. I just type up whatever you say.
AWK: That's the beauty of the internet I guess, eh? Alright, well, let me get another bite of my burrito here, and get my thoughts in order. There're many basic things that I would like to cover, but at the same time I don't want to just repeat things I've said before.
[sound of a burrito slipping this mortal coil]
I think the whole thing, in terms of what I learned from the last album, which was my first album, I Get Wet... The whole thing is based on other people, and not so much maybe things that I have done. Obviously, [they're] things I've gone through, but really what has changed me, and changed this, has been other people. Whether it's people that have helped and worked on it, whether it's people that have played in the band, people in the audience and loving this music, or even people like you who are talking to me about it. It's all those things, because the one big thing, the huge difference, is [that when I made] I Get Wet there was no one. When I was making that album, when I was getting that ready, putting those songs together, recording that, hoping and dreaming and thinking and working, it was all pretty much one dude with some very good friends and family supporting it. All the rest of it was up in the air. That's the whole thing, and what's extra special in this case is that this was made with the single-minded hope, if anything was to happen, that there would be people that really, really believed in it, and really loved it. I certainly didn't expect that. It was something I was really, really, really hoping for, but it was hard for me to actually imagine somebody out there that I didn't even know, that had no idea this music existed, feeling as strongly as I felt about it. I was certainly prepared to have people say "Oh yeah, that's a cool song. It's a fun song to listen to on the weekend", but the way I've always felt about these songs was really intense. I was making the music of my dreams, and was just really passionate about it. I guess that I didn't expect people to be able to have that kind of response to it, but maybe simply because of how intense the music is, or our love for the music, it spread out to some other people. There are those folks out there that are just as passionate about it as I am - maybe in different ways, but really believe in it. Of course, there're people that also like it for all different reasons that I never would've thought of. So, going from one dude who's sitting, recording alone "We do what we like, and we like what we do", and singing them with eighty different tracks trying to make it sound like all those people, it's been really incredible to actually see those people come to life, and to now have some people out there in the world who do love this, and do believe it, and to see that dream be realized. The one thing I always wanted, more than anything, was just to be able to play a concert and have people there that want to see it; people that want to hear these songs, that know the songs, and want to be there to sing 'em. I've always felt that the live concert wasn't as much a performance, where you have an audience watching someone do something, but rather it was a celebration of being thrown by that whole room of people that were all psyched and happy that they knew these songs, and we were celebrating the fact that we were all there to sing 'em. And it's happened! Sometimes I can't even believe it, because when go step-by-step, day-by-day, you don't get a chance to reflect as often as maybe you should. Whenever I do [reflect], it's very moving, and very exciting. Yet, at the same time we've only just begun.
In keeping with that, The Wolf, the new record, is the first record that I've made now having people who like this music, knowing that there's people out there who do believe in it, and that I actually can respond to them, and talk to them, and make music specifically for them - knowing that they exist now. Hoping that they were there before was one thing, but knowing that they are is a whole other deal. Having the experience of having lived with them for the last year and a half was life changing, and resulted in a very deep improvement of me as a person, and what I consider important. Just overall good stuff happening led these songs to be what they are, and they're really talking to those people very straight on, and wanting to please them, wanting them to be happy, and wanting to make more music that really did what they're looking to do. It's strange, because in some ways the new songs might seem very different to some people at first, but I think it's just a continuation, and maybe some growing - not changing, I wasn't trying to change to do something different just because - it was just really to communicate how excited I was feeling about what's going on. Quite literally, there's parts of this album where I'm talking to those people who've made me happier, and also trying to speak on their behalf on what we all believe as a group - a group with no limits that can spread as far as possible.
KD: So, on the first record, when you wrote, "we do what we like, and we like what we do", you were referring to a specific group of people.
AWK: Actually, no. It referred to a group of people I was only hoping would someday exist. I wasn't speaking of anyone I really knew, because I didn't know anyone who liked it! You know what I mean? I had my parents and my brother, who at that point didn't know what to make of it, and they were basically hoping that I could just keep feeding myself. My dad, especially, was very concerned, and my mom and brother were less concerned, but still equally as confused as to what I was trying to do. My friends at that point, in New York City... When I moved there I didn't know a single soul. I met a couple of people off the bat that were friends of friends back in Michigan, and they stayed friends. Then I had a couple of other people, but I think the total of people I really knew there was under a dozen - and most of them weren't that involved in what I was doing. I wasn't playing in a band with them, they weren't making this music with me, so I was imagining this group of people that I didn't even know yet, these strangers, that were gonna here those words and think "That makes sense to me. I'm one of the people he's singing about, or singing for" So instead of thinking, imagining, "I wonder who these people he's talking about are" they say "That group of people is me! I'm one of 'we'" You know what I mean? They would hear that as their song and their words, that they just as easily could have been singing. I try to reflect that quality in every part of the music. It's music that you are a part of, and whether you're actually playing it or whatever, the fact that you're enjoying it means that you have a stake in it - because it was made for that purpose. That's easy to say, I guess, I mean everyone wants people to like their music... I dunno! Maybe some people don't, but the idea of "I don't care if people like it or not. Screw 'em. I made this for me and only me and if you don't like it 'oh well'", for better or for worse, I just don't feel that way. When someone doesn't like it I want to know why, I would like to try to talk to them and help 'em figure it out, and see if there's any way they could find something to like about it. Of course I make it because I like it, but what I also like about it is that other people could. These songs are in that spirit. There's plenty of other kinds of music that I could make, and other people make, that are more about expressing a certain opinion, or communicating about yourself, or an experience, or a story, or just putting out your view, which is great. Of course, I'm not going to be completely hypocritical, [my] music does that in its own way, but I really just want this to be a utilitarian, practical, applicable type of music that, in addition to other types of you like, you can count on this one like a good, solid friend to be there for you, and I've always said that. I hope that's what it sounds like, I hope it sounds very personal, and very reliable.
KD: There are some people who have a hard time enjoying something... enjoyable...
AWK: You think so?
KD: ...or taking it seriously, taking fun seriously.
AWK: Fun is one of those tricky things. Oh my God... there's a piece of bone.
KD: [laughs] In your burrito?
AWK: Yeah, crunchy. You know how you get that every now and then? Because we all know they're not using... it's "beef and bean", and I swear to God, there might be beef in there, but the consistency of that beef is exactly the same as the bean. It's like that paste. But yeah, so, I think, one, this is just a new thing, so a lot of my reasoning as to why someone doesn't like it, or enjoy it, ultimately comes back to that. Yes, there're other reasons, maybe like you were mentioning, but I think it just needs to prove itself. It's my responsibility. I take full responsibility, always have, always will, that this is something that is going to need to be proven to people, and shown to people time and time again over the course of many years and many albums until it's understood. I don't think there's any right way to understand it, but hopefully as long as you enjoy it, that's right. I do think, in terms of taking things seriously, taking fun seriously is one of the more tricky things, because it seems like it contradicts itself, but it certainly makes sense to me. It's about having priorities and choices, and deciding how you're going to do things, and it takes effort just like everything else. People would find it very easy to believe that you were very serious about being a microbiologist, for example. "Of course, that's very intricate, and it's very hard work. It's very specific and detailed." Being serious about having fun seems to be the opposite of itself, an oxymoron, but when you're committed and determined to enjoy more things than you dislike in life - then you're taking fun seriously. When you determine to make the most of what you're given, and what you have, then you're taking fun seriously. When you say, "I'm going to be stronger than that. I'm not going to let myself or other things get me down, or spoil the good times I'm able to have", then you're taking fun seriously. When you have the strength and the courage to believe in something that can ultimately make you feel good, when you have the strength and the courage to let yourself smile and be happy, and enjoy your times, even when things are intense in the state of the world is very morbid and there's a lot of anxiety. When you realize that, for all those people who have died for various reasons - good and bad - that you're still living and that you're going to make something with that time you have left, then you're taking having fun seriously. It's really about appreciating life, and it might be hard for some to see that through a bloody nose, or through a song about having a party, but it's just that we need to have the strength to enjoy ourselves. Kindof like the strength to be weak, like a real tough dude would say "I don't cry. Tough dudes don't cry." but in my opinion the stronger person is the person that would allow themselves to cry, because they know that it takes more courage to take a risk, and to believe in something - especially something that makes you feel good, that is sincere. To believe in that does take a risk, because anything that can make you happy can also bring you down. Again, I have to earn people's trust by proving to them that it's okay. If there're people out there that have already gotten to that point, and do enjoy this music, I trust that there's other people out there that still can, and hopefully this album and the ones to follow will accomplish that.
KD: Whenever I've met someone who has that outlook on life, they've developed it because they had an epiphany at some point in their life. Something happened to them, and they realized that the meaning of life is to enjoy yourself. Was there one specific moment that made you realize that?
AWK: Well, it might not be as romantic, or cinematic, to say that I had many smaller moments that added up to that. In some ways I wish there was like a big explosive moment, but it was lots of things that were just hinting at it. I think with something that's that... To me that's a pretty heavy thing, it's a big deal, and I might not have been to able to see it, it might have been a little intimidating, to have it happen all at once. For example, it took things like moving to New York, where I was a very, very, very unimportant, small dude, in the sea of a very, very big, powerful town. For some reason that, instead of intimidating me, although it did at first put me into check, but ultimately it seemed like, "Well, you know what? I have two choices. I can be really freaked out..." Before, when I was in my home town in Michigan, I certainly didn't know everything, but you kindof end up feeling [you do], you kindof feel like you're running the show - even though I certainly was not, but that's what I felt in my mind. So it took getting to a much larger pond until I could realize that I really didn't amount to anything, and that I had a lot to do. I think that because I was intimidated by that, it made me step up my whole... I really had been kindof lazy, and I started thinking less lazy, and realizing that every day could be the last. I don't know when that first hit me, it's just an obvious truth, but it never would've entered into my mind when it came to decision-making until I moved to New York. So I said, "I want to always be doing something." I was always active in Michigan, but in New York a lot of things that I would've been too afraid to do I tried to do. I tried to put myself in as many uncomfortable, awkward situations as I could, completely not shelter myself, and not allow myself to hide out in a comfortable world that I created, but rather just try to live out in the world that was there, and ultimately would force me to step it up and grow, learn more, get stronger, get smarter. I think that happened, and it was just that realization that maybe anything isn't possible, but it's certainly possible to try anything. It just seemed like, "Why not try? What's the worst that could happen?" Ultimately the worst thing I could imagine was not trying something, or dying realizing that I wished I would've done this or that, or just seeing opportunities slip away without attempting to do anything with them. That's what started me working really hard on this music was just realizing... What do I have to lose? I'm going to put all my eggs in one basket and work really, really hard. The idea of failure, or criticism, or even my own frustrations weren't enough to stop me from at least trying, because I knew that that was my true sign of success - that I was attempting something. There were lots of little things, like getting mugged. I used to steal from all my jobs that I worked at when I was younger, and shoplift, things like that, do a lot of bad pranks. I got mugged in New York at knifepoint, as many people have, the first year I was there, and I said "You know what? I'm never going to steal. I'm never going to take anything that isn't mine ever again." It was very simple, but I needed something like that to happen before I saw those things. Sometimes the only way you can make a decision is through what someone else does, and by seeing a lot of not-so-good people, people that I didn't want to be like, I was able to decide who I wanted to be, and I decided I wanted to be good. I wanted to do the right stuff. If you really think about it, you're constantly making a decision at every moment in your life, you can decide what to do, and it's usually as simple as two or three choices. One of those is the right thing to do, and it's usually pretty clear what that is. It doesn't mean that's what you're always going to do, and it doesn't even mean that you should feel bad if you don't do it - but I like the idea of trying to break the world, which is very confusing and chaotic, down into some very basic things that at least I can control. I think it's actually a common human trait that when you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or just really freaked out by the world around, if you can at least get some control over yourself, or over your own decision-making, then at least you have control over that... You can't control the chaos that's happening around you, but you can control how you're going to live in it. It was as simple as "Should I do this, or do that? Well, doing this is the right thing, doing that I don't think is the right thing, so I'm going to do this." Even if it wasn't the most fun thing at that moment, even if it wasn't the thing that I wanted to do, it was what I decided was right. It's all about starting with yourself, and trying to make the best of yourself, and then ultimately that will help others around you. It was a very exciting thing to come to terms with that. To shelter myself, or fool myself into thinking that if I just exist in this isolated bubble of a private existence, in a private world where the stuff that I liked, and the stuff that I believed in could be protected - and that the things I made could be doled out to those that I felt deserved it, it all was just based on fear. When I decided "I'm going to live in the real world. Not a little world where people can't get to me, but in the world. That will make me a stronger, better person." Maybe I won't get there overnight, but maybe by the time I'm an old man I'll start to have that all figured out.
KD: Not to get all Zen on you, but trying to change yourself is a lot harder than trying to change other people.
AWK: I think to change yourself might be harder than trying to change the way that you fit into the way things are. Meaning, if you feel like you don't work hard enough on the responsibilities that you're given, if that's one thing that you think you should do. It's a lot easier to blame others, or blame the responsibilities you've been given, or say "I'm going to isolate myself so I don't have to do those responsibilities" then trying to hold up to them.
KD: How was Warped Tour?
AWK: Absolutely fantastic. It's quite a production. The people that put that up and take it down every day are really mind-blowing. Considering how many people are there, how many things they're trying to pull off, I was blown away that it went off as well as it did, and it wouldn't be able to happen that way if it wasn't for the overwhelming belief that so many people have in it. It's really a labor of love, and I'm not speaking for myself, but for the organizers. This guy, Kevin Lyman, who runs the whole thing, they go out of their way to set up this thing that's going to bring as much pleasure to as many people as possible: the audience, the bands, and the crews, and they succeed a little better every year. We were very honored to be part of it this time around.
KD: Who did you see on this tour that you really liked?
AWK: There're tons of bands... We're actually touring now with one of the bands we met there, a band called Vaux, and they're really awesome. Amazing drummer. Another band that I was really excited about getting to meet, and actually see, because I'd heard a lot about them over the years, was the Dropkick Murphys. I really liked them, and we really hit it off. I got to play with them in their hometown, in Boston, and sing one of their songs onstage with them. That was a great honor as well. Ultimately the thing that I was most happy with was to be able to interact closely, and hang out with, the audience.
KD: Back to The Wolf. What's the significance of that title?
AWK: There's not really any significance. I think anybody can appreciate the intensity of that creature, and how it has a... Y'know, I was working with a lot of different titles. I've been telling people the basic story, which is that I had a list of about two hundred titles. By the end of the album recording, it was really time to pick one, and I really hadn't decided on one a hundred percent. There were a lot of titles that were these really big, longer phrases, real heavy, kindof criptic but... intense, demanding, and attempting to sum up all of the songs, and speak for the lyrics in one phrase. I really wanted something like that, but then I thought, "Y'know what? That's kindof defeating the point. Each one of these songs is gonna say what it's gonna say, and they'll speak for themselves. I don't need to try to wrap it all up in one simple title." So I ended up picking the one that I just thought was cool. That really doesn't have much to do with the album, or the songs, and I certainly am not calling myself The Wolf, or anyone else for that matter. I'm just talking about the actual thing, looks like a dog and creeps around in the woods. I just thought that was a very simple, very easy to remember, word that everyone was familiar with, but at the same time it had a lot of power and energy. That's kindof all it needs to be. Not everything needs to fit together like a puzzle. Not everything needs to mean something. Y'know what I mean? I have these tattoos on my arm that are just these lines, these straight lines, they actually look like just a scratch or something, and people, as they should, as I would, ask, "What do they mean?" and I say, "They don't mean anything." Sometimes you could just have something, and it doesn't need to mean anything, just like some of these songs. Yes, they have lyrics, they have things they're talking about, but look, if it feels good, and you enjoy it - that's as much as it needs to mean. We're just so curious, and we want to have as much knowledge about something as we can, but sometimes the beauty of something is just that it feels good - and that's all the knowledge we need about it. It's just something that we enjoy.
Andrew W.K.'s new album, The Wolf, will be in stores September 9th. More information on the man and his music can be found at AndrewWK.com
But Andrew W.K. is serious. The man behind such songs "It's Time To Party", "Party Til You Puke", and "Party Hard" is on a mission; a smiling, populist anomaly in a business where being happy and [gasp] wanting to please your fans are taboo. Andrew W.K. is serious about wanting everyone to enjoy their life. He's serious about his dreams, his fans, and the meaning of it all:
Keith Daniels: It's kindof funny, I took a nap after you called earlier, and I ended up having a dream that we were in a car, and we almost got hit by a train twice.
Andrew W.K.: Twice?! Like, we dodged it and then the next thing you knew we were in that situation again?
KD: Yeah!
AWK: Well, that's terrible. Can I tell you something? That's so weird that you just brought up dreams, because we're just beginning this current tour... I mean, it's all one big tour as far as I see it, but we have a new bus this time. No one in our band has been on this bus before except one of our crew guys, Big Daddy, and he said, "It's a good bus. I've been on it before, but there's one thing about this bus you gotta know: people dream a lot on this bus." I said, "What do you mean?" He's like, "All the boys, when they're in their bunks, they dream. They wake up and they say 'Big Daddy, I had the most crazy dreams all night.'" Well, I didn't really think much of it, and I kindof forgot about it until the next morning when I woke up so blown out of my mind from intense dreaming that I couldn't even believe it. You know, they say you always dream... I dunno, I guess I don't remember 'em, but I remembered all of them [from that night] very clearly. They were very intense, and they weren't nightmares; they were just heavy. There was a lot going on, and so when I woke up I felt like I was rested - but my mind had been completely jogged the whole time. So anyway, that was the first night. Last night before I went to sleep I really focused on trying to dream. I was trying to think of things I wanted to dream of as I was going to sleep, and I had way, way more dreams dreams again - and they were all very intense, and they were sortof related to what I had thought about. So it's actually now an exciting possibility.
KD: So what do you think causes this?
AWK: I have no idea! It's very strange. When he had said that the first time, if I had really, really gotten freaked out by that, or maybe remembered it, or had been thinking about that a lot, maybe I would've caused that for myself, y'know what I mean? Just by superstition, and ended up making myself dream, but I didn't remember that he had said that until the next day after I had dreamt a lot, so... I dunno. It's pretty exciting. I definitely have dreams, but I'm not the kind of guy who always remembers them. Some people I know remember them every night, and it's just nothing but dreams. I was kindof scared going to sleep last night, because I thought, "What if there're nightmares?", but they were really, really good dreams.
KD: Do you know who owned the bus before?
AWK: A million people have been on the bus. The band that Big Daddy was on was Six Feet Under, which is a death metal band, and they had dreams. It's the dreams that are so intense that you're just like "What's going on?" I still feel a little boggled, [but] I don't know if that's from the dreaming. I'm just in a kindof dizzy, spun-out state, but I think that talking to you will definitely help me come back to the center. Now, Suicidegirls by all general descriptions is an adult website?
KD: Yeah. I think you've actually worked with a couple of the girls a long time ago for something. I think you had some of them dance at a show.
AWK: Yes. Oh yeah, Suicidegirls asked if they could be part of one of the shows, and I said "Why not?" I met another one of them another time. Very interesting characters. So is the site developing, or is it more just pretty consistent?
KD: From where I sit it's blowing up, man. So what can you tell us about The Wolf? Are you excited that it's about to come out? And what did you learn from I Get Wet?
AWK: The Wolf. September 9th, so what is that, three weeks or something? Well, what do you want to know? I could talk about it pretty much non-stop for hours if that's what you'd like. How long is this piece supposed to be?
KD: Shit, 30 minutes, 45 minutes. I just type up whatever you say.
AWK: That's the beauty of the internet I guess, eh? Alright, well, let me get another bite of my burrito here, and get my thoughts in order. There're many basic things that I would like to cover, but at the same time I don't want to just repeat things I've said before.
[sound of a burrito slipping this mortal coil]
I think the whole thing, in terms of what I learned from the last album, which was my first album, I Get Wet... The whole thing is based on other people, and not so much maybe things that I have done. Obviously, [they're] things I've gone through, but really what has changed me, and changed this, has been other people. Whether it's people that have helped and worked on it, whether it's people that have played in the band, people in the audience and loving this music, or even people like you who are talking to me about it. It's all those things, because the one big thing, the huge difference, is [that when I made] I Get Wet there was no one. When I was making that album, when I was getting that ready, putting those songs together, recording that, hoping and dreaming and thinking and working, it was all pretty much one dude with some very good friends and family supporting it. All the rest of it was up in the air. That's the whole thing, and what's extra special in this case is that this was made with the single-minded hope, if anything was to happen, that there would be people that really, really believed in it, and really loved it. I certainly didn't expect that. It was something I was really, really, really hoping for, but it was hard for me to actually imagine somebody out there that I didn't even know, that had no idea this music existed, feeling as strongly as I felt about it. I was certainly prepared to have people say "Oh yeah, that's a cool song. It's a fun song to listen to on the weekend", but the way I've always felt about these songs was really intense. I was making the music of my dreams, and was just really passionate about it. I guess that I didn't expect people to be able to have that kind of response to it, but maybe simply because of how intense the music is, or our love for the music, it spread out to some other people. There are those folks out there that are just as passionate about it as I am - maybe in different ways, but really believe in it. Of course, there're people that also like it for all different reasons that I never would've thought of. So, going from one dude who's sitting, recording alone "We do what we like, and we like what we do", and singing them with eighty different tracks trying to make it sound like all those people, it's been really incredible to actually see those people come to life, and to now have some people out there in the world who do love this, and do believe it, and to see that dream be realized. The one thing I always wanted, more than anything, was just to be able to play a concert and have people there that want to see it; people that want to hear these songs, that know the songs, and want to be there to sing 'em. I've always felt that the live concert wasn't as much a performance, where you have an audience watching someone do something, but rather it was a celebration of being thrown by that whole room of people that were all psyched and happy that they knew these songs, and we were celebrating the fact that we were all there to sing 'em. And it's happened! Sometimes I can't even believe it, because when go step-by-step, day-by-day, you don't get a chance to reflect as often as maybe you should. Whenever I do [reflect], it's very moving, and very exciting. Yet, at the same time we've only just begun.
In keeping with that, The Wolf, the new record, is the first record that I've made now having people who like this music, knowing that there's people out there who do believe in it, and that I actually can respond to them, and talk to them, and make music specifically for them - knowing that they exist now. Hoping that they were there before was one thing, but knowing that they are is a whole other deal. Having the experience of having lived with them for the last year and a half was life changing, and resulted in a very deep improvement of me as a person, and what I consider important. Just overall good stuff happening led these songs to be what they are, and they're really talking to those people very straight on, and wanting to please them, wanting them to be happy, and wanting to make more music that really did what they're looking to do. It's strange, because in some ways the new songs might seem very different to some people at first, but I think it's just a continuation, and maybe some growing - not changing, I wasn't trying to change to do something different just because - it was just really to communicate how excited I was feeling about what's going on. Quite literally, there's parts of this album where I'm talking to those people who've made me happier, and also trying to speak on their behalf on what we all believe as a group - a group with no limits that can spread as far as possible.
KD: So, on the first record, when you wrote, "we do what we like, and we like what we do", you were referring to a specific group of people.
AWK: Actually, no. It referred to a group of people I was only hoping would someday exist. I wasn't speaking of anyone I really knew, because I didn't know anyone who liked it! You know what I mean? I had my parents and my brother, who at that point didn't know what to make of it, and they were basically hoping that I could just keep feeding myself. My dad, especially, was very concerned, and my mom and brother were less concerned, but still equally as confused as to what I was trying to do. My friends at that point, in New York City... When I moved there I didn't know a single soul. I met a couple of people off the bat that were friends of friends back in Michigan, and they stayed friends. Then I had a couple of other people, but I think the total of people I really knew there was under a dozen - and most of them weren't that involved in what I was doing. I wasn't playing in a band with them, they weren't making this music with me, so I was imagining this group of people that I didn't even know yet, these strangers, that were gonna here those words and think "That makes sense to me. I'm one of the people he's singing about, or singing for" So instead of thinking, imagining, "I wonder who these people he's talking about are" they say "That group of people is me! I'm one of 'we'" You know what I mean? They would hear that as their song and their words, that they just as easily could have been singing. I try to reflect that quality in every part of the music. It's music that you are a part of, and whether you're actually playing it or whatever, the fact that you're enjoying it means that you have a stake in it - because it was made for that purpose. That's easy to say, I guess, I mean everyone wants people to like their music... I dunno! Maybe some people don't, but the idea of "I don't care if people like it or not. Screw 'em. I made this for me and only me and if you don't like it 'oh well'", for better or for worse, I just don't feel that way. When someone doesn't like it I want to know why, I would like to try to talk to them and help 'em figure it out, and see if there's any way they could find something to like about it. Of course I make it because I like it, but what I also like about it is that other people could. These songs are in that spirit. There's plenty of other kinds of music that I could make, and other people make, that are more about expressing a certain opinion, or communicating about yourself, or an experience, or a story, or just putting out your view, which is great. Of course, I'm not going to be completely hypocritical, [my] music does that in its own way, but I really just want this to be a utilitarian, practical, applicable type of music that, in addition to other types of you like, you can count on this one like a good, solid friend to be there for you, and I've always said that. I hope that's what it sounds like, I hope it sounds very personal, and very reliable.
KD: There are some people who have a hard time enjoying something... enjoyable...
AWK: You think so?
KD: ...or taking it seriously, taking fun seriously.
AWK: Fun is one of those tricky things. Oh my God... there's a piece of bone.
KD: [laughs] In your burrito?
AWK: Yeah, crunchy. You know how you get that every now and then? Because we all know they're not using... it's "beef and bean", and I swear to God, there might be beef in there, but the consistency of that beef is exactly the same as the bean. It's like that paste. But yeah, so, I think, one, this is just a new thing, so a lot of my reasoning as to why someone doesn't like it, or enjoy it, ultimately comes back to that. Yes, there're other reasons, maybe like you were mentioning, but I think it just needs to prove itself. It's my responsibility. I take full responsibility, always have, always will, that this is something that is going to need to be proven to people, and shown to people time and time again over the course of many years and many albums until it's understood. I don't think there's any right way to understand it, but hopefully as long as you enjoy it, that's right. I do think, in terms of taking things seriously, taking fun seriously is one of the more tricky things, because it seems like it contradicts itself, but it certainly makes sense to me. It's about having priorities and choices, and deciding how you're going to do things, and it takes effort just like everything else. People would find it very easy to believe that you were very serious about being a microbiologist, for example. "Of course, that's very intricate, and it's very hard work. It's very specific and detailed." Being serious about having fun seems to be the opposite of itself, an oxymoron, but when you're committed and determined to enjoy more things than you dislike in life - then you're taking fun seriously. When you determine to make the most of what you're given, and what you have, then you're taking fun seriously. When you say, "I'm going to be stronger than that. I'm not going to let myself or other things get me down, or spoil the good times I'm able to have", then you're taking fun seriously. When you have the strength and the courage to believe in something that can ultimately make you feel good, when you have the strength and the courage to let yourself smile and be happy, and enjoy your times, even when things are intense in the state of the world is very morbid and there's a lot of anxiety. When you realize that, for all those people who have died for various reasons - good and bad - that you're still living and that you're going to make something with that time you have left, then you're taking having fun seriously. It's really about appreciating life, and it might be hard for some to see that through a bloody nose, or through a song about having a party, but it's just that we need to have the strength to enjoy ourselves. Kindof like the strength to be weak, like a real tough dude would say "I don't cry. Tough dudes don't cry." but in my opinion the stronger person is the person that would allow themselves to cry, because they know that it takes more courage to take a risk, and to believe in something - especially something that makes you feel good, that is sincere. To believe in that does take a risk, because anything that can make you happy can also bring you down. Again, I have to earn people's trust by proving to them that it's okay. If there're people out there that have already gotten to that point, and do enjoy this music, I trust that there's other people out there that still can, and hopefully this album and the ones to follow will accomplish that.
KD: Whenever I've met someone who has that outlook on life, they've developed it because they had an epiphany at some point in their life. Something happened to them, and they realized that the meaning of life is to enjoy yourself. Was there one specific moment that made you realize that?
AWK: Well, it might not be as romantic, or cinematic, to say that I had many smaller moments that added up to that. In some ways I wish there was like a big explosive moment, but it was lots of things that were just hinting at it. I think with something that's that... To me that's a pretty heavy thing, it's a big deal, and I might not have been to able to see it, it might have been a little intimidating, to have it happen all at once. For example, it took things like moving to New York, where I was a very, very, very unimportant, small dude, in the sea of a very, very big, powerful town. For some reason that, instead of intimidating me, although it did at first put me into check, but ultimately it seemed like, "Well, you know what? I have two choices. I can be really freaked out..." Before, when I was in my home town in Michigan, I certainly didn't know everything, but you kindof end up feeling [you do], you kindof feel like you're running the show - even though I certainly was not, but that's what I felt in my mind. So it took getting to a much larger pond until I could realize that I really didn't amount to anything, and that I had a lot to do. I think that because I was intimidated by that, it made me step up my whole... I really had been kindof lazy, and I started thinking less lazy, and realizing that every day could be the last. I don't know when that first hit me, it's just an obvious truth, but it never would've entered into my mind when it came to decision-making until I moved to New York. So I said, "I want to always be doing something." I was always active in Michigan, but in New York a lot of things that I would've been too afraid to do I tried to do. I tried to put myself in as many uncomfortable, awkward situations as I could, completely not shelter myself, and not allow myself to hide out in a comfortable world that I created, but rather just try to live out in the world that was there, and ultimately would force me to step it up and grow, learn more, get stronger, get smarter. I think that happened, and it was just that realization that maybe anything isn't possible, but it's certainly possible to try anything. It just seemed like, "Why not try? What's the worst that could happen?" Ultimately the worst thing I could imagine was not trying something, or dying realizing that I wished I would've done this or that, or just seeing opportunities slip away without attempting to do anything with them. That's what started me working really hard on this music was just realizing... What do I have to lose? I'm going to put all my eggs in one basket and work really, really hard. The idea of failure, or criticism, or even my own frustrations weren't enough to stop me from at least trying, because I knew that that was my true sign of success - that I was attempting something. There were lots of little things, like getting mugged. I used to steal from all my jobs that I worked at when I was younger, and shoplift, things like that, do a lot of bad pranks. I got mugged in New York at knifepoint, as many people have, the first year I was there, and I said "You know what? I'm never going to steal. I'm never going to take anything that isn't mine ever again." It was very simple, but I needed something like that to happen before I saw those things. Sometimes the only way you can make a decision is through what someone else does, and by seeing a lot of not-so-good people, people that I didn't want to be like, I was able to decide who I wanted to be, and I decided I wanted to be good. I wanted to do the right stuff. If you really think about it, you're constantly making a decision at every moment in your life, you can decide what to do, and it's usually as simple as two or three choices. One of those is the right thing to do, and it's usually pretty clear what that is. It doesn't mean that's what you're always going to do, and it doesn't even mean that you should feel bad if you don't do it - but I like the idea of trying to break the world, which is very confusing and chaotic, down into some very basic things that at least I can control. I think it's actually a common human trait that when you're feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or just really freaked out by the world around, if you can at least get some control over yourself, or over your own decision-making, then at least you have control over that... You can't control the chaos that's happening around you, but you can control how you're going to live in it. It was as simple as "Should I do this, or do that? Well, doing this is the right thing, doing that I don't think is the right thing, so I'm going to do this." Even if it wasn't the most fun thing at that moment, even if it wasn't the thing that I wanted to do, it was what I decided was right. It's all about starting with yourself, and trying to make the best of yourself, and then ultimately that will help others around you. It was a very exciting thing to come to terms with that. To shelter myself, or fool myself into thinking that if I just exist in this isolated bubble of a private existence, in a private world where the stuff that I liked, and the stuff that I believed in could be protected - and that the things I made could be doled out to those that I felt deserved it, it all was just based on fear. When I decided "I'm going to live in the real world. Not a little world where people can't get to me, but in the world. That will make me a stronger, better person." Maybe I won't get there overnight, but maybe by the time I'm an old man I'll start to have that all figured out.
KD: Not to get all Zen on you, but trying to change yourself is a lot harder than trying to change other people.
AWK: I think to change yourself might be harder than trying to change the way that you fit into the way things are. Meaning, if you feel like you don't work hard enough on the responsibilities that you're given, if that's one thing that you think you should do. It's a lot easier to blame others, or blame the responsibilities you've been given, or say "I'm going to isolate myself so I don't have to do those responsibilities" then trying to hold up to them.
KD: How was Warped Tour?
AWK: Absolutely fantastic. It's quite a production. The people that put that up and take it down every day are really mind-blowing. Considering how many people are there, how many things they're trying to pull off, I was blown away that it went off as well as it did, and it wouldn't be able to happen that way if it wasn't for the overwhelming belief that so many people have in it. It's really a labor of love, and I'm not speaking for myself, but for the organizers. This guy, Kevin Lyman, who runs the whole thing, they go out of their way to set up this thing that's going to bring as much pleasure to as many people as possible: the audience, the bands, and the crews, and they succeed a little better every year. We were very honored to be part of it this time around.
KD: Who did you see on this tour that you really liked?
AWK: There're tons of bands... We're actually touring now with one of the bands we met there, a band called Vaux, and they're really awesome. Amazing drummer. Another band that I was really excited about getting to meet, and actually see, because I'd heard a lot about them over the years, was the Dropkick Murphys. I really liked them, and we really hit it off. I got to play with them in their hometown, in Boston, and sing one of their songs onstage with them. That was a great honor as well. Ultimately the thing that I was most happy with was to be able to interact closely, and hang out with, the audience.
KD: Back to The Wolf. What's the significance of that title?
AWK: There's not really any significance. I think anybody can appreciate the intensity of that creature, and how it has a... Y'know, I was working with a lot of different titles. I've been telling people the basic story, which is that I had a list of about two hundred titles. By the end of the album recording, it was really time to pick one, and I really hadn't decided on one a hundred percent. There were a lot of titles that were these really big, longer phrases, real heavy, kindof criptic but... intense, demanding, and attempting to sum up all of the songs, and speak for the lyrics in one phrase. I really wanted something like that, but then I thought, "Y'know what? That's kindof defeating the point. Each one of these songs is gonna say what it's gonna say, and they'll speak for themselves. I don't need to try to wrap it all up in one simple title." So I ended up picking the one that I just thought was cool. That really doesn't have much to do with the album, or the songs, and I certainly am not calling myself The Wolf, or anyone else for that matter. I'm just talking about the actual thing, looks like a dog and creeps around in the woods. I just thought that was a very simple, very easy to remember, word that everyone was familiar with, but at the same time it had a lot of power and energy. That's kindof all it needs to be. Not everything needs to fit together like a puzzle. Not everything needs to mean something. Y'know what I mean? I have these tattoos on my arm that are just these lines, these straight lines, they actually look like just a scratch or something, and people, as they should, as I would, ask, "What do they mean?" and I say, "They don't mean anything." Sometimes you could just have something, and it doesn't need to mean anything, just like some of these songs. Yes, they have lyrics, they have things they're talking about, but look, if it feels good, and you enjoy it - that's as much as it needs to mean. We're just so curious, and we want to have as much knowledge about something as we can, but sometimes the beauty of something is just that it feels good - and that's all the knowledge we need about it. It's just something that we enjoy.
Andrew W.K.'s new album, The Wolf, will be in stores September 9th. More information on the man and his music can be found at AndrewWK.com
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[Edited on Sep 24, 2003 by JimmyLeeVanHalen]