Andrew W.K. Tells Fans and Skeptics 'I'm a Real Person'

Posted on Feb 24th 2010 11:30AM by Laura Leebove
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Throughout most of his 10-year career as a musician, TV show host and party starter, people have been skeptical about Andrew W.K., including rumors that an actor has been playing his persona for the past several years. While the entertainer has already publicly said that there has been a team of confidants, friends and family who have helped to create Andrew W.K. the performer, he took to the stage at Santos Party House, the Manhattan nightclub he co-owns, to field questions about his career and anything else on fans' minds.

Dressed in his typical all-white attire, W.K. opened the event with a scripted speech in which he explained that there are still questions he can't answer. "I understand the press wants to ask me for the details about my past and the origins of my career in the entertainment business, and I understand people want to know who I work with and who I work for," he said. "But please know that as far as I am concerned, every one of these questions and answers is a matter between my business partners and me."

It seemed that the entertainer had prepared for the worst -- a grilling about the secrets of his career -- so he was relieved to hear that most audience members were more interested in topics like his music, dark matter, clothing expenses and hair care.

W.K. stayed in character the entire time, until near the end when someone asked, "Who is Steeve Mike?" referring to the name rumored to be the person behind his career. After a long pause and shouts of "Just answer it!" and "C'mon, Andrew," W.K. said Steev Mike was the executive producer of 2001's 'I Get Wet' and W.K.'s March 23 release, 'Close Calls With Brick Walls,' and went off on a passionate rant about the accusations of him being fake.

"Some people have accused me of being a fake person or there's a fake Andrew W.K. that replaced the real Andrew W.K.," he said. "That's not true. Just because someone signed up for something or takes advice or has managers or works in entertainment or the show business with other people doesn't mean they don't have a brain, OK? It doesn't mean that they're not a real person. I'm a real person and anything that says contrary should be ignored." While this outing might have satisfied some fans or skeptics, ultimately, nothing was revealed at Santos that hadn't been said already.