Andrew W.K. Interview: SXSW 2010

From bloody album covers to cartoon shows and motivational speaking, Andrew W.K. throws himself headlong into as many experiences as he can handle. His 2001 debut, 'I Get Wet,' provided hard-rocking party anthems for revelers across the world, and the keyboard banger still launches intense music, behind a full band or as a solo pianist, to the airwaves. As he readied for the release of a new double album and the start of his next tour, which kicks off ahead of SXSW in New York on March 16, he conversed with Spinner about legends, wah-wah pedals and why humiliating yourself isn't such a bad thing.

Why do you use the name Andrew W.K.?

My last name is Wilkes-Krier. And, actually, I wasn't the first one to shorten it: That was my teachers, not only to make it easier to write but to differentiate me from all the other Andrews. When I was deciding on what to do, I wanted to be a solo act. And when I've loved a band I've loved the individuals within the band and the adventure that they were having. I wanted people to be able to identify with me and I just thought it was easier to do that when it was presented as one person.

So what got you started in music?

My parents asked me if I would like to take piano lessons, and I was about 4-1/2 years old, and we had just moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., where [my dad] was teaching at the University of Michigan, and they have this program called the pedagogy program, which is graduate students in piano teaching young kids ... So you're getting taught by someone who's in the throes of their passion. The intensity of these teachers was so over the top that it just, it threw me into the depths of pure musical experience. I felt these waves of physical sensation during these classes, usually while one of the teachers was playing because they were so good, and I said there's something going on there, I mean it was like an orgasm, really!

What were your musical influences?

Well, at the beginning it was those piano teachers. It was learning songs with no words. It was about learning melody and rhythm for the sake of it. All the rest of my influences go back to the bands that were in my town in Ann Arbor when I was growing up until I was 18.

I just happened to grow up at this time when there was an incredible amount of very talented artists living in a very small area in southeast Michigan. And I wasn't into anything else, except for what was going on there. I could go walk down the sidewalk and see the drummer of my favorite band and maybe go talk to them. That was just the most inspiring, powerful time. I grew up with these mentors that were making their dreams come true on a daily basis to the point where it was completely scary and dangerous. I just wanted to see what these people did but, they had knowledge about the world that I didn't have. I wanted to have my mind blown and these people held the key - they were doing things and living things that were beyond reach for me otherwise.

Describe your sound.

Rock 'n' roll instrumentation with piano and keyboard elements.

You're set up for concerts and a panel at SXSW this year, right?

I had agreed to participate in the panel, but I wasn't sure what the topic was gonna be. Then when I saw it's "What Becomes a Legend Most," I said, "'Well, I'm just putting out my third album; how do I know about this?" Certainly, there are many legends that I admire, so I bet I can speak on the idea of it, and someday that's what you want to accomplish. I really feel it's a little premature. I feel I've got so much more to do.

So when they pulled you for this panel, where do you think they pulled this "legend" label from?

I guess we've had a lot of amazing live shows, thanks to the audience. I guess there's enough people that have had experiences to talk about them as a legend. But when I think of legendary, I think of someone like Abraham Lincoln. Even if we've gotta go more recent I would think of someone like Afrika Bambaataa or George Clinton or Jerry Lee Lewis or Rick Rubin.

You seem really comfortable with being uncomfortable. How do you keep challenging yourself?

For me, I think it's something really natural to be uncomfortable. A lot of times, what ends up happening is I just feel like I'm humiliating myself -- people are against me, I don't know how to play keyboards, my singing is terrible, but there's something even deeper than those feelings that's telling me that this is exactly what I'm supposed to do. And now I've been doing this long enough, where I've seen the biggest mistakes I thought I ever made be the best things I ever could have done. I don't want to impress anybody except [to] do what is going to be, I guess, the most intense. I just want to feel like I'm dying out there.

Some established artists say they're not inspired by new artists just coming onto the scene, who are overproduced or just looking to get famous. What do you say to that?

What's wrong with trying to get famous? It's a side effect of performing. When you love performing, you better be able to deal with some version of fame, because just being onstage you're famous for those people for those minutes. And this whole idea of overproduced, I'll take issue with that, too. Everyone has different ways they want to sound. This is the same kind of s--- that Bob Dylan had to deal with. Or Miles Davis, "Oh, now he's using a wah-wah pedal, so all the integrity's gone." It's so absurd. All these things are instruments, so it all counts! Soulja Boy is a very good example. He made his own music, even using a sample program to make his drum beats, but the energy, the excitement, it comes through in the first five seconds. It's one of the most raw recordings I've heard in years, and that's why it doesn't matter to me what it was recorded on or what his intent is.


Sarah Sherman is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.