Andrew W.K.

Infobox musical artist
Name = Andrew W.K.


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1979|5|9
Origin = Stanford, California, U.S. (born)
Ann Arbor, Michigan (raised)
Instrument = vocals
guitar
bass guitar
drums
piano
keyboards
Genre = Hard rock
Piano rock
Heavy metal
Punk rock
Occupation = Musician
Producer
Years_active = 1998-present
Label = Hanson, Mercury, Island, Bulb
Associated_acts = Wolf Eyes, To Live and Shave in L.A.
URL = [http://www.andrewwk.com/ Official Site]

Andrew W.K. (born Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier) (May 9, 1979) is a rock musician from the United States.

Biography

Andrew W.K. was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan.At age 4, he began learning classical piano at The University of Michigan School of Music. He attended the private college preparatory Greenhills School for middle school before attending the alternative Community High School from 1993-1997, where he studied jazz keyboards. [David Enders, “Ann Arbor Rocker Having Fun Making Music His Way,” Associated Press State & Local Wire, 30 Aug. 2002.] His father is Professor James E. Krier, a well-known legal scholar at the University of Michigan Law School and co-author of the widely used Dukeminier & Krier Property casebook.cite web|url=http://www.andrewwk.com/index.php?page=about.php|title=ABOUT ANDREW W.K.|andrewwk.com|accessdate=2008-01-03]

Early work

In 1993, when he was 13, Andrew joined the band Reverse Polarity. His first public recording, "Mr. Surprise", came out on a compilation released by the Westside Audio Laboratories label (now known as Ypsilanti Records) out of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Over the next 5 years he was in many different bands in Michigan such as Lab Lobotomy, The Pterodactyls, Music Band, Mr. Velocity Hopkins, Kathode, The Portly Boys, Kangoo, The Beast People, Stormy Rodent, a later iteration of Scheme, the Malt Lickers, Isis and Werewolves, and Sucking Coeds. In 1994 he also started a solo project titled Ancient Art of Boar, or AAB, which ended in 1998. Later in 1998, his first official solo record, "Room To Breathe", was released on the Brighton (later Ann Arbor) label Hanson Records. The release was cassette-only and only 35 copies were made. Another tape, titled "You Are What You Eat" was supposed to be released shortly after, but the masters went missing. [ However, a single copy of "You Are What You Eat" was recently discovered by a fan who had purchased a used copy of "Room To Breathe" and found that the tape "You Are What You Eat" was also dubbed onto the tape. The fan sent a copy of the music to Andrew's management. Andrew confirmed the recording as "You Are What You Eat", and vowed to re-release both records in the future.] That same year, he appeared on the Hanson Records compilation "Labyrinths & Jokes". The track appearing on the compilation was a portion of the soundtrack Andrew made for "Poltergeist", a movie made by Aaron Dilloway and himself. The whole soundtrack also went missing for over 10 years, but it too has recently re-surfaced.

In 2000, he released his first EP, "AWKGOJ" on Bulb Records, which would be the first solo release under the Andrew W.K. name (he appeared under the name on a Wolf Eyes EP earlier that year). He released one more EP on this label, "Party Til You Puke", before moving on to Island Def Jam.

olo career

Andrew released his first album on Island, "I Get Wet", in 2001. The album is known for its recognizable 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. "I Get Wet" soon rose to the #1 position on Billboard's 'Heatseekers' list. Fact|date=January 2008 Andrew W.K. joined Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest that summer. The track "Party Hard" was featured as the lead track for EA Sports video game Madden NFL 2003 and on the Girls Gone Wild Music Volume 1 CD. The opening track, "It's Time To Party", was featured in commercials for the video game Nascar Thunder 2004, Hotwire.com, Coors Beer, Expedia.com, and several movie and TV soundtracks. "She Is Beautiful" was used in the Disney remake of Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and also in early Nintendo GameCube advertisements. His track "Don't Stop Living in the Red" is featured in a Target commercial. It was also featured during KSDK-TV's coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005. In 2002, he re-recorded his song "We Want Fun" from AWKGOJ for the soundtrack of "" that also had a video made, filmed and directed by Jeff Tremaine with additional camera work by Spike Jonze. [cite web
url= http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1457644/20020917/andrew_w_k.jhtm
title= Andrew W.K., Slayer, Ramones On 'Jackass' Soundtrack
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In late 2003, W.K. released "The Wolf". The album featured Andrew playing all the instruments on the recording (he had his full live band play on "I Get Wet"). It spawned the singles "Tear it Up" and "Never Let Down" in the US (both had videos made, but only "Tear It Up" had a full retail single released) and the song "Long Live the Party" was a minor hit in Japan. "The Wolf" has many overdubbed instrument parts."The Wolf" was not as commercially successful as "I Get Wet". On tour for "The Wolf", Andrew was injured on stage and broke his foot. After the concert, he signed autographs from the ambulance. Not wanting to let his fans down, he performed the remainder of the tour in a wheelchair.

A live-concert DVD entitled "Who Knows?" was released in February 2006. Similar to his audio recording the DVD combined many sources into single events - a technique Andrew refers to as "Synch Stacking". Andrew presented five screenings of the movie in New York City and Hollywood, in February and April, 2006. He also attended a screening of the movie at the University of Michigan Law School, presented by his father.

In March 2006, during an episode of Sex Pistols' guitarist Steve Jones' radio show, "Jonesy's Jukebox", Andrew W.K. debuted a new song "Vagabond".

In his early years, Andrew had signed an agreement with his creative manager which contractually bound him to certain terms, including the rights to the ANDREW W.K. name, and music. Due to an uncongenial parting with this manager in late 2005, Andrew was contractually prohibited from releasing CDs of his new music in the United States. "Close Calls with Brick Walls" was released in Japan and South Korea in July 2006. The Korean version includes 4 bonus tracks, while the special edition Japanese version contains a bonus DVD with footage found nowhere else in addition to the 18 tracks included in other releases.

In the US a vinyl-only edition of the album was released on Load Records in August 2007, as vinyl was a convenient way around the USA compact disc restrictions.

elf-help & motivational performance

In 2005, Andrew announced that he would begin performing as a self-help, new age motivational speaker. He accepted invitations to speak at Yale University, New York University, The University of Wisconsin, Carnegie Mellon University, The Cooper Union, Western Missouri State University, and Northeastern University.

During 2007, Andrew performed a series of unpredictable happenings as part of his "One Man Show" tour. Each event began with Andrew improvising on the piano alone on a stage before they frequently evolved into giant parties, with most of the audience dancing on stage with Andrew, themselves playing the piano and singing the lyrics.

In May 2007, Andrew announced that, in addition to the previously promised album "Young Lord", he will release another album titled "Eberwhite". A solo piano album is also expected.

Other work

Outside of his solo work, Andrew also performs with and produces music for the avant-garde ensemble To Live and Shave in L.A.. He first appeared on the band's 2004 release "God and Country Rally!". He co-produced their 2006 studio album "Noon and Eternity", and appears on the group's other 2006 release, the "chronological remix" project "Horoscopo: Sanatorio de Moliere".

In late 2006, Andrew re-worked his song "Fun Night" into a theme song for the Arizona Sundogs, a hockey team. The song was titled "Sundogs (It Just Got Hotter)". [http://andrewwk.com/content/Sun_Dogs_Theme.mp3] The song also appeared in the film "Old School" during one of the party scenes.

In September 2007 Andrew's piano playing was featured on a jazz fusion CD release "électricité" with Mike Pachelli on guitar, Rich Russo on drums, and Dennis Harding on bass for Los Angeles based Fullblast Recordings (2007). [ [http://mikepachelli.com/ Mike Pachelli ::..::PACHELLI PRODUCTIONS::..:: ] ]

Also in September 2007, Andrew appeared as one of the 78 drummers in the 77 Boadrum concert held in New York City which was organised by Japanese noise rock group Boredoms.

Andrew has also performed and recorded electric bass guitar for the artist Baby Dee, whom he met while playing live as the bassist of Current 93. Andrew played bass and drums on Dee's "Safe Inside The Day" album, and performed with her group at a 2008 show Manhattan. Andrew has performed bass guitar with Current 93 at the Donau Festival in Krems, Austria in April 2007, the UK All Tomorrow's Parties festival in May 2007, and the European tour in April 2008.

TV and film appearances

Andrew has made multiple appearances on MTV, MTV2, and VH1, hosting shows such as "The Most Outrageous Frontmen", with Johnny Knoxville and "Backstage Pass" at the Warped Tour. Andrew was the focus of a televised live performance at Cleveland's Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame, broadcast on MTV. He's also made appearances on the shows, "I Love The 90's", "I Love The New Millennium", "I Love The Holidays", "Best Week Ever" and "The Osbournes". Andrew was also featured on a popular MTV show called "Crashing With Andrew W.K.", which documented Andrew's visit to a girl's dorm at North Carolina Central University.

In 2004, Andrew had a television show on MTV2 titled "Your Friend, Andrew W.K.". In the series, fans would write letters to Andrew, asking for his help. Andrew would pick certain letters and go to visit them. The series lasted 1 season, and had 9 episodes each about 9 or 10 minutes in length. During the filming of the show, Andrew was in a car crash but sustained no serious injuries.

Andrew has performed on TV shows such as "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", "Last Call with Carson Daly", "Saturday Night Live", and the "Spike TV Video Game Awards". His most recent performance was with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". He recently had a cameo in the show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", singing "Party Party Party", a song that combines elements of multiple previous Andrew W.K. songs. [http://andrewwk.com/content/PartyPartyParty.mp3] The song was released on "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters the Soundtrack". Andrew's only confirmed movie role is in "Punk Rock Holocaust", playing himself.

Andrew was also featured on the finale of the third season of "" as Kathy's date in New York. The two attended one of Andrew's performance art shows.

"Late Night with Conan O'Brien" has twice featured Andrew as a sit-down interview guest - the first in 2003 to speak about the "Your Friend, Andrew W.K." show, and then again in 2007, to speak about his motivational performance tours.

Andrew is a frequent guest on the Fox News late-night program, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld.

Andrew has also been a featured interviewer and guest on "The Daily Show", "DirecTV", and mobile telephone network, GoTV.

Andrew also appears on the vocal-instructional DVD "The Zen of Screaming". [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1085885/ The Zen of Screaming (2007) (V) ] ] .

Music producer

In addition to producing his own music on the albums "I Get Wet", "The Wolf" and "Close Calls with Brick Walls", Andrew has continued to expand his musical output to include producing and mixing music for other artists as well as working on special commercial and corporate music projects. These include the production of music exclusively for commercial use on television and radio.

In 2008, Andrew gained new notoriety for recording a song called "The McLaughlin Groove", [http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-683145.mp3] based on an exchange between Pat Buchanan and John McLaughlin on the political television show "The McLaughlin Group". The song was commissioned by WNYC syndicated NPR radio show "Fair Game", on which Andrew has appeared for interviews. [ [http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/fairgame/.jukebox?action=viewMedia&mediaId=683137 Fair Game: The McLaughlin Groove ] ]

In 2004, Andrew recorded a television jingle for Kit Kat candy bars, and rewrote their trademark "Give Me A Break" slogan into a new song. The recording appeared in a variety of 30 second, 45 second, and 1 minute commercials, broadcast on television worldwide. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kat]

"I avoided working with other people for many years, partly out of paranoia, and partly out of an earnest desire to stand on my own. After a while, I got tired of thinking that way, and it just seemed natural to do the opposite of what I had done before. I like making music with other people. I can still make music by myself too." [ [http://www.andrewwk.com/production.php Andrew W.K. | Production ] ] .

Andrew's earliest external production work was with the group Wolf Eyes, on their now out-of-print 12" EP "Fortune Dove". Since then, he's chosen to work on a select and seemingly random set of projects. Most recently, he completed production and mixing on the album, "Through The Panama", by Brooklyn, NY based three-piece art rock band, Sightings. The album was jointly released by Load Records and Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! label in October 2007.

At the end of 2007 Andrew accepted an invitation to produce a new album, "Repentance", for veteran reggae artist Lee "Scratch" Perry. The two had met when Andrew interviewed Perry for DirecTV. The album is slated for release in 2008. [cite news|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003679838|title=Perry, W.K. Make Unlikely Recording Team|publisher=Billboard|quote=The two artists met in Austin earlier this year when W.K. interviewed Perry for a DirecTV special about South by Southwest. .... They met again a few months later in New York at a taping for W.K.'s in-development TV series "Smokeshow." "I ended up meeting people from Narnack that night and I expressed my admiration for Lee," W.K. says. "I asked what he was doing for his next album and said I'd like to be involved. Some time went by and then they asked me to produce."|date=2007-11-30|accessdate=2007-12-04|last=Wood|first=Mikael|location=Los Angeles]

On February 20, 2008, Andrew released an exclusive ringtone commissioned by Universal Music Japan for the Japanese mobile phone market. The song is called, "Sonnna no Kankei Ne Rock" (そんなの関係ねぇロック), which celebrates the country's newest popular catch-phrase, "Sonna no Kankei Ne, Hai Oppappi!" This translates to, "I Don't Give A Damn, Yes Ocean Pacific Peace!" The ringtone was first announced on a Japanese national T.V. program called "Music Station" and had over 3,500 downloads that day. Cumulative sales of ringtone are over 20,000. Andrew's song debuted at No.1 in Label Mobile's International daily ringtone chart. Label Mobile is the biggest mobile retailer in Japan. [ [http://www.andrewwk.com/news.php Andrew W.K. | News ] ]

Nightclub and live music venue

In Spring of 2008, Andrew and three partners opened a multi-level nightclub and live concert hall in downtown Manhattan, New York City. The venue is named "Santos' Party House". The space is open 7 nights a week for dancing and music. It was one of the only new venues in New York City to be granted a liquor license and a cabaret license. The cabaret license means people can legally dance until 4am. [ [http://www.timeout.com/newyork/tonyblog/?p=3370 Time Out New York | TONY Blog ] ]

His backing band consists of drummer Donald Tardy, guitarists Jimmy Coup, Erik Payne and Frank Werner and bassist Gregg Roberts.

Discography

Albums

*"I Get Wet" (2001, Island Records) #84 (US Billboard 2002) #1 (Heatseekers 2002); UK #71
*"The Wolf" (2003, Island Records) #61 (US Billboard 2003); UK #152
*"Close Calls With Brick Walls" (2006, Japanese Import / S. Korean Import)

EPs

*"AWKGOJ" "Girls Own Juice" (EP) (2000, Bulb Records)
*"Party Til You Puke" (EP) (2000, Bulb Records)

ingles

*"Room To Breathe" (Under his full name, Andrew Wilkes-Krier) (1998, Hanson Records)
*""You Are What You Eat" (single), " (Under his full name, Andrew Wilkes-Krier) (1998, Hanson Records)
* "Party Hard" (October 2001) #19 (UK Top 40 Chart)
* "She Is Beautiful" (February 2002) #26 (UK Top 40 Chart)
* "We Want Fun" (December 2002)
* "Fun Night" (2002)
* "Tear It Up" (July 2003)
* Specialty Radio Sampler (August 2003) (including tracks "Tear It Up", "Your Rules", and "Never Let Down")
* "Never Let Down" (September 2003)
* "Long Live the Party" (2003, Japan Only)
* "Son Nano Kankei Neh Rock" (2008, Japan Only Mobile Ringtone)
* "KISEKI" (2008, Japan Only Mobile Ringtone) (GReeeeN cover)

DVDs

* "Tear It Up" DVD (2003) - Includes A.W.K. music videos and concert footage
* "The Wolf" Bonus DVD (2003) - Japanese import version, includes exclusive behind-the-scenes footage
* "Who Knows?" (2006) - Feature length live concert movie
* "Close Calls With Brick Walls" Bonus DVD (2006) - Japanese import version, includes exclusive A.W.K. footage

Film and television soundtracks

* "Out Cold" feat. "She Is Beautiful"
* "" feat. "We Want Fun"
* "Stealing Harvard" feat. "Party Hard"
* "Old School" feat. "Fun Night"
* "Freaky Friday" feat "She Is Beautiful"
* "Masters of Horror Soundtrack" feat. "You Will Remember Tonight"
* "" feat. "She Is Beautiful"
* "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack" feat. "Party Party Party"

Compilation appearances

* "Labyrinths & Jokes" (Hanson Records Release HN050) Song: Andrew Wilkes-Krier (Andrew also appeared on the Isis and Werewolves track and The Beast People track).
* "Ozzfest 2002 Live Album" feat. "She Is Beautiful" (Live with Kelly Osbourne)
* "Take Action! Vol 4" feat. Spoken PSA Intro
* "Mosh Pit On Disney" feat. "Mickey Mouse Club March"
* "Maxim Rocks!" Magazine Compilation feat. "She Is Beautiful"
* "Girls Gone Wild Music, Vol. 1" feat. "Party Hard"
* "Hard to Get V1 Island Rarities" feat. "We Want Fun" (AWKGOJ version)
* "Warped Tour 2003 Tour Compilation" feat. "Ready to Die"
* "Serve 2: The Hard Rock Benefit Album" feat. "This Is My World"

Production credits

* "Fortune Dove EP" - by Wolf Eyes (2000) Album Producer/Mixer
* "Noon And Eternity" - by To Live And Shave In L.A. (2006) Album Producer/Mixer
* "Through The Panama" - by Sightings (2007) Album Producer/Mixer

Other musical appearances

* "électricité" - by Mike Pachelli - featuring Andrew W.K. on piano (2007)
* "We Sing Of Only Blood Or Love" - by Dax Riggs - featuring Andrew W.K. remixed song "Dethbryte" (2007)
* "Safe Inside The Day" - by Baby Dee - featuring Andrew W.K. on bass guitar and drums (2008)
* "Never Give Up" - by mc chris - featuring Andrew W.K. on backing vocals (2008)

External links

* [http://www.andrewwk.com AndrewWK.com] - Official site
*myspace|andrewwk|Andrew W.K.
* [http://www.awkmedia.com AWK Media] - Andrew W.K. rare music resource
* [http://www.santospartyhouse.com SantosPartyHouse.com] - Official site
*myspace|santospartyhouse|Santos' Party House

References