Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. talks to Rock Sound about onstage grandmas, partying and new album '55 Cadillac'.

Andrew W.K. was in the country for a few days to promote his new record ‘55 Cadillac’, so Jen caught up him with him to drink afternoon tea, discuss the record and find out what it’s really like to party for a living…

You’ve just released your fourth album ’55 Cadillac’, why did you decide to release an improvised piano performance?
“Because it seemed like the worst thing I could possibly do. It’s a bad idea so it was very appealing and exciting. It seemed like a risk, it seemed like something a lot of people could get freaked out about, maybe a lot of people would get excited about. It seemed like jumping off a cliff.”

How do you plan on promoting an album that you can’t repeat live?
“That’s a good question. The album was recorded spontaneously so I’m going to try and approach these solo piano shows spontaneously. That’s the head space that I think is consistent. Even if it doesn’t sound exactly like it does on the album, I hope that the feeling of this person making up a song as they go along is there and is familiar.”

Do you think you’ll win over some new fans with it?
“I’m always excited about the idea of someone new getting into something I’m doing in a different way. I would like to get grandmothers as fans, that would be really exciting to me. I can also see classical music fans really not liking the piano record because it really isn’t that classical. It’s a classical album for people who don’t like classical music or have never heard classical music. Put it that way!”

If a grandma turned up to one of your shows, where would you tell her to stand?
“I’d like her to be on the stage with me. I think that would be the place I could protect her the most easily. She could be on display and show everybody that age is not a barrier when it comes to having fun.”



Tell us about the best party you’ve ever been to?
“Picking one is challenging for me because the great thing about partying is that every party can be the greatest party. Last night, that was the greatest party and hopefully tonight we’ll top that one. That’s really how I try to do it and so far I’ve had a pretty good track record. I’ve been able to have more fun the longer I’ve been alive because you get practice at it. You have to practice how to be happy, how to have fun, how to enjoy yourself. London has given every other city a run for its money in terms of pure joy. It’s like this city is setup to party, I really feel like that. You can walk, there’s incredible street light, there are people engaged in all sorts of activities that you can feel, even if you’re not engaged in them you can feel the presence of a lot of excitement and I’ve had some really, really, really great nights here, including the last couple of days.”

How did you find being Rock Sound’s agony uncle?
“It was amazing. It was very special to have someone ask what you think about their life, especially when it’s someone you don’t know or haven’t met. Even if a friend asks you that kind of stuff it’s a big deal because you really want to try and do your best, so I’m grateful that someone would be interested at all in what I had to say to them. I just hope that I didn’t make anybody commit suicide or more unhappy, I wanted to lift them up.”



What’s the best thing about being Andrew W.K?
“I never really could have predicted that things would turn out like this, but getting to party for a living? Well, that’s pretty hard to beat. It just so happens that the way this music or the way that my life has gone and the way that things have developed, it’s about everyone having fun, including me. I get to put this out into the world and then it comes back. If I go out, be nice and encourage people to have fun, they do that for me too. That has been extremely powerful because I wasn’t having very much fun before and I set out to do this so that I could have more fun. I wanted to be happier, I didn’t want to be depressed and angry at the world, which I was in high school. After high school I said, ‘There has got to be a better way to feel’, but I had to find some reason to do it, something bigger than me. Music and performing and going out and partying became a way that I could break that lousy feeling. The part I didn’t really expect is how doing that would bring even more back to me and spread it through to other people. It’s a great honour.”

What is your favourite Andrew W.K. song?
“It changes every day or every time I have a chance to listen to my songs. Tonight, thinking about the show, I am actually most looking forward to ‘It’s Time To Party’. I could be feeling next to death or just exhausted or sick or in a bad mood but when that song kicks in it makes it extremely hard for me to be anything other than ramped up and ready to go for it. It reminds me that every moment of every day is a sacred chance to have fun and that tomorrow, who knows what’s going to happen? It helps put me in that state of mind, the ideal state of mind which is appreciating this very second we’re alive and the fun that we can have right now. That song really does it for me.”

The album ‘55 Cadillac’ is out now on Skyscraper Music Maker.

Jen Walker