Andrew WK is a modern day guru disguised as a globetrotting rock star. His message is one of living life to the fullest, seeing the best in everything and the power of positive thinking.
“I could say the words, ‘It could be easy,’ but the other side to that is, ‘It’s not easy.’ The very ability to consider the duality of two options in any situation is the awareness that there is another way and that way is change,” he explains. “I’ve seen people who purely believed that there was no difference between the reality of what they considered as possible and the reality that was. It’s all based on our own choices. It’s taking complete subjective perspective and saying, ‘It all exists in my mind.’ If I see it, I’ve made it.”
Andrew’s previous three releases—I Get Wet, The Wolf and Close Calls with Brick Walls—have all been classified as metal but would best be described as joyous rock. “There’s no word other than joy that I could use to describe what I was going through when making those albums. I didn’t like that word at first because it was too exposing. I was thinking of a more physical sensation that couldn’t be described, which is why the music needs to exist at all—so that it can stimulate a reaction equitable with that feeling,” says Andrew. “As a people, we’ve become dependent on words as a means to express ideas, and music can be a way of conveying emotions and ideas without language. That concept didn’t resonate with me until I was able to communicate with people who I otherwise wouldn’t be able to communicate with through music.”
Currently, Andrew is working on two new albums, tentatively titled Young Lord and The Carrier. He’s recorded a lot of material that will end up on one of the two albums, and a subsequent third disc will be comprised of material that’s entirely new. “I’m working on the third one with lyricists and with other people in a capacity that goes entirely against the way I’ve worked in the past,” he explains.
He’s also working on a television show, a project that he prefers to remain secretive about—not because he doesn’t want to set expectations that he can’t reach but because he doesn’t want people to know what to expect. “If I got at all specific, it’d take the surprise out of it.”
In the meantime Andrew WK will be a guest DJ at the weekly High Voltage Party at Sutra. “I’ve DJed before for Eastvillageradio.com and had a wonderful time DJing, but I didn’t do much of the controlling because I hadn’t spent enough time with the equipment, so I had my friend Spencer Sweeney help me,” he says. “We played a P-Funk set and got real heavy into it. After about an hour, we were into the Tales Of Kidd Funkadelic, which has an amazing keyboard solo. A nearby restaurant that was playing the music said that the song was so intense that it was overloading, so we had to play something more upbeat.”
For the High Voltage party, Andrew’s contemplating bringing a drum machine and a keyboard and playing along with some of the records. Simply put, Andrew plans to play what feels best, which is also how he approaches his own life.
His words and music have inspired many of his fans—who flock to his shows, purchase his albums and find solace in his attitude, which, at first, he found bothersome. “Someone comparing me to a motivational speaker used to annoy me.
People would say, ‘You’re really positive and that’s inspiring.’ That used to weird me out. As I became more comfortable with explaining and expressing what feels best to me, I began hoping that to be able to set an example for others to do what feels best for them.”
Jan. 24, High Voltage Party at the Sutra Lounge, 16 1st Ave. (betw. 1st & 2nd Sts.), 212-677-9477; doors at 10, no cover.
