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01-30 Andrew W.K Releases New Video
01-12 Andrew W.K. Drops New Single
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Not just a party animal but a party guerrilla, Andrew W.K. burst onto the scene with a hybrid of metal, pop, and dance that parodied and paidtributeto the cheesiest, sleaziest aspects of all three styles. The California-born, Michigan-bred W.K. -- the initials stand for everythingfrom "White Killer" to"Women Kum" to "Wilkes-Krier," the surnames of his mom and dad -- began classical piano lessons at age four andmoved on to playing in Detroitpunk and metal bands, including the Pterodactyls. By age 17, W.K. was recording his own material. Aftermoving to New York City a year later, hisfriends pass ...read more
Not just a party animal but a party guerrilla, Andrew W.K. burst onto the scene with a hybrid of metal, pop, and dance that parodied and paidtributeto the cheesiest, sleaziest aspects of all three styles. The California-born, Michigan-bred W.K. -- the initials stand for everythingfrom "White Killer" to"Women Kum" to "Wilkes-Krier," the surnames of his mom and dad -- began classical piano lessons at age four andmoved on to playing in Detroitpunk and metal bands, including the Pterodactyls. By age 17, W.K. was recording his own material. Aftermoving to New York City a year later, hisfriends passed his demos on to various labels, including Bulb, who released W.K.'s debut EP, GirlsOwn Juice, in early 2000 and that fall's Party Til YouPuke EP. The buzz around W.K.'s hedonistic, so-dumb-it's-smart rawk resulted in a gigopening for the Foo Fighters as well as deals with Island/DefJam in the U.S. and Mercury in the U.K.; his first major-label release was2001's anthemic Party Hard EP.
In particular, the U.K. fell in love with W.K.'s ironic trailer-trash look and sound, inspiring critical raves from NME and Kerrang! as well ashysteria athis live shows; he was hospitalized after a fan head-butted him as he crowd-surfed at his London debut at the Highbury Garage.The full-length I GetWet arrived in late 2001 in the U.K. and in spring 2002 in the U.S., where his "It's Time to Party" was used in a TVcommercial for the travel websiteexpedia.com. Andrew W.K. also gigged extensively that spring, both on his own and as part of an MTV 2package tour. He returned in 2003 with TheWolf, a bigger, lusher album than his debut that earned mixed reviews. The following year, W.K.hosted an advice show on MTV 2, Your Friend, AndrewW.K. He also maintained his busy tour schedule, and released the concert film WhoKnows? in early 2006. Andrew W.K.'s third album, Close Calls withBrick Walls, was released in Japan and South Korea that summer, andwas issued in the U.S. as a vinyl-only album by Load Records in 2007. Thatsummer, he also appeared as a guest star on Kathy Griffin'stelevision show My Life on the D List. That year, he also produced the Lee "Scratch" Perryalbum Repentance.
Andrew W.K.'s career only became more eclectic as the 2000s drew to a close. In 2008 alone, W.K. founded a Manhattan club, Santo'sParty House;performed with the Calder String Quartet; and released One-Shot Game: Covers, a collection of J-pop cover songs, and I WillChange Your Life, ananthology of his advice columns for Japanese music magazine Rockin' On. He also became a member of the groupCurrent 93, contributing bass, piano,guitar, and vocals to their 2009 album, Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain and performing on the band'stour that spring. Around that time, W.K. releasedDamn! The Mixtape, Vol. 1 and his Cartoon Network live-action demolition show DestroyBuild Destroy premiered. He also became a frequent guest onthe Fox News show Red Eye and appeared on the VH1 series The GreatDebate. In late summer 2009, his album of "spontaneous solo pianoimprovisations," 55 Cadillac, was released by the Skyscraper MusicMaker label, which also planned to give Close Calls with Brick Walls a U.S. releaseon CD. Around that time, W.K. also released GundamRock in Japan, which featured his versions of the music to the classic anime Gundam tocommemorate the series' 30th anniversary. CloseCalls with Brick Walls finally appeared on CD in wide release in 2010 as a set with Mother ofMankind, a disc of rarities and previouslyunreleased tracks. « hide |
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