Andrew WK

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Andrew WK (November 2006)

Andrew Wilkes-Krier , known as Andrew WK (born May 9, 1979 in Stanford , California ) is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist and producer, who is known among other things as the "King of Partying".

biography

Early years and first successes (1998–2000)

Andrew Wilkes-Krier grew up in Ann Arbor , Michigan and received classical piano lessons from the age of four. As a second instrument he learned drums; later guitar and bass were added. After playing in a few local bands in high school , he moved to New York in 1998 to begin a career as a musician. The abbreviation of his name for Andrew WK comes from his former elementary school teacher, who called him that to distinguish him from two classmates who were also named Andrew.

Because he made many contacts in the Michigan music scene in his youth, he was able to release his first EP Girls Own Juice through the local music label Bulb Records in early 2000 , which he composed and recorded on his own. This gave him local attention straight away and fell through his management into the hands of the Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl , who then enabled Andrew to appear in the opening act of the Foo Fighters. Furthermore, the title song of the EP could be heard in an episode of the MTV series Jackass , which is always trying to support young musicians in the field of rock. In the same year Andrew WK released his second EP Party Til You Puke on Bulb Records . Through this, Lewis Largent , who worked in the A&R department of the major label Island Records , became aware of him and attended one of his concerts. Shortly thereafter, Andrew WK was signed to Island Records and began recording his first studio album. In order to better perform his music live, Andrew put together a band made up of guitarists Jimmy Coup, Erik Payne and Frank Werner, obituary drummer Donald Tardy , and bassist Gregg Roberts.

I Get Wet , international breakthrough and The Wolf (2001-2005)

After the debut concert with his band in London in October 2001 , Andrew WK released his first single Party Hard on October 29, 2001 , which made it to number 19 in the UK charts and is still his best-known song to this day. His album I Get Wet followed on November 13, 2001 and made it to number 1 in the American Heatseekers charts, which were designed for musical newcomers, and sold around 300,000 copies in the USA alone . Thanks to these successes, Andrew also managed to gain a foothold in Europe, Australia and Japan. Due to his success in Great Britain, the British NME even honored him with a cover story with the slogan "Bigger Than Jesus". The album polarized the critics not only because of its eye-catching cover, which was shot by photographer Roe Ethridge, but also because many did not know how to classify whether the songs on it, which mostly deal with the topic of parties and combine elements of punk and metal , were meant seriously or are joking. After the release of his second single She Is Beautiful Andrew embarked on an extensive tour in which he played and played at all concerts of the Ozzfest Tour 2002 and the Vans Warped Tour 2003, as well as numerous concerts in Great Britain, Europe and Japan made a name for his very energetic live performances. He also contributed the theme song of the soundtrack to the 2002 movie Jackass: The Movie with We Want Fun and also released the song as a single, which made it even more popular.

On September 9, 2003 Andrew WK released his second studio album The Wolf on Island Records , which reached number 61 on the Billboard 200 in the US and number 14 on the album charts in Japan. It was accompanied by the singles Tear It Up and Never Let Down . The album, which largely retains the sound and production of I Get Wet, but sounds more mature and grown-up, received mostly positive reviews from critics. Following the release, Andrew WK went on another major tour and played concerts in North America, Great Britain, Europe and Japan. At one of the concerts Andrew sprained his ankle and then played some concerts on the tour in a wheelchair because he did not want to cancel the performances. At the end of 2003 guitarist Jimmy Coup left the band and was replaced by Ken Andrews, who had been employed as a roadie until then , and drummer Donald Tardy joined the comeback of his former band Obituary in 2004 and was replaced by his drum tech Rich Russo. After Andrew WK had appeared on tours including Late Night with Conan O'Brien , Last Call with Carson Daly and Saturday Night Live , he received his own TV series on MTV2 in 2004 under the name Your Friend, Andrew WK The Tour was added to the album meanwhile until 2005, after which Andrew WK began to work on his third studio album. For this he first took singing lessons from Melissa Cross , during which he met Cherie Lily, who joined his band and married him in 2008. Andrew also released his first live DVD on February 7, 2006 under the name Who Knows ?, which contains excerpts from his concerts from 2002-2004.

Close Calls With Brick Walls , internal problems and their solutions (2006–2012)

The recordings for his third studio album were completed in 2006, but Andrew WK was unable to release it worldwide due to discrepancies within his management. On July 5, 2006, Close Calls With Brick Walls finally only appeared in Japan, where it reached number 30 on the album charts, and Andrew also released the single Not Going To Bed there . The album differed more stylistically from its predecessors in that the music was more oriented towards a traditional rock sound, was more experimental and Andrew no longer shouted the lyrics , but sang. Due to the legal problems of his management, Andrew WK was also barely able to play concerts during this time, he only appeared at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan in 2006 and played a single concert in the USA. From 2007 onwards, Andrew WK performed live only irregularly, mostly alone with his keyboard and a backing track instead of with his band. Instead, he appeared more frequently as a producer of other musicians and also began a career as a motivational speaker, during which he lectured at various universities in the USA. However, he published in 2008 in Japan, a best-of album under the name The Very Best So Far , and an album of cover versions of popular J-pop -songs, entitled The Japan Covers: Premium Collection bears around there in the Thank you fans for their years of support. In addition, another album with cover versions called Gundam Rock followed, only released in Japan .

In 2009 Andrew WK founded his own label Skyscraper Music Maker , which enabled him to release an album that consists exclusively of improvisations on the piano under the name 55 Cadillac on September 1, 2009. Finally, in 2010, the legal differences of the management of Andrew WK were settled and his third studio album Close Calls With Brick Walls was released on March 22nd, 2010 as a double album, together with a compilation of unreleased songs from previous years under the title Mother Of Mankind , published worldwide. To promote the release, the songs I Want To See You Go Wild and I'm A Vagabond were provided with a video and released as a single. Andrew WK also performed with his live band for the first time since 2007 and took part in all concerts on the Vans Warped Tour 2010.

In addition to music, Andrew attracted attention from 2009 to 2011 as the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy on the American broadcaster Cartoon Network . In 2011 he released the EP "Party All Goddamn Night" and gave other concerts. In 2012 a new edition of I Get Wet followed, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of its publication, combined with a nationwide tour and a music video for the song It's Time To Party . Guitarist Ken Andrews was replaced by Dave Pino and at some concerts the band was also supported by guitarist Justin Payne and bassist Blake Canaris.

Extra musical activities, You're Not Alone and new studio album (2013-today)

In the years that followed, Andrew WK focused on his career as a motivational speaker outside of music. In 2014 he wrote a weekly column in the American magazine The Village Voice , appeared regularly on the American television station Fox News and in 2015 received a radio show on TheBlaze Radio Network . He also ran a nightclub in New York called Santos Party House . In 2016 he started his first nationwide tour as a motivational speaker under the title The Power of Partying .

Finally, Andrew WK returned to music in 2017 and announced that he would record a new album. On March 2, 2018, he released his first studio album in many years via Sony Music under the name You're Not Alone . This made it to number 9 on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart in the USA and received positive reviews, which described the album as a successful mixture and further development of his previous works. The singles Music Is Worth Living For , Ever Again and You're Not Alone were released from the album , followed by an extensive world tour. Guitarist Frank Werner and drummer Rich Russo have since been replaced by Amanda Lepre and Clark Kegley, whom Andrew became aware of through his drum cover of the song We Want Fun on YouTube . Because of his positive musical content, Andrew WK was named Person of the Year by the American Society for Suicidology. In 2019, he said he had started work on his next studio album.

Band members

Current occupation

  • Andrew WK - vocals, piano
  • Erik Payne - guitar, backing vocals (2001-present)
  • Dave Pino - guitar, backing vocals (2012-present)
  • Amanda Lepre - guitar, backing vocals (2016-present)
  • Gregg Roberts - bass, backing vocals (2001-present)
  • Clark Kegley - drums (2016-present)
  • Cherie Lily - backing vocals (2006-present)

former members

  • Donald Tardy - drums (2000-2004)
  • Richerd Russo - drums (2004-2016)
  • Jimmy Coup - guitar, backing vocals (2000–2003)
  • Ken Andrews - guitar, backing vocals (2003-2011)
  • Frank Werner - guitar, backing vocals (2001-2013)
  • Justin Payne - guitar, backing vocals (2010-2016)
  • Blake Canaris - bass, backing vocals (2010-2016)
  • Jeff Victor - keyboard (2001-2002)
  • Derek Weiland - keyboard (2006-2007)
  • Erica ET Pino - keyboard, backing vocals (2018-2019)
  • Bryan Geisler - Stage Manager, backing vocals (2001-2005)

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK US US
2001 I get wet UK71 (1 week)
UK
US84 (8 weeks)
US
First published: November 13, 2001
2003 The wolf UK152 (1 week)
UK
US61 (1 week)
US
First published: September 9, 2003
2006 Close Calls With Brick Walls - -
First published: July 5, 2006
2018 You're not alone - US197 (1 week)
US
First published: March 2nd, 2018

More albums

  • 2008: The Very Best So Far
  • 2008: Premium Collection: The Japan Covers
  • 2009: 55 Cadillac
  • 2009: Gundam Rock
  • 2010: Mother of Mankind "Rare & Unreleased 1999-2010"

EPs

  • 1999: Girls Own Juice
  • 2000: Party Til You Puke
  • 2009: A Wild Pear (with The Evaporators)
  • 2009: We Got a Groove (with Riverboat Gamblers )
  • 2011: The Party All Goddamn Night EP

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE UK UK
2001 Party Hard
I Get Wet
DE92 (1 week)
DE
UK19 (5 weeks)
UK
First published: October 29, 2001
2002 She Is Beautiful
I Get Wet
- UK55 (2 weeks)
UK
First published: February 19, 2002
2003 We Want Fun
I Get Wet
DE75 (5 weeks)
DE
-
First published: February 2003

More singles

  • 2003: Tear It Up
  • 2003: Never Let Down
  • 2003: Long Live The Party (Japan only)
  • 2006: Not Going To Bed
  • 2010: I Want To See You Go Wild
  • 2010: I'm A Vagabond
  • 2012: It's Time To Party
  • 2018: Music Is Worth Living For
  • 2018: Ever Again
  • 2018: You're Not Alone

Video albums

  • 2006: Who Knows?

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Chart sources: DE UK US