Saturday, January 02, 2010

Andrew WK was all made up. Contain your surprise, now.

That Andrew WK was a confection, surely, isn't that surprising? In perhaps the first interesting appearance he's made, the current WK admits that his character was designed by committee and has been played by more than one actor:

I’m not the guy you’ve seen from the I Get Wet album… I’m not that same person. I don’t just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way. It’s not the same person at all.”

You might wonder at a committee which would have created such a two dimensional and annoying character, and it's hard to see that it makes much of a difference to people who liked the result. It does remind us of the question of what the hell the NME got so bloody excited over him for in the first place, though.


5 comments:

Derek said...

Ok, he didn't admit that at all. If you watched the video you would be able to see that he was speaking metaphorically. He explicitly states so a few times.

Yes, if it was true (which it is not) it would be a surprise considering Andrew WK is one of the most genuine, humble artists of the last decade. Again, I implore you to do some research. If you watch/listen to more than just Party Hard, you'll see what an exhilarating and infectious personality he is. It's why so many people who see Andrew say "oh i really didn't like him before but...". People have these weird and unfair misconceptions that that he's a shallow one-hit wonder party boy. Just 10 minutes of delving into his background and career will show you how wrong that is.

Ginsoakedboy21 said...

This was first reported as far back as April 09. And I still think it's a publicity stunt...

Ginsoakedboy21 said...

Whoops, forgot link

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/will-real-andrew-wk-please-stand/

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

@derek
He's not a shallow one-hit wonder. He's a shallow no-hit wonder.

Yes, there's more than Party Hard. There was also Party Til You Puke, too.

Your enthusiasm for his work - the KitKat advert, that one where he went into a girl's dorm like he was a teenager, the guest appearances on The Osbournes - is touching, but, frankly, the world only needs one Har Mar Superstar.

"Andrew WK was created by a large group of people. They met, and I was there, and we talked about how we could come up with something that would move people. It was done in the spirit of commerce. It was done in the spirit of entertainment, which usually goes hand in hand with commerce. I was auditioned, along side many other people, to fill this role of a 'great frontman', 'a great performer'. On the one hand it may be a little scary to admit this to you all, that I may not be exactly who you thought I was, and that the guy who was, infact, first hired as Andrew WK is a different person than the guy sitting here on the stage tonight. I'm the next person who is playing Andrew WK.""Andrew WK was created by a large group of people. They met, and I was there, and we talked about how we could come up with something that would move people. It was done in the spirit of commerce. It was done in the spirit of entertainment, which usually goes hand in hand with commerce. I was auditioned, along side many other people, to fill this role of a 'great frontman', 'a great performer'. On the one hand it may be a little scary to admit this to you all, that I may not be exactly who you thought I was, and that the guy who was, infact, first hired as Andrew WK is a different person than the guy sitting here on the stage tonight. I'm the next person who is playing Andrew WK."

Maybe he's being metaphorical, but it sounds like they cooked up the idea to shake down the easily impressed for a few dollars, the first guy who was going to do it bailed or failed, and so he stepped into the skin he'd helped create.

(Why do people always assume, by the way, if you don't like something they like, it's because you haven't seen what they do?)

@ginsoakedboy
True, there were stories early last year - but at the time "WK" laughed them off; this is the first time he's started to admit it.

You're possibly/probably right about it being a stunt, though.

Anonymous said...

I know his music is daft and the persona is absolutely ridiculous but I still love the guy. Anyone who in the space of a year can get his own Cartoon Network programme, record an album of instrumental piano music about cars and a Japanese cartoon tribute album, start his own record label (that appears to release contractual loophole albums) and also put in a guest appearance on a Current 93 album doesn't exactly need to state that they will do pretty much anything.

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