“I’m still messed up and have all kinds of problems, just like anybody.”
― Andrew W.K.
“In fine arts, when you make a painting, it’s just a painting. But if you make a painting in the entertainment industry, it can be an album cover or a t-shirt or a logo.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I feel very lucky that I’ve chosen to work in a style that is based on good vibes, and you tend to get good vibes in return. But I don’t take it for granted. It was a choice.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Try to imagine that you’re the strongest, most noble, most thoughtful, most compassionate, intelligent person in the world, and pretend to be that. Speak from that place. It’s more than self-awareness; it’s the ability to access this super-intelligence.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Most people tell you there are certain moments you should celebrate in life: for example, the weekend coming, so you should party on a Friday. Or your birthday or New Year’s Eve. But what if you’re excited about being alive every day? Can’t you be in that celebratory state every moment you’re not dead?”
― Andrew W.K.
“If someone said, ‘What was anything you could wish for,’ it would have been to have Donald Tardy in my band as my drummer.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Greenpoint was where I had my first apartment on my own without roommates or sleeping on someone’s couch. It was a really important time for me.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I think all of our concerts, really, as parties. It’s a performance for sure. It’s not a recital. It’s a celebration of that music.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I think J. S. Bach’s music stands among humankind’s greatest accomplishments. For me, Bach’s music is not only as good as music gets but also as good as it gets, period – as good as existence, reality, life, and the world.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Food is a party; it’s exciting. It should be a source of entertainment and nourishment. And just do everything you can to not let food become anything but fun. Let it be a source of pleasure, not anxiety or neuroses or stress.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’m not here to tell anyone how to party. I’m just here to say, ‘Please, party as hard as you can.’”
― Andrew W.K.
“There’s basically filth everywhere, and there’s no way to escape it.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I wash my hair maybe once every four or five months. But whenever I touch my hair, I wash my hands. I think since I wash my hands a lot and then touch my hair, maybe I’m washing my hair each time. But also, I sweat a lot, and sweat is like a natural shower built into your body.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’ve played piano since I was 4 years old, and I’ve always loved songs by J. S. Bach.”
― Andrew W.K.
“All my work is not personal – I’ve been trying to get away from that into the true self underneath all the tastes and things we think make up a self.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Nobody can stop you more than you can stop yourself.”
― Andrew W.K.
“The inertia that you get from partying pays back energy to keep you partying. So, if I get tired, I just party some more, and then I feel better.”
― Andrew W.K.
“To me, life is huge and thrilling and exciting and explosive and loud. If I can make music that communicates that and reflects that, then that’s an achievement.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Not being dead is my version of partying. So far, so good.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Being OK means you’re not sad, and you’re not incredibly happy. You’re content. You’re OK. And that’s the ideal place to be, to be able to say, ‘I’m OK.’”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’ve collected comics for many, many years, but I’ve usually collected older ones for whatever reason.”
― Andrew W.K.
“How could you not let your life affect your work? That’s all it is. Unless you have a very specific, isolated version of what you’re doing.”
― Andrew W.K.
“As someone that really likes painting and visual art but also likes video and movies and also music and recording and style and clothes, it was hard to pick what to do with my life.”
― Andrew W.K.
“The entertainment industry is so vast; that’s why I got into it the first place.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Music is about truth, and truth contains the ugliness and the dark and evil and hate and sadness as well as the happiness and beauty and everything in between. Having all those extremes is itself a satisfying, positive thing.”
― Andrew W.K.
“It’s my responsibility to show people that this music is something they can trust in and believe in, and it’s not a joke. It’s not anything but 100 percent from my heart.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I think the secret of the world lies in the C major scale. The universe opens its doors when a major scale is played. There’s stuff going on in a major scale that is a direct connection to divine, universal hugeness.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I have not been a big fan of very sweet drinks, although the Manhattan cocktail is a favorite of mine.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I really love Indian food, especially if you can get it spicy. Any food you can get spicy I really love, and Indian food is just so flavorful: a lot of onion, a lot of garlic.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Usually, two or three hours after getting offstage, I’ll begin the eating process: usually carbohydrates, protein, and fat.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Starting in junior high school, through high school, I was very into metal or black metal and death metal specifically.”
― Andrew W.K.
“It’s not that I will die, but if I stop partying, it will lead to extreme complications in my wellbeing.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Andrew W.K. is about partying and doing what you want!”
― Andrew W.K.
“No one controlled Frank Sinatra or told him how to sing. No secret group of managers has been telling someone like Jay-Z what to do or how to look. And no one tells me what to do except me and the people who believe in me.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I take responsibility for everything in my life, including who I work for and what happens to me because of it.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I have been accused of having people design my image, tell me what to say in interviews, design my clothes, the way I look and talk, and, of course, my music. It’s true I do work with people, but not to accomplish anything bad: just the basics that any person does in this business and with this opportunity to live out my dreams.”
― Andrew W.K.
“For me, music, in the truest sense of the word, is about making people happy.”
― Andrew W.K.
“When you do something that maybe wasn’t the best thing to do at the time, you don’t want to hold onto those feelings of guilt, shame or embarrassment, as much as you’d like to learn from them.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I worked very hard not to have average days. I never do the same thing twice.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I worked at Bergdorf Goodman doing interior decoration.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I never thought I would be a role model for anything. But a role model for fun, I can do that.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Out of all the things I could imagine spending my time doing, I figure if I was going to devote myself to a mission or dedicate my life to a cause, it should be an enjoyable one. And partying was the most fun thing I could think of and also that other people could relate to.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I always try to find a less frustrating way to look at things.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I want to be able to party for as long as possible.”
― Andrew W.K.
“You can magically alter your life if you believe hard enough and then take actual physical action in the world outside your brain to make it happen.”
― Andrew W.K.
“You just have to set a goal and go for it.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Kids’ shows appeal to a fun-loving mentality that I hope all humans, no matter how old they are, have some ability to relate to.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Reading counts as partying, even if you’re not enjoying it! Even if someone’s forcing you to read, you can find a way to make it into a party if you party hard enough. It just takes more effort and a more advanced approach.”
― Andrew W.K.
“You can’t want an amazing life and then resent it when it happens to you. Destiny has very little to do with what you think and what you want to do and even what you might like.”
― Andrew W.K.
“’You’re not alone’ can be a great thing to hear when you’re feeling quite despondent and alienated from the world and yourself. But if you’re someone who’s been completely overwrought with the intensity of life and the world, getting some space to be alone can be one of the things you crave most.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I try to imagine what the greatest song I could ever write would sound like, and then try to do it.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Life changes, and thus, partying changes, and what it means to party evolves as well.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I was very fortunate to take piano lessons from a young age, and the only times that we were able to play on Steinways was at our recitals, which were really nerve-wracking. Partly because we got to play on a Steinway.”
― Andrew W.K.
“The bloody nose was the album cover for my first album, but it’s since become my logo.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I don’t have tattoos other than lines.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’ve always had something about parking lots at night. They have a special appeal I think many people can relate to.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I don’t think I’d really talked about politics – governmental politics specifically – very often, and it was a bit of a stretch for me to do so for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I’m not that well-versed or educated in politics.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’m not proud of this at all, but I’m someone who has relied on business managers and accountants and career managers to run the whole bureaucratic side of my life for the last 16 years, so anything, from filing tax returns to paying credit card statements, is something that I feel rather fortunate to have been out of the loop on.”
― Andrew W.K.
“In general, I feel like when I’ve associated with someone, the association has elevated me and perhaps lowered the other person.”
― Andrew W.K.
“The more we focus on what everyone else is doing wrong, the less energy we have to fix what we’re doing wrong.”
― Andrew W.K.
“What I learned about music is that it can have nothing to do with words, instrumentation, image, message, or meaning. The meaning is the melody, the notes, the rhythm – music for the sake of its own beauty, with nothing more required to express itself.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Even though there are so many different ‘kinds’ of music – different textures, different timbres, different attitudes – there is something divine at the core of all music.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I usually don’t try to meet people at all, especially if I really like them, for all kinds of reasons.”
― Andrew W.K.
“So I definitely think I’ve gotten much, much, much better at partying and having fun the older I’ve gotten.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I think it’s so completely bizarre and arrogant for anyone to ever think that they could lose their innocence, because that implies that they have some sense, some idea of what’s going on, and no one has any idea what’s going on.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’m a guy who wants to party and have as many adventures as possible.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I always wanted to be cheered up. I felt like that feeling of the first day of summer or when a girl would agree to go on a date or you found a $20 bill – that undeniable rush of excitement – I wanted to make a soundtrack of music for that kind of moment.”
― Andrew W.K.
“’Music Is Worth Living For’ is an exaltation of my love for music itself. It’s also me pleading with myself to recognize music’s eternal power and glory, in the face of hardship and pain.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Music is a mysterious phenomenon – it seems both to magically overwhelm and sublimate our suffering, but also to starkly dignify the struggles of our daily life.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I truly believe that listening to music can transform you into a better person.”
― Andrew W.K.
“In European countries and some Asian countries I’ve been to, there’s a lot less hesitation and skepticism when it comes to enjoying culture. People are encouraged to be fans and be passionate about what they like.”
― Andrew W.K.
“That’s what really bothered me about high school: There was just no time to do anything other than school.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I always liked major-key music quite a bit, and that might have something to do with so many of the musical experiences of my childhood being based around the piano.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Meeting someone who likes what I’ve made is like discovering a brother or sister.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Once, Pee-wee Herman tweeted a photo of this guitar I made that’s shaped like a slice of pizza, and it meant a lot to me. People downplay it, but there’s power there, people reaching toward each other and toward truth. Any mechanism, any resource that we can use to further that reach, is part of the human destiny.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Finding out what people are really like is exciting.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’m not the same guy that you may have seen from the ‘I Get Wet’ album. I’m not that same person, and I don’t just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way. It’s not the same person at all.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Just because someone signed up for something or takes advice or has managers or works in entertainment or show business with other people doesn’t mean they don’t have a brain, okay? It doesn’t mean that they’re not a real person.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Songs like ‘Party Hard’ were written to make people feel in touch with their greatest potential.”
― Andrew W.K.
“It seems like your dreams are your own spirit, your own soul, telling you what you’re meant to do and getting you psyched up with the idea of thinking that it was your idea all along.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Being able to move to New York – that was a dream come true.”
― Andrew W.K.
“A high five is a very open kind of hand, but it can still smack you.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Sometimes if I do radio interviews or certain kinds of interviews or things that would require me to travel, then I’ll get a nice car ride. Someone will take me, drive me to that place, and I’ll actually get to see around.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I like to think that everything you do or don’t do works out in the right way.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I like Twitter because of the interaction.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I don’t use Twitter to share my thoughts – I use it to make statements that are quite blunt and hopefully fun.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I was born in California, and I lived on the outskirts of Los Angeles until I was 4. At that point, my family moved to Michigan. Between 4 and 18, I lived in Michigan, and at 18, I moved to New York.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I was a real serious kid, real intense, and there were a lot of things that I was doing by myself I took seriously, like organizing little pieces of paper, cutting out things from magazines, and filing them away.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I was just so fortunate to have parents who encouraged me to try things and do what I wanted.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’m happy to be thought of as cool, but I never was cool. Everyone thought I was this complete moron and complete dork for the majority of my school years.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I love Turner Network television; I love Adult Swim. That’s actually how I got my start on Cartoon Network was through Adult Swim, originally. I had a special appearance on ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force!’”
― Andrew W.K.
“My goal is never to tone down.”
― Andrew W.K.
“This idea of the geek or the nerd, all that person really is – and I would consider myself one – is someone who is not ashamed of liking what they enjoy.”
― Andrew W.K.
“New York was very frightening and very overwhelming, and I didn’t really know anybody. My sister had some friends there, and I stayed with them, then I moved in with a friend of a friend. I was very outside my comfort zone. Then again, I was pretty uncomfortable in general – but I knew it was where I was supposed to be.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I feel like professional athletes are the ones that deserve to be tired. I’m just partying, and there’s definitely physical exertion involved in that, but it also fuels you as you go.”
― Andrew W.K.
“With each song, I’m trying to go after that feeling of elation, of euphoria. It’s not the only feeling in the world; it’s just the one I thought I should try to focus on and find the most effective way of getting there.”
― Andrew W.K.
“Pittsburgh is a very unique place.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I’ve always been into 1939 and the New York World’s Fair. And I lived on 39th Street and on the 39th floor. Once you pick a number that means something to you, then you notice it everywhere.”
― Andrew W.K.
“I like big, flashy production and videos.”
― Andrew W.K.
“A lot of times, adults confuse growing up or becoming more mature with a sense of seriousness, a sense of boringness, a sense of just stupidness.”
― Andrew W.K.
Leave a Reply