River Ravensbourne and Andrew W.K.: Difference between pages
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{{Unreferenced|date=February 2007}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = Andrew W.K.
|Img = CloseCallsWithAWK.jpg
|Img_capt = Andrew's 2006 Album, Close Calls With Brick Walls
|Img_size =
|Background = solo_singer
|Birth_name = '''Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier'''
|Alias =
|Born = {{birth date and age|1979|5|9}}
|Died =
|Origin = {{flagicon|USA}} [[Stanford, California]] (born)<br>
[[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]] (raised)
|Instrument = [[Drums]], [[Piano]], [[Keyboards]], [[Vocals]], [[Guitar]], [[Bass guitar|Bass]]
|Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]<br>[[Hard rock]]
|Occupation = [[Musician]]<br>[[Singer]]<br>[[Record producer|Producer]]
|Years_active = 1998-Present
|Label = [[Hanson Records|Hanson]], [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], [[Island Records|Island]], [[Bulb Records|Bulb]]
|Associated_acts = [[Wolf Eyes]], [[To Live and Shave in L.A.]]
|URL = [http://www.andrewwk.com/ Official Site]
}}
'''Andrew W.K.''' (born '''Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier''' on [[May 9]], [[1979]] in [[Stanford, California]]) is a [[rock music|rock]] [[musician]] from the [[United States]].
==
Andrew W.K. was born in [[Stanford, California]], and grew up in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan|Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]].
At age 4, he began learning classical piano at [[The University of Michigan School of Music]]. He attended the private college preparatory [[Greenhills School]] for middle school before attending the alternative [[Community High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan|Community High School]] from 1993-[[1997|97]], where he studied jazz keyboards. His father is Professor James Krier, a well-known legal scholar at the [[University of Michigan Law School]] and co-author of the widely used [[Dukeminer & Krier Property]] casebook.
Andrew got his start in music in the year 1993. In between 1993 and 1998, the year his first solo album under his own name came out, he was in many bands. During a failed attempt at a career in music, Andrew began acting.With the purpose of creating an underground buzz and gaining "street cred," he began performing solo and sending demos to independent labels. Andrew's first release under the name "Andrew W.K." was in 2000, on the now-defunct Michigan record label [[Bulb Records]]. Andrew released two EPs on that label, and a full length album was planned, but never released. Andrew's big break came in 2001, when he was signed to Island Records.
==Music==
===Early Music===
Andrew's first ever track released on anything officially was titled "Mr. Surprise". It was on a compilation of music done by young artists (Andrew made the song at 13), and was released on the Westside Audio Laboratories label out of Ypsilanti, Michigan (now known as Ypsilanti Records). From there on, Andrew was in a plethora of other bands, most of them with the same rotation of friends. The first band Andrew was in was the band Lab Lobotomy, in 1994. That same year, he started a mysterious solo project, titled Ancient Art of Boar (also known as A.A.B.). Some of the other bands Andrew was in are The Pterodactyls, Music Band, Mr. Velocity Hopkins, Kathode, The Portly Boys (also known as The Porthouse Boys), Kangoo, The Beast People, Isis and Werewolves, Sucking Coeds, and it has been said that for a brief period, Andrew was in the bands Galen and Wolf Eyes.
His first official solo release (under his own name) was on [[Hanson Records]], a record label out of [[Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]], and was released in 1998, titled [[Room To Breathe]]. The album was cassette-only and only 35 copies were made. That same year, he appeared on the Hanson Records compilation [[Labyrinths & Jokes]]. In 2000, he released his first EP, [[AWKGOJ]] on [[Bulb Records]]. He released one more EP on this label, [[Party Til You Puke]], before moving on to [[Island Records]] and releasing his first major label album, [[I Get Wet]].
==="I Get Wet"===
Andrew released his first major label album, ''[[I Get Wet]]'', in 2001 on [[Island Records]]. The album is primarily known for its recognizable cover art: a photo of Andrew W.K. with a large stream of "blood" running from his nose, down his chin and onto his throat. Andrew has stated that he attempted to create the nose bleed with a self-inflicted blow from a piece of a cinder block; however this proved unsuccessful and he created his nosebleed using a bottle of pig's blood acquired from a butcher's shop. Many music retailers that feared that the cover was too graphic to be shown in public covered the image with a black sticker which only inticed fans to look into the true meaning of the photo.
''I Get Wet'' soon rose to the #1 position on Billboard's 'Heatseekers' list. Andrew W.K. joined [[Ozzy Osbourne]]'s [[Ozzfest]] that summer. The opening track, "It's Time to Party", was featured in commercials for Hotwire.com, Coors Beer, Expedia.com, and several movie and TV soundtracks. "[[She Is Beautiful]]" was used in early [[Gamecube]] commercials. His track "Don't Stop Living in the Red" is featured in a [[Target Corporation|Target]] commercial. It was also featured during KSDK-TV's coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2005. He also recorded an original song for [[KitKat]] chocolate wafers entitled 'Gimme a Break'. In 2002, he re-recorded his song "We Want Fun" from AWKGOJ for the soundtrack of ''[[Jackass: The Movie]]'' which also had a video made, filmed and directed by Spike Jonze.
==="The Wolf"===
In late 2003, W.K. released ''[[The Wolf]]''. The album featured Andrew playing all the instruments on the recording (he had his full live band play on ''I Get Wet''), and was a product of four years of work (some of the songs on the album Andrew had been working on since 1998, but most of the songs on the album had been originally demoed in 2001-2001). It spawned the singles "Tear it Up" and "Never Let Down" (a phrase Andrew has liked to use since his early days on Bulb Records) in the US (both had videos made, but only Tear It Up had a full retail single released) and the song "Long Live the Party" was a minor hit in Japan. There was a special promotion with this album. The original release of the album came with a little card with a code on it. The card instructed to go to Andrew's old site, http://awkworld.com, to register to receive a personal phone call from Andrew. 1000 people were going to be called, but not all 1000 were. A list of people called, and audio recordings of some of the calls were made available at AWKworld, but that site has since been taken offline.
"The Wolf" is known for it's many, many overdubbed instrument parts. It has been said that one guitar track on one song could have as many as 100 overdubbed parts on it. Andrew later used this technique, also known as "Synch Stacking" on his live DVD, "Who Knows?".
The Wolf was not as commercially successful as "I Get Wet", but fans thought of it as good or better than "I Get Wet".
On tour for "The Wolf", Andrew was injured on stage and broke his foot. After the concert, he signed autographs from the ambulance. Not wanting to let his fans down, he performed the remainder of the tour in a wheelchair.
"The Wolf"'s original title was set to be "Blow Your Bone", but Island records had a problem with this title, so Andrew was forced to change the name. Although the title was to be different, the songs on the album were still going to be the same (although during the "Blow Your Bone" sessions, many songs were recorded that were never released and might be released on future albums).
==
[[Image:whoknows.jpeg|thumb|The Cover to Who Knows?]]Andrew W.K. released a live-concert movie entitled, "[[Who Knows?]]" and presented five screenings of the movie in New York City and Hollywood, in February and April, [[2006]]. His father presented a screening of the movie in [[Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]] at the [[University of Michigan]] Law School. Although Andrew's father, law teacher James E. Krier was said to be the host of the event, Andrew was present at the screening also.
"Who Knows?" was released on [[DVD]] on February 7, 2006. It features 16 live performances and some behind-the-scenes moments with W.K. and his band.
===Close Calls With Brick Walls===
Andrew WK's album ''[[Close Calls With Brick Walls]]'' was released in [[Japan]] and [[South Korea]] in July 2006. During an interview on Japanese radio, Andrew explained that the title related both to his life and music as he narrowly avoided hitting a dead end and instead sought new horizons in his work. The album contains 18 tracks (the Korean version includes an additional 4 bonus tracks, while the special edition Japanese version contains a bonus DVD with footage found nowhere else) .
Andrew was also involved in filming the Japanese promotional video for "Not Going To Bed" in a Pennsylvania hotel;{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
The album was to be released on June 19, 2007 in the U.S. on vinyl-only on Load Records, but that release was postponed to August 18, 2007 for reasons unknown.
===Other music===
In March 2006, during an episode of [[Sex Pistols]]' guitarist [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]]' radio show, "Jonsie's Jukebox", Andrew W.K. debuted the song "Vagabond", which did not appear on ''Close Calls''. It is said to be appearing on his next planned album, "Young Lord", as for other tracks, such as "We're Not Going To Get Old".
Outside of his solo work, Andrew W.K. also performs with and produces music for the avant-garde ensemble [[To Live and Shave in L.A.]]. He first appeared on the band's 2004 release "God and Country Rally!". W.K. co-produced their 2006 studio album ''[[Noon and Eternity]]'', and appears on the group's other 2006 release, the "chronological remix" project ''[[Horoscopo: Sanatorio de Moliere]]''. He will accompany [[TLASILA]] to Canada and throughout the United States on promotional tours for both albums.
In mid 2006, soon after Close Calls was released, Andrew posted on his website the coming of new things. He stated that 2 new albums are in the works, as well as two new websites and a new TV show. The new albums are going to come out in 2007 and 2008.
In late 2006, Andrew re-worked his song "Fun Night" into a theme song for the [[Sundogs]], an Arizona hockey team. The song was titled "Sundogs (It Just Got Hotter)", and is available to download at Andrew's site at
http://andrewwk.com/content/Sun_Dogs_Theme.mp3. The song also appeared in the film [[Old School]] during one of the party scenes.
Recently, Andrew has been added to the live line-up of [[Current 93]], and will play bass for them in their upcoming concerts.
Andrew has stated in various interviews that he is planning to release a solo piano album sometime in the future, and he has even said that he will be releasing an EP in the UK.
In August 2007, Andrew will be releasing his album Close Calls With Brick Walls in the U.S. for the first time, on vinyl only, with bonus tracks. It was be released on Load Records.
In May 2007, Andrew announced on his official site that he will be release another album (along with his 2 new albums, and a solo piano album) titled "Eberwhite". Nothing is known about the album at this time.
==TV and Movie Appearances==
In 2004, Andrew had a television show on [[MTV2]] titled [[Your Friend, Andrew W.K.]]. In the series, fans would write letters to Andrew, asking for his help, and Andrew would pick certain letters and go help out the fan who sent the letter asking for help. The series only lasted 1 season, and had 9 episodes. The actual episodes were actually only about 9 or 10 minutes in length, because MTV wanted to play music videos in between the segments of the show. Andrew himself could not pick the videos, and was not happy about it. During the filming of the show, Andrew was in a car crash but sustained no serious injuries. The show is no longer shown on television.
Andrew has said that he is going to have a new television show. He stated that it will be on New York Public Access television. It will also appear on the internet, and on [[DVD]]. He has not stated the format of the show, but he has said that it will be very different from YFAWK. On February 3rd, 2007, during an interview, Andrew stated that the new show would be titled "Smoke Show" (also the name of a deleted scene on his live DVD Who Knows?). He would not state anything else about the show, but he did say that there will be a website for it at http://www.smokeshow.com.
Andrew has also appeared in the 1998 UK Miniseries [[Ultraviolet (TV serial)|Ultraviolet]]. He played the part of "Vampire Boy".
[[Image:AndrewwkATHF.jpg|left|150px|thumb|Andrew on "[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]"]]
Andrew has performed on TV numerous times, performing on shows such as [[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]], [[Last Call with Carson Daly]], [[Saturday Night Live]], and the Spike TV Video Game Awards. His most recent performance was with [[Will Oldham|Bonnie 'Prince' Billy]] on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He recently had a cameo in the show ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', playing himself. He had no speaking parts, just a part singing a modified version of 'Long Live The Party' and is available for download from his website at http://andrewwk.com/content/PartyPartyParty.mp3 .
The song was released on Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters the Soundtrack. Andrew's only confirmed movie role is in the movie "[[Punk Rock Holocaust]]", playing himself, but he is said to have played a part in the film D-Day Remembered.
=="Steev Mike"==
Rumors claim that "Andrew W.K." is an actor, a "front man" hired to play the role and perform the A.W.K. music and that before there was an "Andrew W.K.," the press was holding interviews with a "Steev Mike," whose image and sound are the same as "Andrew W.K."
The first appearance of "Steev Mike" was inside the pages of the UK magazine "Dazed & Confused." An issue from early 2000 allegedly featured a full-page story on "Steev Mike," but it's nearly impossible to find this back issue.
Steev Mike was later listed as "Executive Producer" on Andrew's album "I Get Wet". Steev's name was not listed, however, on Andrew's second album, "The Wolf". Three years later, Steev Mike was listed again on Andrew's DVD "Who Knows". And on Andrew's third album, "Close Calls With Brick Walls", Steev Mike was again listed as "Executive Producer".
Andrew himself has said very little about the matter. He has not claimed that he is Steev Mike, but he has not claimed that Steev Mike is another person.
In 2005, Web sites directly linked with Andrew W.K. started appearing on the Internet, containing strange pictures and lines of code related to Steev Mike. These pages are now all off-line, but archived versions can be found at http://www.awk.dudeguy.com. Analysis of the code (and other information regaurding Steev Mike) can be found at http://awilkeskrier.homestead.com/.
Many people have been said to be Steev Mike, mainly Andrew himself, but also James "Twig" Harper of the group [[Nautical Almanac (band)|Nautical Almanac]], Chicago musician [[Little Howlin' Wolf]], and even Andrew W.K.'s father, James E. Krier.
In March 2006, an alleged 1992 Bulb Records 7" 45 recorded under the name Steev Mike was discovered. The record was spotted on eBay, and the auction stated the records (the seller had 25) were found at a garage sale in Ann Arbor (Where Bulb Records was founded). The auction was for only 1, but the buyer had the option to buy more. Several weeks later, a UK record shop, Volcanic Tongue, was selling copies of the record in their online store. That Web site did not have a lot of copies in stock, and soon after the page was found, the site was out of the records, and the page was later taken down. The tracks on the record were found to be the same as Bulb band Couch's first EP, except for the last track, which was Couch's track Old Man instead of the track (Is This) Time Travel Man, the track which was listed. This could be a possible mistake by the bootleggers. On the back of the Steev Mike record, Andrew W.K.'s father, James Krier, is listed. When recently asked about this record, it has been noted as a "bootleg" and "phony" by Couch founding member James Marlon Magas. In one email to a fan, he said "I guess people wanna sell records!". It is unknown at this point in time who is behind the record, but there are suspects.
Most likely, Steev Mike is just another name Andrew goes under. It has been suspected that Andrew was the one who made the website with the strange pictures and code, just to confuse his fans, and to make something bigger out of the not-so-complicated situation.
==Plastic Surgery Rumors==
Rumors began circulating in early Summer of 2007, when a much younger and much different looking Andrew W.K. began making appearances across the country and on television.
Andrew himself has neither confirmed nor denied any of the rumors about plastic surgery specifically, leading some to the conclusion that a new person has essentially taken on the role of being Andrew W.K., or that there are multiple people playing the Andrew W.K. role.
==Discography==
===Albums===
'''Independent Releases'''
*''[[Room To Breathe]]'' (Under his full name, Andrew Wilkes-Krier) (1998, [[Hanson Records]])
*''[[AWKGOJ]]'' "Girls Own Juice" ([[Extended play|EP]]) (2000, [[Bulb Records]])
*''[[Party Til You Puke]]'' (EP) (2000, Bulb Records)
'''Major Studio Releases'''
*''[[I Get Wet]]'' (2001, [[Island Records]]) #84 <small>(US Billboard 2002)</small> #1 <small>(Heatseekers 2002)</small>
*''[[The Wolf]]'' (2003, Island Records) #61 <small>(US Billboard 2003)</small>
*''[[Close Calls With Brick Walls]]'' (2006, Japanese Import / S. Korean Import)
*''[[Young Lord]]'' (2007)
*''The Carrier'' (2008)
*''Untitled UK EP'' (2007, 2008, or 2009)
*''Eberwhite'' (2007, 2008, or 2009)
*''Untitled Solo Piano Album'' (2007, 2008, or 2009)
===Singles===
* "[[Party Hard]]" (October 2001) #19 <small>(UK Top 40 Chart)</small>
* "[[She Is Beautiful]]" (February 2002) #26 <small>(UK Top 40 Chart)</small>
* "[[We Want Fun (Jackass the Movie Soundtrack)]]" (December 2002)
* "[[Tear It Up(Andrew W.K. single)|Tear It Up]]" (July 2003)
===Promo Singles===
*"Party Hard" (October 2001)
*"She Is Beautiful" (February 2002)
*"Fun Night" (2002)
*"We Want Fun (Jackass the Movie Soundtrack)" (December 2002)
*"Specialty Radio Sampler (August 2003) (The songs 3 main tracks, Tear it Up, Your Rules, and Never Let Down were on this disc)
*"Never Let Down" (September 2003)
*"Long Live the Party" (2003, Japan Only)
===DVDs===
* "[[Who Knows?]]" (2006)
Bonus DVDs came with the Japanese version of Andrew's releases "The Wolf", "Close Calls With Brick Walls", and his single "Tear It Up". Each had special footage not released anywhere else.
===Film and Television Soundtracks===
* ''[[Out Cold (2001 film)|Out Cold]]'' She Is Beautiful
* ''[[Jackass: The Movie]]'' We Want Fun
* ''[[Stealing Harvard]]'' Party Hard
* ''[[Old School (film)|Old School]]'' Fun Night
* ''[[Freaky Friday (2003 film)|Freaky Friday]]'' She Is Beautiful
* ''[[Masters of Horror Soundtrack]]'' You Will Remember Tonight
* ''[[American Pie Presents: Band Camp]]'' She Is Beautiful
* ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Colon the Soundtrack]]'' Party Party Party
===Compilation Appearances===
* "[[Labyrinths & Jokes]]" (Hanson Records Release HN050) Song: Andrew Wilkes-Krier (Andrew also appeared on the Isis and Werewolves track and The Beast People track).
* "[[Ozzfest 2002 Live Album]]" Song: She Is Beautiful (Live with Kelly Osbourne).
* "[[Take Action! Vol 4]]" Song: Spoken PSA Intro
* "[[Mosh Pit On Disney]]" Song: Mickey Mouse Club March
* "[[Maxim Rocks!]]" Magazine Compilation Song: She Is Beautiful
* "[[Girls Gone Wild Music, Vol. 1]]" Song: Party Hard
==Tributes==
There is an Andrew W.K. tribute band called Tabman W.K. [http://www.myspace.com/tabmanwk]
==Trivia==
*Andrew W.K's song "Party Hard' was featured on the video game Madden NFL 2003.
*Andrew W.K is an off-and-on character in the webcomic Overcompensating by [[Jeffrey Rowland]].
He is described as: <blockquote>
"...an angel who misbehaved in Heaven, and God punished him by sending him to earth to party for all eternity."
</blockquote>
*Andrew W.K's song "I Wanna See You Go Wild" was featured on the video game ATV: Offroad Fury 2.
*Andrew W.K's song "Tear It Up" was featured on the video game NASCAR Thunder 2004.
==External links==
*[http://www.andrewwk.com andrewwk.com] - Andrew W.K.'s official site
==References==
#{{note|screenblog}}The Reeler, February 01 2006, "Andrew W.K. and the Cryptic Movie Missive": [http://www.mcnblogs.com/reeler/archives/2006/02/andrew_wk_and_t.html]
{{DEFAULTSORT:W.K., Andrew}}
[[Category:1979 births]]
[[Category:American rock musicians]]
[[Category:American rock pianists]]
[[Category:People from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:People from Ann Arbor]]
[[Category:Ann Arbor music]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Michigan musicians]]
[[de:Andrew W. K.]]
[[fr:Andrew W.K.]]
[[it:Andrew W.K.]]
[[ja:アンドリューW.K.]]
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