Andrew W.K. On His Next Album, Hobbies, Politics, And Advice For The Kids

More than 15 years since he first changed the musical landscape with classics like “Party Hard,” “Party Til You Puke” and “It’s Time To Party,” Andrew W.K. remains one of the world’s top authorities on partying. While he has not yet announced the title of his next album, due out on March 2, 2018 via Sony Music, Andrew W.K. is still in the midst of his The Party Never Dies tour. The musician, television host, motivational speaker and author recently made headlines with his Taco Guitar, a collaboration with the ESP Guitar Company unveiled in time for National Taco Day; in 2012 he had created an equally-impressive Pizza Guitar with ESP.

Exclusive to The Hype Magazine, below is a portion of phone conversation with Andrew W.K., who could not have been warmer. More on Andrew W.K., including tour dates and a link to his Party Crew, can be found at www.andrewwk.com.

I know that your new album is coming out in March. What is the name of the album? The Party Never Dies?

Andrew W.K.: Oh no, that is just the name of the tour that we are on. I generally give tours some kind of name if possible, but no, the album title has not been announced yet, nor has the tracklisting or the album cover. All those bits of information will be coming a bit later.

I remember reading in an article a couple of years ago that you were living in hotels rather than an apartment. Is that still the case?

Andrew W.K.: Yes, more or less, that is still the case. I am also fortunate enough to be able to stay with family at times as well, which is certainly frugal, perhaps to the dismay of the family members hosting me. But they have been very generous and very kind and that is just the nature of my party situation right now.

How were you able to do that? Were you finding deals last-minute on websites? Or were you able to use reward points because of your touring schedule?

Andrew W.K.: Well, I certainly have tried to get better at maintaining and taking advantage of the loyalty programs over the years and that does help a bit. Although, I don’t know, maybe I am just not using the loyalty programs, but you will have to basically stay somewhere for a month to get one night for free. It doesn’t really make that much of a difference but it is probably [for a hotel] between at the lowest, $60 a night, and at the high end maybe $200 a night, depending where we are, depending what we are doing. It is still cheaper than what I was paying for an apartment in New York City.

How does that work in terms of possessions?

Andrew W.K.: I have a lot of things in storage, and it does start to get a bit puzzling and difficult to justify, because the amount you can spend on the storage spaces start to eat into the amount you think you are saving from the nomadic lifestyle. But I will say that this is not as much for economic reasons as it is for spiritual reasons…I had a gradual awakening, like waking up out of a really really intense self-induced sleep. Waking up over several years now that this inner voice, whatever you want to call it, your conscience or even your consciousness or your guardian angel or your best self, or just again your deepest truest instincts. I have to follow that and do whatever it says, and that is what it told me to do.

Most of the time what it tells me to do I want to do, but a lot of the time it will tell me to do something and I will doubt it and I will question it and I will contradict and I will double back and I would puzzle over it and take it apart… I have tried to eliminate my tendency to question and doubt this path and just do this, and actually, I don’t really have an opinion now about a lot of the things. Someone asks me to explain why I am doing this or that, I say, “I don’t know, I can’t explain it, it is just what I have been told to do.”

Is that the same place where not only your positivity comes from but a lot of your songwriting ideas?

Andrew W.K.: Yeah, I think so. At its best, I don’t always have access to that place, you can’t just go knocking on that door and ask for them to hand over the goods. They dole it out as they see fit, which is why it can take 10 years for an album to happen, for example. If you could demand that they give you a vision, it would be really nice. Maybe there is a way, actually, I am almost positive to get to that level where you can… It is often quite humbling to realize that you are not in control and the only thing you are in control of is how you react when you’re given something to work on or work with and how much you can give of yourself to that task. So I am presented with a task, then my job is I got to use every resource that I have as a person to do right by this task I have been given.

Is there a future for The Party Party? Or anything coming up related to The Party Party?

Andrew W.K.: The spirit was there before I began it and the spirit continues after it has been formally dismantled, not by my choice. We received a “cease and desist” letter from a gentleman I don’t remember where, somewhere in the United States, who had already founded The Party Party and threatened to sue us if I didn’t stop. I was very upset at first, very frustrated… I didn’t want to go to war with the guy, that is sort of contrary to the idea of the very Party Party, so I said, “You know what? The more partying the better.” If this guy is already doing it — although I don’t think he actively really — the party spirit and the Party Party spirit actually seems stronger than ever. As far as a formal structure, it was legally dismantled.

You are known to always be doing everything that you are doing as hard as possible, but Valerie Crowell — a fan — wanted me to ask whether you have any hobbies or things that you like to do in your downtime?

Andrew W.K.: It is so funny, someone just asked me that. My band and I were talking about that the other day and I kind of had a nauseating realization that I don’t have any interests or hobbies. I think what I used to think of as hobbies and interests, they have now just taken over as my full-time work, I guess… I think that is good. I never stopped to think about doing something else.

It has been hard for me to, I guess, muster up the energy or the interest to do something that I can apply to this quest. So for example, I have always loved painting, but it had been very rare for me to paint unless I was painting an album cover, or painting a backdrop, or painting the Taco Guitar, or painting a poster, or painting a logo. It has been difficult for me to muster up the enthusiasm to exercise, but if I can exercise because it will make me better performing, it will make me have more energy, it will make me look like the way I am supposed to look… Those things all of a sudden give purpose.

So if a hobby is sort of a purpose with activity, except for your own enjoyment, I have never been able to do it. I have practiced piano as often as I possibly can, learning all kinds of pieces that challenge me, but I know that the main reason I am doing it. Of course I get a lot of pleasure out of it in a real sense of serenity, actually. It is almost like as if everything in the world ended but I could still play piano, I would somehow be okay. That sort of a feeling that I have even though I don’t believe that is probably true, it feels like that, but I know that is also because I will be able to apply that to the show that night. If I am practicing piano, it has a practical application in this quest, and this quest has dominated every part of me, for better or worse. I don’t that it is healthy, it might not be good.

It sounds like you like to do things that have an end goal and then work backwards to accomplish it, so that is healthy.

Andrew W.K.: I appreciate that, thank you.

So finally Andrew, any last words for the kids?

Andrew W.K.: Stay strong. Stay very strong in a way that even allows for some amount of weakness. So strong that you are strong enough to be weak, to be open, to exhale and inhale. Do the very best you can to approach the challenges and the frustrations and the indignities and injustices of your daily life and the world around you as it tests to see if you and me collectively have what it takes to face through challenges with dignity, with results, with resilience.

Don’t get broken down. We can pass these tests and use those emotional surges to fortify and fuel the efforts that we are making to move forward and to survive and to flourish. Don’t let those emotions bring you down either. Don’t let them destroy you or the things around you. Emotions are energy, really. Just very powerful electric forces that you can direct however you want to direct it, so direct it towards a loving resilience. Even anger can be turned into that. It is some of the best fuel that I use it daily. It is all a test, it is a test that we are worthy of passing.

And also, party very hard.

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Tags: Andrew W.K., Heavy Metal, Positivity, The Party Never Dies, The Party Party

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."