WTF!? The Andrew W.K. Seen on Album Covers and In Performance Was a Hired Actor!?
What the…??? I’m not a fan of this his music, but this is pretty crazy/awesome. So apparently the “Andrew W.K.” from the albums was in fact an actor hired by the real Andrew Wilkes-Krier, his dad and some others in an attempt to create “the ultimate frontman”??? Read the story below and then click through to the video where he admits it:
Popular memes and subcultural rumours suggest that another person, known as “Steev Mike”, is behind Andrew W.K.’s music. The rumours began with the release of Andrew’s first album, “I Get Wet”, when many music critics and industry insiders accused Andrew W.K. of being a corporate rock think-tank construction. When a series of websites appeared in November 2004, supposedly created by someone calling himself “Steev Mike”, the early accusations began to ring of truth. Andrew WK’s website also appeared to have been hacked during the same time period.
In November 2004, Andrew addressed the issue for the first time – in an open letter posted on his official website, he wrote, “PLEASE DON’T BELIEVE STEEV MIKE. I USED TO CALL MYSELF STEEV MIKE A LONG TIME AGO AND IT’S NOTHING NOW. Someone is trying to confuse you and make me look bad.”
A 2000 article from UK magazine Dazed & Confused, which featured a full-page story on “Steev Mike”, but showed a photo and discography of “Andrew W.K.”. Steev Mike was listed as “Executive Producer” on Andrew’s first album “I Get Wet”. 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”, as “Executive Producer”.
In March 2006, a 1992 Bulb Records 7″ 45 recorded under the name Steev Mike was discovered. 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 listed track (Is This) Time Travel Man.
In May 2009 Andrew discussed the “Steev Mike” rumours once again in an interview with British magazine, Front. In the interview he states, “Steev Mike is the executive producer on my first album. The nature of how we presented my initial offerings caused some confusion, even though I tried to make it as straight forward as possible”. He also adds later in the interview, in reference to rumours of him being a “puppet” for a record label, “Most of what you’ve heard is exaggerated but the parts that are true may be more disturbing than you’d hoped”.
In December 2009 during a lecture at Madame Jojo’s in London, Andrew W.K. finally admitted that the Andrew W.K. persona was created by a committee including himself, his father, and other individuals. Claiming, “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.” He continued to say that people were auditioned to play the part of Andrew W.K. and that the music and performances were created, “in the spirit of commerce.” Finally, in an interview from the same video he says, “I thought it would be more interesting if my secret history was revealed after the fact rather than as a precursor”.
(via Wikipedia)
Watch the video interview here. Andrew W.K. admits the truth around the 2:00 minute mark. Ingenious or retarded? Both?
Or he shaved.
Just a thought.
nobody cares.
Maybe they hired a second AWK because the first guy couldn’t handle the PARTY on his own.
If you check out AWK twitpics the pre ‘05 and post ‘05 AWK’s appear in recent photos. http://twitpic.com/photos/AndrewWK
I’m all for twice the PARTY.
I’m not sure you quite grasped what he is talking about. There is no 2 different people impersonating one man. He is still one man but what he is saying is is that yes he was hired as an actor to portray the persona of Andrew WK which is his real name but he was hired to be what we see as Andrew WK through live performances and personal experiences being around him. When you meet andrew he is in your face and totally nuts. What he means by saying that he is not that person is that he doesnt want to shine through that persona he wants to be more of who he really is and through his experiences as being the “party hard” guy wants to mesh and turn him self into a motivational speaker and actually help people through his celebrity status. Hence why in the video he starts stripping down into what we know and love as Andrew WK. He is still the same person but he is saying that we grow out of a phase in our life and he wants to move beyond that.
” I don’t just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way. It’s not the same person at all.”
You can read can’t you Chris?
“What I mean is that – since that time – I’ve changed.”
I can read and also listen. He’s saying we’ve all changed from who we were in years past. He never says there was another actor playing the Andrew W.K. roll. Its lame psycho babble but its pretty easy to see what he was saying.
I met the man after a show in 2003. It was very definitely the same man in the post-2005 photos and in the video interview and lecture.