Andrew W.K.
"It still takes something truly remarkable to rise to the top," said Dfest keynote speaker Andrew W.K. on Friday afternoon in downtown Tulsa.
W.K. spoke to musicians and industry professionals at the conference portion of the Dfest festival. The entertainer and rock musician is possibly most notable for his unconventional take on the music business.
The 30-year-old was professionally trained to play piano as a child, but didn't get into the music business until he was in his 20s, after he moved from Michigan to New York City.
"We can only be successful in our lives when we follow our instincts." And for him, music was like breathing, "like eating," he said. When he moved to New York City from Michigan at age 18, he didn't know that "artists" were also "musicians." He didn't realize that he could make a living doing what came so naturally to him.
Andrew W.K.
What finally got him noticed was that iconic picture of his bloodied nose, pasted to the front of his demo CDs, which later became the album cover of the debut full-length album, "I Get Wet." What got him the record deal was his music. He mentioned that with anything worth doing is also worth contradicting, citing how one of the most influential people of his childhood – Kurt Cobain – realized he was most inspired by the music he actually hated as a child.
W.K. said he wanted those "frat boy types" to "get" the jolt of his music. The kids who called him an art nerd, in fact, did get into his first single, "Party Hard."
And in today's faltering world economy, there's a reason that people seek out entertainment when they feel stressed. It's about being human. About relating or not relating to someone. It's about getting into "a space" of humanity. It's about energy, good or bad, music is energy for other people to take and use any way they want to.
And how did he get that bloody nose for that now-infamous photo shoot? "It was a painful process … I won't tell you exactly how I did it." There was a lot o debate about this image, he said. It was censored for mainstream outlets, and a black bar was pasted over the image. "To be honest, this was my dream all along," he said as he sat in his trademark white tee and white denim jeans. "To be censored. To be provocative … engages the imagination," he said.
"I chose to make music that broke me out of my limitations."
For more interviews with Dfest acts Dengue Fever, Gil Mantera's Party Dream, , Colourmusic (performing Thursday at the Dfest VIP/launch party), Cake, Ian Moore, The Uglysuit and many, many more, check out the Tulsa World mini-site at
tulsaworld.com/Dfest.
