We Will Never Listen to Your Rules

I am a huge fan of Andrew W.K. Not just his music, but his persona and his life philosophy. This probably doesn't come as a huge surprise to most, as I think that being an Andrew W.K. fan is one of the things that people associate with me most.

He is popularly known as the musician behind the early 2000's hit "Party Hard" and deservedly so, as that song and the album it comes from, 2001's I Get Wet, is a tight 35 minutes of gloriously hedonistic rock music. It is probably one of my ten favourite albums ever. When I saw him play it in full in 2011, it was one of my favourite ever experiences and was SO FUN.

But I think that a huge part of Andrew W.K. that gets glossed over a lot is how he's changed his persona since I Get Wet. His sophomore album The Wolf was a huge departure. While the album still opens with "Long Live the Party" after an intro track, gone are the loud, drop D hard rock songs about drinking and partying. Taking their place are longer, more intricate and piano driven songs that focus on self-improvement. On The Wolf he took "the party" to mean being positive in one's life and more of a concept than an event.

Case in point:



Vs.



(Sidenote: God the video for "She is Beautiful" is fucking amazing.)

Most people were put off by this and the album was much less successful than its predecessor, as the populace wants dumb rock songs about partying, not feelings. But a significant thing that happened with this album was the community of AWK fans that embraced this new philosophy surrounding the artists. The party was now not about indulging, but about feeling good.

Andrew W.K. disappeared from North American media for a little bit after this because of contract disputes, but came back a few years later in much the same vein he had left. He started doing motivational speaking appearances and went all-in on his self-help guru persona. Recently, he began a advice column for the New York institution The Village Voice in which he answers questions sent to him and tries to give the reader guidance.

His most recent answer was what prompted me to write this blog.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I have completely bought-in on this and love most of what he says. There have been a multitude of times that I have been extremely stressed and anxious at school about what to do with work and my career and Andrew W.K.'s columns and The Wolf have been a beam of light that shines directly into my heart à-la episode of Digimon that I cannot find for the life of me right now.

He is the best and a wonderful person and it is okay to admit that you need help in thinking positively sometimes.

I mean, come on: