Andrew W.K. to celebrate 10th anniversary of “˜I Get Wet’ with concert at the Avalon
Courtesy of Ashley Eberbach
By Maria Simpson
March 8, 2012 1:19 p.m.
Born in Stanford and raised in Michigan, singer-songwriter Andrew Wilkes-Krier, also known by his stage name Andrew W.K., is an artist and overall renaissance man. Tonight, he will be performing songs from his album “I Get Wet” with his band at the Avalon in Hollywood. The album rose to the No. 1 position on Billboard’s Heatseekers list and features rock anthems such as “Party Hard” and “She Is Beautiful.” It is his debut album’s 10th anniversary, and to celebrate, he is touring both the U.S. and U.K. to relive the party all over again.
According to Wilkes-Krier, some of the musicians that inspire his singing and songwriting include Johann Sebastian Bach and Terry Riley.
Recently, Wilkes-Krier has developed a talent for motivational speaking and has given lectures at prestigious universities such as New York University, Yale University, Carnegie Mellon University and Northwestern University. While Wilkes-Krier, whose father was a former law professor at UCLA, was accepted into a university, but he chose not to attend in order to pursue his music career.
“The idea of going into a structured curriculum was not appealing to me at the time. Now I wish I had gone,” Wilkes-Krier said.
Wilkes-Krier said he believes that college provides a good transition period for students to experience the real world but still have the freedoms before adulthood and responsibility.
At his lectures, he talks to the students about partying and their own experiences.
“Go to school. Commit yourself to the masochistic curriculum. There are life experiences to be learned and gained, and college provides it,” he said. “College is a free-for-all, celebratory, reveling festival from childhood to adulthood. It is an education of the soul and spirit, not just intellect. It teaches you to be a progressive, radical, forward thinker”.
Andrew said he is proud to be from Southern California, and if given the chance, would like the opportunity to speak at UCLA in his father’s honor.
