Since coming onto the music scene more than a decade ago, Andrew WK has had one main message: never stop partying.
It's a common thread in his work – from his music, to his thoughtful advice column in New York's Village Voice newspaper, to his latest endeavor: politics.
Earlier this year, Andrew formed the Party Party, a political endeavor meant to encourage people to – you guessed it – party.
And, in this tumultuous election season, he's embarking on a 50 state barnstorming speaking tour called – naturally – The Power of Partying.
That tour stops here in Las Vegas Thursday, and we thought we'd talk to the pope of partying about his career, his tour and – well – how best to party.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
Where did your love of partying come from?
Andrew W.K. : I think initially it came from a deep sense of fear about partying and an overwhelming general anxiety about life itself. I found that sometimes confronting those fears not only alleviated them but actually built new capacities, new strengths.
What made you fearful?
Initially, having any kind of interaction with the world at large I felt was rather overwhelming. There was so much to confront. There was so much to consider, so much to observe, so much to potentially do right or do wrong.
All of that would swim around in my brain and keep me relatively still and on the sidelines. But then I realized that being on the sidelines could still count as a form of partying. Even participating in any capacity, whether it was even to facilitate the party for someone else, to help build the party to contribute to the atmosphere, that all counted as partying as well. If I could find a way to be part of life and the world and contribute something hopefully uplifting or cheerful or enjoyable maybe that counts as partying for me.
On the Power of Partying Tour:
It’s not so much about a particular belief beyond this essential understanding that being alive must be good. And even if we don’t know that, even if the truth of that we can’t prove, we’re going to choose to have faith in that fact and build on top of that.
That is the one thing we can all agree on, most of the time, is that we do exist. We’re in it together whether we like it or not and we have to make the best of it.
Do you think that a lot of the personal problems that we have can be solved simply just by looking at with a much more positive outlook?
It would be nice to think that they could be solved just by adjusting your outlook. But most of us understand that there does need to be an amount of action. There does need to be critical thinking. But, I guess when we go into that action or go into that critical thought with this energized enthusiasm about life, I think we tend to make better choices and think more clearly and take more efficient action.
Andrew W.K.
