steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

interview
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
andrew w.k. and andrew k.m. have a conversation

"WHERE YOU FROM"

 

AKM: What I really like about him is his whole idea of "where you're from, is where you're at." I find he's really huge on the whole thing of representing where you're from, 'cause that's really the only thing that you know, and that is who you are. Where you're from - that's, you know, who you grew up around, more or less.

AWK: Yeah, that's a very interesting approach, that's an interesting way to look at it. That makes sense. I'm sure some people can really relate to that. Other people probably can relate to that by taking the exact opposite approach. Some people want to have nothing to do with where they're from and then that ends up shaping them just as much. Whether you're embracing it or rejecting it, trying to contradict it or trying to fully embody it, you can't escape it, so I can see what you're saying.

AKM: I guess now that we're done this Essential Albums thing, and we have a little bit of time, could I bring this back to you?

How do you relate to where you're from? I read that your dad is a pretty influential law professor. What was it like growing up in that family - how did that shape who you are and where you went with your vision? I guess that would be some kind of shadow to grow up under. How did that guide you toward what you're doing now?

AWK: I never really thought that seriously about what my dad did as it compared to me, except for as to whether I would go to college or not. Other than that, I never really considered the idea that you're supposed to do what your dad did, or really care what he does - at least in how it relates to what you want to do. I always thought the fact that he was a professor was amazing. I was always really excited about the world that he works in, what it entails. It's very heavy. And as I've gotten older, I've gotten to be more amazed at what he's done. It was easy to take it for granted and not really fully comprehend it when I was so close to it, being so young. I didn't know anything different. He was always doing that from when I first existed. But I realize how amazing it is more and more the older I get.

AKM: Yeah, and not even in terms of what he's specifically doing, but more like the type of person he is, right. 'Cause, you said it, he's dealing with really heavy stuff. Do you feel like as you get older, you'd ever pursue a path quite as heavy as that?

AWK: I don't know. Um, it's funny, 'cause he thinks that what I do is way heavier than what he does, and I can't even imagine operating in the academic world. It's pretty interesting to imagine. I mean, he really is a performer, though. I think there really is some common ground there. Because, as a teacher, when you're teaching at the University of Michigan, the classes you're teaching are big classes. He's performing on stage, in front of a big audience every day - multiple times a day.

Maybe that somehow subconsciously rubbed off, really. But I have been influenced to try and have the confidence to grapple with either opportunities or other people that are in a realm that seems intimidating. Because, to me, that's all I think of when I think of academics - it's very intimidating. Because it's something I haven't done. I didn't go to college. And that seems intimidating to me, but I've been trying not to be intimidated by it, and say that I can still engage with that world. Even if I haven't been educated in the same way, I still have an education that counts for something. And I can be of value to academics, and it can be of value to me, in some way.

other topics:

HIS UPCOMING INSTRUMENTAL PIANO ALBUM, '55 CADILLAC

FINDING NEW SENSATIONS IN DESOLATE PARTS OF CANADA

GHOSTS N' STUFF

"GETTING A BIG FEELING OUT" - MORE THAN MUSIC

"SOME OF THE GREATEST PEOPLE THAT EXIST"

COVERS, AND "SOME ESSENTIAL ALBUMS"

ON CRITICS AND MUSIC WRITERS (US!) - "IT'S JUST IDEAS"

 

interview conducted by Andrew Kai-Yin MacKenzie
June 2009
published July 11, 2009

--

ANDREW W.K. ONLINE | ANDREW W.K. ON MYSPACE

all content copyright 2009 indieville.com