Andrew W.K. Quotes

I love Turner Network television; I love Adult Swim. That’s actually how I got my start on Cartoon Network was through Adult Swim, originally. I had a special appearance on ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force!’

Music is about truth, and truth contains the ugliness and the dark and evil and hate and sadness as well as the happiness and beauty and everything in between. Having all those extremes is itself a satisfying, positive thing.

Being OK means you’re not sad, and you’re not incredibly happy. You’re content. You’re OK. And that’s the ideal place to be, to be able to say, ‘I’m OK.’

Usually, two or three hours after getting offstage, I’ll begin the eating process: usually carbohydrates, protein, and fat.

I have not been a big fan of very sweet drinks, although the Manhattan cocktail is a favorite of mine.

I truly believe that listening to music can transform you into a better person.

I like to think that everything you do or don’t do works out in the right way.

I’ve always had something about parking lots at night. They have a special appeal I think many people can relate to.

I try to imagine what the greatest song I could ever write would sound like, and then try to do it.

No one controlled Frank Sinatra or told him how to sing. No secret group of managers has been telling someone like Jay-Z what to do or how to look. And no one tells me what to do except me and the people who believe in me.

You can’t want an amazing life and then resent it when it happens to you. Destiny has very little to do with what you think and what you want to do and even what you might like.

I’m not the same guy that you may have seen from the ‘I Get Wet’ album. I’m not that same person, and I don’t just mean that in a philosophical or conceptual way. It’s not the same person at all.

I was just so fortunate to have parents who encouraged me to try things and do what I wanted.

It’s my responsibility to show people that this music is something they can trust in and believe in, and it’s not a joke. It’s not anything but 100 percent from my heart.

The more we focus on what everyone else is doing wrong, the less energy we have to fix what we’re doing wrong.

How could you not let your life affect your work? That’s all it is. Unless you have a very specific, isolated version of what you’re doing.

Life changes, and thus, partying changes, and what it means to party evolves as well.

Andrew W.K. is about partying and doing what you want!

In fine arts, when you make a painting, it’s just a painting. But if you make a painting in the entertainment industry, it can be an album cover or a t-shirt or a logo.

Out of all the things I could imagine spending my time doing, I figure if I was going to devote myself to a mission or dedicate my life to a cause, it should be an enjoyable one. And partying was the most fun thing I could think of and also that other people could relate to.

Starting in junior high school, through high school, I was very into metal or black metal and death metal specifically.

So I definitely think I’ve gotten much, much, much better at partying and having fun the older I’ve gotten.

Greenpoint was where I had my first apartment on my own without roommates or sleeping on someone’s couch. It was a really important time for me.

Once, Pee-wee Herman tweeted a photo of this guitar I made that’s shaped like a slice of pizza, and it meant a lot to me. People downplay it, but there’s power there, people reaching toward each other and toward truth. Any mechanism, any resource that we can use to further that reach, is part of the human destiny.

The entertainment industry is so vast; that’s why I got into it the first place.

I’m happy to be thought of as cool, but I never was cool. Everyone thought I was this complete moron and complete dork for the majority of my school years.

I like big, flashy production and videos.

It seems like your dreams are your own spirit, your own soul, telling you what you’re meant to do and getting you psyched up with the idea of thinking that it was your idea all along.

The inertia that you get from partying pays back energy to keep you partying. So, if I get tired, I just party some more, and then I feel better.

I’ve played piano since I was 4 years old, and I’ve always loved songs by J. S. Bach.

I usually don’t try to meet people at all, especially if I really like them, for all kinds of reasons.

I feel like professional athletes are the ones that deserve to be tired. I’m just partying, and there’s definitely physical exertion involved in that, but it also fuels you as you go.

I was born in California, and I lived on the outskirts of Los Angeles until I was 4. At that point, my family moved to Michigan. Between 4 and 18, I lived in Michigan, and at 18, I moved to New York.

Music is a mysterious phenomenon – it seems both to magically overwhelm and sublimate our suffering, but also to starkly dignify the struggles of our daily life.

You just have to set a goal and go for it.

‘You’re not alone’ can be a great thing to hear when you’re feeling quite despondent and alienated from the world and yourself. But if you’re someone who’s been completely overwrought with the intensity of life and the world, getting some space to be alone can be one of the things you crave most.

I really love Indian food, especially if you can get it spicy. Any food you can get spicy I really love, and Indian food is just so flavorful: a lot of onion, a lot of garlic.

If someone said, ‘What was anything you could wish for,’ it would have been to have Donald Tardy in my band as my drummer.

Pittsburgh is a very unique place.

I was very fortunate to take piano lessons from a young age, and the only times that we were able to play on Steinways was at our recitals, which were really nerve-wracking. Partly because we got to play on a Steinway.

In European countries and some Asian countries I’ve been to, there’s a lot less hesitation and skepticism when it comes to enjoying culture. People are encouraged to be fans and be passionate about what they like.

I’ve collected comics for many, many years, but I’ve usually collected older ones for whatever reason.

I was a real serious kid, real intense, and there were a lot of things that I was doing by myself I took seriously, like organizing little pieces of paper, cutting out things from magazines, and filing them away.

I worked very hard not to have average days. I never do the same thing twice.

The bloody nose was the album cover for my first album, but it’s since become my logo.

I wash my hair maybe once every four or five months. But whenever I touch my hair, I wash my hands. I think since I wash my hands a lot and then touch my hair, maybe I’m washing my hair each time. But also, I sweat a lot, and sweat is like a natural shower built into your body.

I’m still messed up and have all kinds of problems, just like anybody.

A high five is a very open kind of hand, but it can still smack you.

I think the secret of the world lies in the C major scale. The universe opens its doors when a major scale is played. There’s stuff going on in a major scale that is a direct connection to divine, universal hugeness.

Most people tell you there are certain moments you should celebrate in life: for example, the weekend coming, so you should party on a Friday. Or your birthday or New Year’s Eve. But what if you’re excited about being alive every day? Can’t you be in that celebratory state every moment you’re not dead?

There’s basically filth everywhere, and there’s no way to escape it.

‘Music Is Worth Living For’ is an exaltation of my love for music itself. It’s also me pleading with myself to recognize music’s eternal power and glory, in the face of hardship and pain.

Kids’ shows appeal to a fun-loving mentality that I hope all humans, no matter how old they are, have some ability to relate to.

Try to imagine that you’re the strongest, most noble, most thoughtful, most compassionate, intelligent person in the world, and pretend to be that. Speak from that place. It’s more than self-awareness; it’s the ability to access this super-intelligence.

Reading counts as partying, even if you’re not enjoying it! Even if someone’s forcing you to read, you can find a way to make it into a party if you party hard enough. It just takes more effort and a more advanced approach.

I think it’s so completely bizarre and arrogant for anyone to ever think that they could lose their innocence, because that implies that they have some sense, some idea of what’s going on, and no one has any idea what’s going on.

I think all of our concerts, really, as parties. It’s a performance for sure. It’s not a recital. It’s a celebration of that music.

Meeting someone who likes what I’ve made is like discovering a brother or sister.

I’m not here to tell anyone how to party. I’m just here to say, ‘Please, party as hard as you can.’

That’s what really bothered me about high school: There was just no time to do anything other than school.