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Andrew W.K.: Musician, Professional Partier, And Now Advice Giver

Andrew W. K.

The name Andrew W.K. may or may not mean something to you. All of his songs are focused on one thing: The art of partying.

He’ll be in Charlotte tonight at the Neighborhood Theatreto play the energizing songs he’s known for. But besides touring and performing music he made popular in the early 00’s he’s branched into a new realm of advice giving—and people really want to hear what he has to say. WFAE’s Sarah Delia spoke with Andrew W.K. about his new endeavor.

Andrew W. K. is part ball of energy, part trained pianist, and one of the most positive people you’ll ever encounter. His music, largely based around the concept of partying--isn't necessarily what you'd think.

"Partying can include dancing and music. Partying could include resting or napping. Partying could include gardening it's really whatever you want to do to have fun and to show that you’re alive and glad about it," he says. 

And he has a policy of never saying no to a new experience. That’s how he landed a weekly advice column in New York’s Village Voice and his very own advice dispensingradio show. The show is not political, (neither is Andrew WK by the way),  his show is on conservative personality Glenn Beck’s network The Blaze. Beck offered him the gig after reading his advice column in The Village Voice. 

Credit Andrew W. K.

Andrew says he’ll give advice on anything. On more than one occasion  during his show, he's spoken about depression, something he says he’s dealt with on and off throughout his life.

"I’d like to think I won’t feel depressed ever again but if I’m very honest I probably will feel depressed again. But I will hopefully use these ways of thinking and my experience with you right now on this show to make it a little less painful," he commented during a recent episode. 

The most surprising thing about providing regular advice he says, is that it's made him a better person.

"Helping other people...something about doing that and thinking about someone else's situation helps your own. In someway it makes life better. And that I did not expect," he says. 

As for making new music, he says it's been put off because of these other new endeavors.

"Something else would come along that was very clearly meant to be done instead of recording the album. In some ways that was painful, but on the other hand it was sort of undeniable," he says. 

Sarah Delia is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Sarah joined the WFAE news team in 2014. An Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, Sarah has lived and told stories from Maine, New York, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina. Sarah received her B.A. in English and Art history from James Madison University, where she began her broadcast career at college radio station WXJM. Sarah has interned and worked at NPR in Washington DC, interned and freelanced for WNYC, and attended the Salt Institute for Radio Documentary Studies.