Hey, this is Pete with WXAV 88.3 FM and WXAV.com right here in Chicago. You're Escape from Ordinary Radio, and I'm privileged once again to have the man, the myth, the legend, the one and only Andrew WK on the line. Andrew, how's everything going today? Being.
Thank you very much for having me back on your show. Oh, it's our pleasure, man. It's our pleasure. Very exciting news.
Ridefest is this weekend here in Chicago, and for the third time in a row, you will be gracing the stages of Ridefest with a very special performance. You're playing this Sunday, and in addition to that, you're going to be doing a special DJ set at Beauty Bar on Saturday night. Can you talk a little bit about the DJ set and what people can expect from your show? Different CDs, that's all I prefer to DJ.
I've tried doing it with records. I even tried doing it with the computer, like I've seen a lot of people doing today, but CDs are my chosen format for a variety of reasons, probably mostly just because of the most time with in my life. And I like the way they shine and twin coin glisten, the material, whatever you call that, silicon or the little ground disc. They just rip you up to me in that way.
And great music of all different varieties, but it's obviously very high energy, energy, portable, a great night of Saturday, and fun and revelry. I may even speak into my own songs in there. That's what I feel like when you're DJing to play too much of your own song. This is a chance for me to play a bunch of my favorite songs by other people, but it may be a party night.
Oh, and it's going to rock Chicago. And if you've never seen this man live, you owe to yourselves. Go this Sunday. You're at three o'clock on the rise stage at Ridefest.
You're going to bring it as you always bring it. For those who have never seen you before, Andrew, what can they expect from your live performance? Well, I bring my and we will be playing with all of that brief, but very special, special moment. There's so much power there, just in general with all the facts performing, but also all the people in the air, lend them as partying and that that's excitement of power energy.
I mean, you feel your body come alive when the party is strong and you couldn't ask for a better party to play your songs too. We're better than in Chicago. So awesome. Awesome.
Now you've been insanely busy over the last like year or so. In fact, last week you just gave a lecture on the philosophy of partying at the Baltimore School for the Arts, if I'm correct. What was that like? How cool was it to go to a university and give a lecture about the importance of partying?
Oh, in the name of partying to represent. I consider the pretty exciting past time or activity or physical event that a human can engage in. A party is the most one thing I can think of doing with my life, but it's the time every day nonstop. And to be able to represent the spirit of that concept or that spirit, really to young people or to ever show up and interested is a privilege.
I just feel very lucky. I feel a bit baffled even sometimes almost in a day's for a variety of reasons, but especially that I'm getting to pursue this. It's a great thing. Really.
I mean, I feel very lucky, but I also feel an obligation to live up to richness and the fan of partying throughout human history and to continue to sit and to make room for it to exist in the world and that we all get to enjoy it. Awesome. Awesome. And you're doing an excellent job as the ambassador of partying.
Thank you. Now, it's really crazy because not only were you at the Baltimore School for the Arts, but about a month ago, you were on the Glenn Beck Show to talk about partying and the philosophy of partying. What was that experience like? A adrenaline and the atmosphere lends itself to a kind of high-paced intensity compared to the lecture, which you go on for hours or something.
But any more that I can use to get this feeling out there, I want to use. I'm open to pretty anything and anyone that is interested in, again, those same feelings. It's really a feeling of excitement and love and that. You know, I'm really aware of that and doing full rush of possibility, it's like the possibility manifested at the physical sensation and that feeling can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people, but it won.
Now, I got to ask you something because you're really huge on social media. I follow you on Twitter, you're on Instagram, all of that. And over the last few months to about a year, you've had a lot of people asking you advice on life. And in fact, I came across one.
It was an op-ed piece you wrote for the New York Village Voice. And it was an individual asking you about prayer. What is it like to have these people who you've never met before in your entire life coming to you and asking you these really deep philosophical questions? Well, you never imagined that I would really be both things at all, personal.
Being asked about it from looking to me as a... Well, I don't think they're looking to me as someone who's going to tell them some kind of special answer that they don't already know. But just to me, to talk about an expert on comforting to me to realize that someone else is all thinking about life. And when we get back even if you never make this person, you know that you're not the only person going through this experience called, and I certainly get a lot out of it because I end up, I haven't really thought of writing in, but then for really the topics that can be challenging or...
We kind of took a page out of the book and we went to some of our listeners to ask them if there was any questions that they wanted me to ask you. And one of the questions we selected was, what's the hardest you've ever partied in your life? It depends on how you've had to find the hardness. I mean, if it comes to endurance, I believe I stayed up, I believe the deadline for my...
And winning that requires endurance, any kind of stamina, experiences in life, the core mental or combination of both. You do go through a full range of emotions and sort of sensations. I mean, it became very surreal at times. There were times when I think around the third day where I really lost track of pretty much everything.
I mean, all I could think about was the song I was recording there and really didn't have the capacity or the resources to really go by anything else. So there was an incredible focus that came with it, which I didn't anticipate. There was a time when I had been politically rested, like my body was pulling sources and digging deep. I didn't realize existed inside my own soul.
So anytime you push yourself, anytime you point extremely hard, basically just live as... You're going to actually grow yourself. Last year when we talked, I talked to you about college radio and you said how listening to college radio kinda helped you experience college even though you were unable to actually attend. Do you have any advice for current college radio DJs who are working at their stations right now, like how to put a show together that would be appealing to their listeners or things like that?
Well, I'm able to guess who I was showing in my day and was giving some great advice by other very accomplished radio folks. And one thing that they pointed out to me that I thought was so fantastic. They said that no matter, and I really experienced this actually at college radio station sometimes when I would go there, my friends were hosting shows, it would be 3 am or it would be a thumbs up that maybe no one was even listening. Even if one person is listening and you can make a tremendous impact and connection, it would be very limited.
Now on top of that, speak with the idea that you're scaling everything back, but the argument is a time of you and that person together. Not hey everybody out there, okay, it's me one here talking to everybody out there that just blurs everything. So get sick, say hello, how are you? Thank you for tuning in and listening.
How are you doing? Because when I'm listening to the radio, I would be like to me and I think that's an easy tip that you can not only use in radio but in life in general. But you actually had a perfect segue in. One of my questions is if you could have Andrew W.
K.'s own show on a college radio station, what would be some of the music that we could expect from that program? The experience probably one of the most exciting times I ever had in my younger life. Calling into the radio station, requesting a song and then waiting maybe three or four hours and actually finally hearing it. And it was a bit of an oddball song and it wasn't a very small station.
I believe I requested this on a relatively large FM station at the time. And the idea that I could call in one just the actual radio DJ were sounded like him and answered the phone. That was very exciting. And then the idea that I actually had some kind of input into what was broadcast was just I mean it really was one of a life-changing moments.
And then give up and say oh they're never going to play it. They actually did. I would take requests. That would probably be my main thing.
That to me is such a exciting part of a radio. It really does continue that. We would be able to do that idea of if you show. Yeah, absolutely.
I used to sit there too and make a request and then wait the three to four hours to actually hear your song. But when you heard it, it was the greatest thing ever because you did make an impact on that station and it was fantastic. Totally. A little bit more serious question for college radio.
From your perspective, what does college radio need to do in order to remain relevant? I'm sure you've heard over the last few years you've had universities selling off their college radio station licenses. In fact, earlier this year we had WRS out in Atlanta that 100,000 watts that the university took the station away from the students. From your perspective as not only a fan but as an artist, what do college radio, what does it need to do in order to remain relevant in this ever-changing society?
Well gee, that's really unfortunate to hear about that. I actually didn't have any idea that the real problem was facing the college radio phenomenon in general. I would really make it clear to the universities or the people who are in charge that they're in charge that they're not in charge of this and that this belongs to the students, twice called student radio and not faculty radio or university radio or teacher radio. It's a college radio station and the students make up due to harness your power and your influence there.
These are long-term commitments. They're very passionate about music and radio. We specifically went or tried to go to certain colleges because of the radio station, of the reputation and the really great station to actually make a name for themselves, that being the immediate community, they can become global fountains in terms of getting new music out there but also just in the community, the atmosphere, the cultural value they went to, what they think they might not even like music or they might think they have all kinds of crazy ideas. So, through to them, otherwise finding it too powerful you can't and don't be able to reach out because you can see like, oh, be surprised.
I mean, I would do anything to talk about. Awesome, awesome. We'll have to have you come back in to WXAV next time you're in Chicago because the door is always open for you to come here and do your own radio show. We'd love to have you.
Final question I have for you and we're going to take it real quick back to Riot Fest because Riot Fest, this Sunday, it's this weekend in Chicago, Andrew WK, three o'clock on the Riot stage at Riot Fest. Andrew, what's the most exciting thing or band you're looking forward to the most this weekend at Riot Fest? Well, not that you meant it in that spirit, but I can't. I mean, I really feel like, especially if that's what a very good example versus a traditional concert where there may be a couple opening bands and then a headlining band, a festival is such a menagerie, a plethora, a multitude, it will become a band.
You know what I mean? And I don't just mean all the performers, but everybody, they're all the organizers. I mean, all the amount of behind the scenes work, the entire neighborhood that sort of lends itself for those days to allowing this thing to happen or at least not holding it back from happening. It's this incredible team effort and a band is a team, really, like a giant band.
And that's what I'm looking forward to the most. It seems like a great show. So I'm Andrew WK. Thank you so much for giving us so much of your time today.
We really appreciate it. Oh, thank you again. Thank you for working. Keep doing it.