A brief chat with Andrew WK

Yellow Scene: Have you been working on a follow-up to the Gundam Rock album?

Andrew WK: Yes, I have been working on recording a new album for, in some ways, a few years in terms of stockpiling songs and ideas. I would like to get into the main meat of the recording process some day very soon. But there’s nothing completely scheduled, locked-in or confirmed. It’s something that I would like to do sooner rather than later. I try to always make the most exciting music that I can, one way or another. And I just take it one song at a time. I’ll try to do that again this time, I imagine. Try to follow the music when to comes.

YS: Are you looking forward to Riot Fest? It’s quite a lineup…

AWK: Always. This will be our first year playing all three of the Riot Fest dates – Chicago, Denver and Toronto. I believe it’s the fourth or even the fifth year playing the Chicago Riot Fest every year in a row. It’s a real privilege to be asked back and to be able to expand our Riot Fest experience. Iggy Pop and I have had the pleasure of playing at a few other festivals, with either him solo or with the Stooges over the years and that’s always exciting. There’s a Michigan connection, although he’s a deeper member of that realm than I was. I wasn’t born in Michigan so I can’t claim that, but he’s always been a nice person as far as my interactions go, and of course everyone always admires his energy level, and his commitment and focus to doing what he loves so well.

YS: Do you like playing Colorado?

AWK: We have played Denver quite a bit, pretty much on every major tour that we’ve done. I was just actually wanting to get back there sooner than later so I was happy when the Riot Fest came through. It’s a unique place, there’s a unique feeling in the air there. There’s also some great food and atmosphere that I haven’t really found anywhere else. The shows themselves have been reliable and the people have been kind, and that makes for good partying.

YS: What can we expect from the set?

AWK: Well, I’ll be playing with my full band and we will rock out and party as hard as we possibly can, and play songs pretty much from all the albums and just give what we have and then some more.

YS: When Riot Fest is over, what’s next?

AWK: I don’t know. I’m not sure yet. All I know is that I’ll be partying.