Nevermind The Posers

See ya in the pit.

Election Day 2016 November 8, 2016

Filed under: Uncategorized — NVMP @ 9:21 AM
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Election Day…smell that?  Yep, that’s the smell of your freedom.  We could care less about who you vote for, the important thing is that you vote. You have a voice, so speak up!

HeadCount followed Van’s Warped Tour this summer to sign up as many young voters as possible.  They’ve registered close to 30,000 new voters this year (including 2,000+ on Warped Tour) and over 350,000 voters since started in 2004. Here’s a short video of the opinions  of young voters at Vans Warped Tour (the opinions may be surprising). It features members of Sleeping with Sirens, Reel Big Fish and Every Time I Die, plus Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, and many young fans.

Fact of the matter is that this election is between 2 major candidates. But what do you do when you despise both of them, and cannot envision our country run by a Fascist or a Warmonger?  You still vote.  Consider the Green Party and candidate Jill Stein:

Remember that vote for ANYONE still counts.  Maybe you just want to party hard and think Andrew W.K. and the Party Party is a good option:

Or, maybe you’ve always wanted a pony and think Vermin Supreme is the way to go:

Look, it doesn’t matter who you vote for…all politicians are liars, will do anything for your ballot, and it’s usually between a giant douche or a turd sandwich anyway.  But someone has to lead our country so get out there and vote…because, reasons.

 

He’s Back! Andrew W.K. Invades Homes This Fall With New Episodes of CN’s Destroy Build Destroy! October 3, 2010

Filed under: Too Cool for a Category — NVMP @ 12:36 PM
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ALL NEW EPISODES PREMIERE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6As Cartoon Network recently announced, new episodes of their hit show Destroy Build Destroy, hosted by Andrew W.K., will premiere October 6th at 8:30pm ET/PT.  Andrew W.K. serves as the master of mayhem as two teams with the guidance and assistance of professionals, compete by destroying large structures using wrecking balls, human destroyers and real explosions.  Each week brings new challenges to build from the debris, with strategy, wits and teamwork determining which team’s creation out- performs the other.  Destroy Build Destroy was created by Dan Taberski and produced by Idiot Box & Mess Media.

Andrew W.K. states, “I’m so psyched about this new season of DBD!  We really went bigger and better than ever.  I love these new episodes.  The team members and I always have so much fun, but this time we really went over the top.  It’s super-destructivity!  And super-buildtacular!  The new season has even higher levels of insanity, originality, teamwork, and of course, massive explosions!  Get ready!”

 

Guiding the Warped Tour – 5 Minutes with Andrew W.K. August 24, 2010

Filed under: Interviews,Music Festivals — NVMP @ 7:43 PM
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Klone and TNT with Andrew W.K. at Warped Tour 2010

TNT – How has the Warped Tour been so far this year, would you say it’s mid-way through?
AWK – Well said, it’s about mid-way right now.  We’re at the Warped Tour 2010 going strong, this is the 16th year of the Warped Tour and it’s our 2nd time doing the entire tour.  We did a handful of shows in 2002 when we were primarily on the Ozzfest and then we did the entire tour, headlining on the main stage in 2003, and now to be invited back after all that time, seven years later, 2010, we are just very happy to be here.  We’re at the half way point, just looking at the calendar now, two or three more shows will mark the official half way, but we’re getting close and gosh, it still feels like it just started.

TNT – What was it like filming your new animated video “I Wanna See You Get Wild”?  (Click Here to watch the video!)
AWK – Thank you, yes.  This is a new video we have, the first ever video for Andrew W.K. that features a green scene with live action, motion graphics and animated figures.  I never shot a video where I actually had to plan out my movement for more than a few seconds.  Normally we’d film the whole song a bunch of different ways, you do the whole take and then you then cut it together in editing.  But for this, it was “From 1 minute and 3 seconds to 1 minute and 6 seconds you’ll move from point A to point B, then circle back to point C and then return to point A.  That will comprise those three seconds.  Now we move on to the next four seconds.”  We broke it down and I think the results speak for themselves, “I Wanna See You Go Wild”, our music video off of our latest album Close Calls With Brick Walls.

KLONE – Do you want to do more stuff like that in the future after having an experience like that or do you want to keep it more like ‘let me just get on stage and rip it apart’ kind of videos?
AWK – I want a little bit of everything.  In my life, I want to experience as much as I possibly can.  I am a big fan of Peter Jackson.  Now Peter Jackson has filmed many of his movies, of course the Lord of the Rings trilogy, with a lot of green screen or blue screen; whatever color suits your fancy, go with it!  Now, I learned from that.  I watched those movies, I enjoyed them, I absorbed them and I want to be able to include that type of performance, that type of production in my repertoire.  I want to be able to say ‘Hey, I shot something on blue screen’ and you know what, we just did.  “I Wanna See You Go Wild” that video, it’s a blue screen/green screen, it’s a video that was made using that technology and if I ever get to do it again, I’ll say ‘Hey, I’m doubly blessed’.

TNT – So what’s next for you after Warped Tour?  Do you have anything in the works?
AWK – Absolutely.  Of course, again, very happy to be back not only on warped tour, but just back with my full band performing traditional concerts.  This is the first time I’ve been on a nationwide tour with my full band, playing concerts on a world-wide basis since, really 2005, 2006.   Things turned crazy for me around that time.  Fortunately now, four, five years down the road, we’ve gotten them all worked out.  All the loose ends have been tied up into a beautiful bow, that bow has encased itself around a beautiful gift, that gift is the freedom to do and be Andrew W.K. all the way, one hundred percent, one hundred and TEN percent and that’s what we’re bringing in 2010 and 2011!  New albums, full nation-wide tours, world tours, maybe a book, more television; we want to take this party message out there using every mode, every method, every style of entertainment we can!

KLONE – Well we’re happy to help continue proving that Andrew W.K. exists and helping support your identity out there with everything we were talking about back in the winter time.  How has everything been going with that?  Everything positive and moving forward?
(Klone is referring to our first interview with Andrew W.K., click here to read and listen)
AWK – I appreciate you asking about that, I appreciate your support.  Anybody out there who has joined us partying, who has found some value, some experience as part of Andrew W.K., if it means anything to you, thank you very much for choosing to participate on that level and I’m here to continue that.  My name is Andrew W.K. and I’m here to keep it going. As far as everything else is concerned, all those elements, all those questions have been answered, all the pieces have been into place,  the puzzle has been finished.  And now we can just move on, move forward, have fun, party hard, you know how we do it.

TNT and KLONE – We can state that he’s definitely here in the flesh, he’s a real person, he’s not a hologram.
AWK – Yes, I am.  This is 3-d 100% in the flesh, Andrew W.K. talking to you live here.  I’m wearing the proper white clothing, I even have the white socks on.  So there you go, that’s proof.
KLONE – He does, I see them right there.

TNT – If you had to, could you pick one band you’d love to go on tour with?
AWK – There are so many groups out there I would love to tour with.  We’ve been fortunate enough to tour with so many of them, whether it’s been with Aerosmith, whether it’s been touring, of course, on something like today, Warped Tour, or Ozzfest that I mentioned earlier, or touring with bands like High on Fire, The Locust, The Used even.  I mean we’ve played with all kinds of groups, all kinds of folks.  We want to keep it going and that’s the tradition that we intend to establish and continue.  To continue partying, playing with music of all sorts, taking the party to people of all places and really making sure that joy is spread throughout the world as often and as much as possible.

 

A Walk Through Warped Tour- 7/18/10 @ Monmouth Park Racetrack August 13, 2010

Filed under: Concert Reviews,Music Festivals,New Music — NVMP @ 3:51 AM
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Review by TNT

Bands I saw: AM Taxi, Face to Face, Left Alone, Anarbor, The Sparring, The Casualties, All American Rejects, Sum 41, The Mighty Regis, and Alkaline Trio
Bands I wish I saw: Reel Big Fish, Andrew W.K., The Flatliners, Tomorrows Bad Seeds, Middle Finger Salute, and Riverboat Gamblers

It doesn’t feel like summer until the Vans Warped Tour rolls into town.  I’ve gone consecutively since 2003 and before I journey to the tour, I’m always convinced it’s Christmas morning.  Well, at least that’s what it feels like to me.  I describe it as one of the most exciting feelings in the world…knowing you’re going to see a festival that lasts all day with some of the greatest punk and rock n’ roll bands around (from legends to up and coming artists), knowing that you’re going to discover loads of new music, and meet some cool people who actually enjoy the same music as you.  Now, I know there has been an increase in posers at the Warped Tour, but if you think about it like that, you’re not going to experience the same overwhelming excitement-filled feeling.  There are posers everywhere, let’s face the fact that there isn’t much we can do about it other than try to set them on the right path (and perhaps introduce them to this website).

I’d also like to note that Kevin Lyman, creator of the Warped Tour, does not pick the bands based on what YOU listen to.  When you create your own US/Canada tour, you can choose whoever you want to play.  If the bands were the same every single year or there was a limited variety of genres or if unsigned bands weren’t given a chance, I think it would get pretty boring and repetitive.  I also understand that if he didn’t go somewhat of the corporate route (mainly finding such huge sponsors in addition to Vans), this tour would not be able to go so far.  If you have beef with the tour because you think it “went corporate” or “sold out” then you obviously don’t know how expensive it is to financially support a tour of this size.  I would also like to thank Lyman for keeping the price of a ticket as low as possible and getting the tour to think and act green.

With all that being said, I did have a couple of gripes with the tour this year.  First of all, the NJ/NY dates were gypped out of seeing practically all the worth-while headliners: Anti-Flag, Big D and the Kid’s Table, The Dickies, Dropkick Murphys, Everclear, Street Sweeper Social Club, Streetlight Manifesto (they’re from NJ!) and The Bouncing Souls (also from the NJ/NYC area) were NOT in attendance.  What the fuck?  Without these acts, I feel like our ticket prices should have been cut in half.  Big freakin’ whoop; All American Rejects and Sum 41 don’t even compare to the bands I just listed.  I’m hoping some of them have upcoming concerts in the area, at least that would justify why they skipped NJ.  Secondly, due to an immense amount of traffic (half was from tour congestion and the other half was shore traffic), I was unable to see two of the greatest acts to play the NJ date.  Andrew W.K. and Reel Big Fish were the first acts to play.  I know I’m the only one to blame for this, since the acts are randomly picked for time slots on said day throughout the tour, but it still grinds my gears.  At least we snagged an interview with Andrew W.K. (will be posted soon).

Trying not to let the NJ line up bother me, my hungry ears and I were on the hunt for some new music.  The first band I stumbled upon was AM Taxi, a punk rock band from Chicago.  Let me explain filing AM Taxi under the punk rock category…they have both elements, in their natural form.  Punk lyrics are noted with simple chords and the guitar riffs are pure rock n’ roll, with driving drums beats that bring it all together.  There is also somewhat of a modern pop hook here, an edge that pulls you in.  I was impressed, especially with their lyrics and energy.  “The Mistake” is extremely well written with lyrics that stun you, (much like Brand New did for me back in the day) and the keys really bring this song together.  It’s hard to say punk music has a heart, but AM Taxi does, their music just hits home.  Right after their set, I made a personal note to pick up their latest album We Don’t Stand A Chance.

Coming back from an ever-changing line up and a long hiatus, Face to Face was the next band I sought out.  What a performance!  It’s been way too long and I was so excited to see them play.  I file Face to Face as one of the original Warped Tour bands, also included are Bad Religion, Anti-Flag, NOFX, and The Casualties.  Face to Face is fucking back and they’re releasing a new album this fall entitled Laugh Now, Laugh Later.  It was great to hear them play again and I pray they’re on the tour in 2011.  SoCal punk rock (F2F since 1991) will never die.

Left Alone was up next.  They remind me of Rancid so much; people look at me like I’m crazy when I say this, but that’s what I hear!  I guess Tim Armstrong and I have similar ears because after hearing Lonely Starts and Broken Hearts in 2004, he signed this band to his label, Hellcat Records.  Straight up, Left Alone is fast punk music with three chords and ska influences.  “Out of Tune Melody” made for a perfect circle pit.  I think I relate with Left Alone so well because they are a true DIY band.  Frontman Elvis Cortez started off as a roadie on the 2003 Warped Tour and when Lyman heard some music from the band, he appointed the band as the official Warped Tour BBQ band in 2004 and 2005.  I’m happy to see their hard work has paid off, as they officially played the tour this year.  See?  Sometimes all you need is good music and the rest will follow.

After Left Alone, I decided to check out what the hype was about with the band Anarbor.  Until today, I never gave the band a fair chance, but I’m glad I caught some songs.  I loved “You and I”; I feel that majority of pop rock bands would make this way more whiny and annoying.  Kudos.  I loved the lyrics in “Always Dirty, Never Clean” – ‘I’ve got bruises on my hands and knees/And a list of failures in between/Always dirty, I am never clean/Music is what you hear, and not what you see.’  When I get older and start doing needle-points and other old lady shit, I’m going to stitch this on a pillow.  “Gypsy Woman” has a great beat that makes it hard to stand still, but its not my favorite song.  I just hear Cage the Elephant and nothing else.  Anarbor released their first full length album on Hopeless records, 4/20/2010.

As I was getting read for Warped Tour this year, pre-listening to the bands, I came across The Sparring (Old Shoe Records) and knew they could not be missed.  Lead singer Joel Bourne cleared a space for himself to perform in front of the stage, stopping festival goers to stay for some music and pouring Monster Energy Drink on fans waiting in line for some meet n’ greet.  He stated that you can’t enjoy live music if you’re waiting in line for an autograph.  I say right on brother!  Borne had much to say, screaming his sarcastic punk lyrics.  This trio is powerful and I predict a solid future for them in the DIY punk rock community.  I recommend catching a live show soon.  Fair warning, the pit will be dangerous so be sure to bring it!

Being crunched for time, I was only able to catch one song from The Casualties.  Watching from the side of the stage, I felt like I was experiencing The Casualties (and the tour) for the first time all over again.

All American Rejects and Sum 41 performances left me with one question: Why?  I love the singles by All American Rejects, but never listened to the rest of their music.  Their big hits were of course covered; “Dirty Little Secrets,” “Swing, Swing,” and “Gives You Hell” were all played.  It was a good performance, but I felt like the members were distant, didn’t feel a connection.  It wasn’t an absent of energy, that was there, it just felt a little forced.  Perhaps the weight of touring has gotten the best of them on this particular date.  Lead Singer Tyson Ritter was promoting the campaign “Don’t Hate on Haiti”, spray painted on his white suit, with a clear mission statement being that if you forget about this disaster, its hatred.  He stated that he was touring to help raise money to build clean water wells for the people of Haiti.  Very noble.

With Sum 41, it felt like they were trying to relive their glory days with hits like “Fat Lip,” “All To Blame” and “The Hell Song”.  Their latest album, All the Good Shit: 14 Solid Gold Hits 2000-2008, was released in November 2008 and rumors of a new album in 2011 are buzzing around too.  Honestly, I miss Dave Baksh.  He brought a heavier punk sound to the group with his guitar style and it is missed.  I was less than thrilled with Sum 41.  I do wish Deryck Whibley a speedy recover though.  In Japan, where the band was set to play the Summer Sonic Rock Festival, Whibley was attacked on 8/6/10 in a bar by three men (and police) and aggravated a slipped disk injury in his back from 2007.

I wanted to like The Mighty Regis, but I just couldn’t.  They had a great performance, but for me it felt too much like they were impersonating Flogging Molly.  Both bands have seven members (6 male, 1 female), play the same instruments, and are both Celtic punk rock bands from Los Angeles.  It’s similar to the great debate of The Grateful Dead vs. Phish.  I was never able to get into Phish because I’m a deadhead and never saw (or heard) the point of getting into practically the same band.

Finally!  It was time to check out Alkaline Trio!  What a stellar performance, as usual!  I was happy to hear “Armageddon” and “Private Eye”, as From Here to Infirmary is an all-time favorite album of mine.  Personally, I haven’t seen Alkaline Trio live in some time, so every song was amazing to me; tons of energy, guts and love.  Also, the crowd was huge.  On their speakers, they stenciled on “Free the WM3” and “WM3.org”.  I am so touched that bands today are still supporting the West Memphis Three but furious that they’re still in jail.  Please visit WM3.org to find out what you can do to support and free the WM3.

In final summation, here are my thoughts on the tour this year:  Although I missed the majority of the bands I was excited to see, I made the most of the day.  I understand that set times are randomly selected every day of the tour, but it still stinks that I missed out on a few great acts.  Oh well, there’s always next year.  I discovered a lot of new music and look forward to checking out more music by said bands.  Nevermind the Posers has attended Vans Warped Tour since 2003 and we’re looking forward to the lineup in 2011.

Don’t forget, to check out the bands mentioned in this review simply click on their names; they are linked to their MySpace pages.

 

Andrew W.K. New Music Video for “I Wanna See You Go Wild” Directed by Peter Glantz July 6, 2010

Filed under: Music Videos,New Music,Too Cool for a Category — NVMP @ 5:59 PM
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I love this new animated video directed by Peter Glantz!  Andrew W.K. can do no wrong and NVMP is excited to meet him at Vans Warped Tour 2010. This video totally suits the man, and the song is great too!
– TNT
Check out this video.

 

What Can I Say About SxSW? Part One April 1, 2010

Filed under: Concert Reviews,Music Festivals — NVMP @ 2:57 PM
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(That stands for ‘South By Southwest,’ a gigantic international music festival held annually in Austin, Texas, by the way.)

Well there are literally, and I mean it, no words to describe the experience, but I will do my best.

First, allow me to take you on a journey with just some key phrases.  Picture this:

A quaint strip called 6th Ave in Downtown Austin lined with nothing but bars, cantinas, shops, tattoo spots, and restaurants.
Everyone has a tattoo, and I mean everyone.  Face.  Neck .  Legs.  Chest.  And other unseen places I’m sure.
Music emanating from EVERYWHERE.  Blues, Jazz, Rock, Punk, Metal, Indie-all blending together a dissonant symphony that permeates energy.
Awesome fuckin’ food and never a minute to say, “Hmm, what should I do.”

Leave it to Texas to have an ENTIRE SHOP with nothing but hot sauce.

With those phrases in mind, let me take you on a journey.

From the time I woke up in this city, I knew it was going to be a crazy weekend.  March 18th, a Thursday, I awoke to the din of an indie-blues type jam pulsing against my 11th story window.  Looking down, I could see a moat of sorts, cutting through the outside patio of my hotel, with little catwalks leading to the street.  Some walkways were al fresco and wide open, other ways took you through a little detour through a faux-cave tunnel.  The sun was shining and it was a balmy 71 degrees.

It was 10 AM, and music was already pumping, and people were pounding the pavement.
Sweet, right?

6th Ave in Austin TX...at 10AM

I hoofed it over to the convention center, a nice 2 block walk, passing a horde of music junkies, bands, groupies, wanna-be’s, and of course, locals en route.  Passing a sign that said “Austin-Live Music Capitol of the World,” I just smiled.  If I only knew how this place was going to explode at night.

So I caught a few seminars, all of which were cleverly named.  “Welcome to the Music Industry – You’re Fucked,” “Quickies 1: Branding Marketing & Publicity,” “Nerdcore 101,” and even more enticingly quirky titles for panel discussions.  Not the first time SxSW takes a conference to a rock star level.  They give out free beer to press and people with SxSW passes from 3-4 PM.  But the bad-assery has only just begun.

Other panels included names…big names.  GWAR and Smokey Robinson to give you the two ends of the spectrum.  Both the infamous and incomparable metal band and Motown phenom were equally entertaining.

On top of all of this, there were trade shows with new recording rigs, guitar gadgets, music schools, promo companies, internet networking sites.  Name it.  If it was connected with music, marketing, press, or anything between the trifecta, it was there.

Know who else was there?  What seemed like every band on the planet!

In my handy SxSW itinerary, the first thing I noticed was the fact that there were 76 authorized SxSW venues.  Authorized venues is only the tip of the iceberg.  Any place that served food and/or liquor and could squeeze a band and at least 50 people in; music was bumping from.

Just like NYC, you never know what you'll see at SxSW. Like a dude hula hooping while balancing a guitar on his nose.

And I mean every band.  From Motorhead on Wednesday night, to Stone Temple Pilots on Thursday, to Cheap Trick and Smokey Robinson on Friday, the musical spectrum was represented in its entirety.  And these were just the headliners that played the Austin Music Hall and such, with legends like Cheap Trick playing (what seemed like a festival-in a good way) in one of Austin’s beautiful parks-right outside the Performing Arts Center.

But don’t get discouraged if the classics I just name didn’t get your pulse going.  Minus the Bear, Andrew W.K, Temper Trap, The Crystal Method, Steve Aoki, Redman (Yes, fuckin’ Redman), Street Sweeper Social Club, Estelle, Sum 41 (I know I thought they were dead, too) , The Boxer Rebellion, and frankly too many more bands and artists to named.  And these were just the ones I knew.  There were tons, and I mean tons, of kick ass bands rocking the 15 block radius, pulsating all night in downtown Austin.  I was left with a couple questions though when I looked at the bill.  Like who the hell were some of these DJ’s I never heard of, who the fuck invited Patrick Stump for a solo performance, and who was the genius who came up with “Flosstradamus,” “Pigeon Religion” and “Puffy Areolas” for band names?

The overall vibe of the entire trip was simply “chill.” That is probably the most hippie statement I have ever put in print, but everyone was unbelievably nice and laid back, music was everywhere, drinks were flowing and the food was great.  Add this to a nice 75 degree sunny day, and this is a recipe for something beautiful.  Everyone was in a good mood and there was a reason to be.  Despite all the stigma surrounding Texas, I saw one fight in all my travels.  And it was at a metal show.  No surprise.

By: Alex ‘Stigz’ Castiglione

 

NVMP Poser-Free Podcast – Ep 1: On The Record…w/ Andrew W.K. March 30, 2010

Filed under: NVMP's Poser-Free Podcast — NVMP @ 5:05 AM
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Hello and welcome to NVMP’s first episode of the Poser-Free Podcast, the official podcast compendium to the Nevermind The Posers music blog!

In this first episode, we bring you our unabridged, exclusive phone interview with none other than Andrew W.K., where he went On The Record with NVMP Founder/Editor-In-Chief Tina (a.k.a “TnT”) and NVMP Writer/Editor Dave “The Klone” to discuss the conspiracy rumor surrounding his identity and his overnight rise to stardom.  Andrew was cool enough to keep it real with NVMP, and went on to talk about his upcoming appearances at Warped Tour 2010 and as a host of the Second Annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards, airing in May on VH1 Classic.  In honor of his album release this month, we’re proud to launch our podcast series with the story.  Get it here, directly from the source, always poser-free.

via NVMP Poser-Free Podcast – Ep 1: On The Record…w/ Andrew W.K..

www.nevermindtheposers.com
www.myspace.com/nevermindtheposers
www.nevermindtheposers.podomatic.com
www.twitter.com/nvmtheposers

 

NVMP on the Record with Andrew W.K. March 1, 2010

Filed under: Can You Believe This?!,Interviews — NVMP @ 3:47 AM
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It’s no secret that achieving acclaim and stardom comes with a price.  Think of any celebrity and there’s a good chance that at one time or another they’ve had to deal with a cadre of skeptics and nay-sayers (more commonly known as “haters” these days), and Andrew W.K. is no exception.  2010 started off with a fresh whirlwind of controversy for the “Party Hard” rocker, rife with flat out accusations that he is not the person we think he is, that “Andrew W.K.” doesn’t actually exist but is rather the result of a vast music industry conspiracy to brain-wash performers and turn them into idealized puppets.  (Lady GaGa and Kanye West have been thrown into this mix as well.)

    It started with a message posted by Andrew W.K. on YouTube.

This was followed by a message posted on his website.

http://www.andrewwk.com/index.php?page=page.php?id=64

If you’re like us at NVMP, you’re thinking, “What the hell is going on?!”  Well, we went straight to the source to find out.  We were lucky enough to score a phone interview with Andrew W.K. himself a few days ahead of his February 23rd appearance at Santos Party House in NYC, and had a chance to get his perspective on how this all got started and the real truth of the matter.  Check out the highlights of the interview below and be on the lookout for our first Poser Free Podcast this week, featuring audio from the interview.

NeVerMindthePosers: So, from your perspective what is this controversy all about?  How did this start?

Andrew W. K.: A lot of that started and has been going on just because of the way some of the way the press reacted at the beginning of the whole story…because I appeared out of nowhere, some people approached it with a more doubtful point of view, where I think they just figured it was too good to be true., or too whatever to be true.  Rather than giving me the benefit of the doubt, they just went with the doubt and decided that they knew my whole story, when of course they didn’t.  And at the time it was very frustrating for me to have people say that I’m not a real person, or that I didn’t make-up my music or that other people tell me what to do.  But at the same time, there’s enough partial truth to a lot of the accusations or rumors that it’s still hard for me to really deny some of the elements.  I mean, yes I’ve worked with people at my record labels, yes I have a team of people that I’ve worked with from the beginning.  Yes, I have made efforts to approach what I do in a certain kind of spirit that to some people might seem like acting, but it really gets down to just how you really define these words.  I think you can look at anything and pick it apart and convince yourself that it’s whatever you wanted to believe.  So if people want to believe that I’m not real, I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to prove that to themselves and other people.  But the fortunate thing, since I do exist, all I have to do is keep going on, and I kind of by default disprove a lot of these accusations.

NVMP: Well, we’re all supporting you here.  We’re all behind you, 100%.

AWK: Well, I mean just by the fact that you’re speaking with me, I hope that you also understand now that I exist.  I don’t take a lot of these things too seriously because it’s on such a level of absurdity, that when someone doesn’t believe I’m a real person for example, all I have to do is appear or live one more day, being a real person, to show that that’s not true.  But even with all the proof I could ever offer people, they could still say that I’m lying or it’s not true…but I’m just trying to be present in this moment, I’ve always tried to be accessible…so I want to be here to respond to people, I may not be able to answer every question in a way that’s going to satisfy every single person, but I just want to say that I’m not hiding away at this time.

NVMP: Did you ever know a Steev Mike?  Who is he?

AWK: That’s the producer on my first album, unaccredited on the second album, credited on the third one that’s coming out in March.  Again, there’s not a lot of hidden facts when it comes to that kind of stuff, I just, there’s people whose names I don’t name and that allows them to have their privacy maintained over the years, and that’s really the biggest problem.  When you make a promise to someone to keep something a secret, one side effect of it is that people assume that there’s some bad reason you’re keeping the secret, or that there’s something you’re trying to hide that is malicious or dark or something like that, but of course it’s only that some of the people I’ve worked with from the very beginning, part of the agreement was that they wanted privacy, certain types of privacy.  I don’t care about that kind of privacy, that’s why I don’t obscure my name or anything like that, but there’s different people.  Some people like to be in the spotlight, some people like to work behind the scenes…and some of them have a different way in which they manage their privacy.  I can understand why someone might think there’s something fishy about that, but if you’ve ever made a promise to not tell a secret…you understand that it may not be a big deal, it’s not like it’s some big revelation, it’s just private.

NVMP: Yeah, you’re keeping your promise.

AWK: Yeah, and that’s something I take very, very seriously.  I made this promise a long, long time ago, and made it over and over again….I guess the same way like when you marry someone, you make your vow, but part of keeping that vow is you sort of make that promise again every day.  You empower the promise by repromising.

NVMP: Do you think that some of this stems from the fact that the public really has no idea that there are so many things that have to go on behind the scenes that are necessities, like business necessities, production necessities, strategic necessities?  I mean once you become a name and achieve the level you have, you are sort of a brand, and you have to find a way to sort of keep that going so that the whole reason you started this doesn’t come crashing down.

AWK: Absolutely, exactly.  You said it very well, and I appreciate you seeing it that way.  I mean, I believe that things will move on, this too shall pass.  It’s been surprising, and at first really frustrating.  The only thing I can think of is when you come on real strong, and people can’t figure out where you came from.  When they can’t trace that line back…people want to understand, it’s a natural human instinct to want to understand, but I think that the confusion begins when we confuse the rest of our experiences with entertainment and show business.  I don’t know that entertainment is designed or best served, or the audience is best served by understanding in most cases.  I think just experiencing is really the fun of it, and trying to understand can sort of chip away at the joy of just reveling in being entertained and having fun with whatever performance you’re encountering.

You can hear more from Andrew W. K. in the pilot episode of the Poser Free Podcast, the official radio show compendium to Nevermind The Posers.  The show features more of the great music news and reviews from the editors and writers of Nevermind The Posers, as well as audio from interviews with artists, indie tracks, concert reviews and more.   So check out the latest addition to our bill of fare, and don’t forget to leave some comments below.  What do you think of what Andrew W. K. had to say?

– Klone