Andrew W.K. Admits He's Not the Original Andrew W.K.

[Ant-LOX]

If Roger Waters came forward and admitted that his brother Craig was the actual singer on all the records, then I'd maybe be upset.

But this is non-news.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by Ant-LOX

If Roger Waters came forward and admitted that his brother Craig was the actual singer on all the records, then I'd maybe be upset.

But this is non-news.

And also unproven myth

[TeddyPicker]

I watched the videos and googled about it.

I've learned nothing. I Get Wet is a kick ass album, I'm still rocking, so what's the problem?

[iheartnihilism]

So.. he's the male Lady Gage? Fluff is fluff.

[Bucho]

Yeah, Keith's dead right, when you look into it it's obvious he's talking about a past version of himself, not another human being.

The only "scandal" is that his persona was manufactured but he's pretty much just a meathead/hippy version of a pop star anyway so that has no impact either.

[golgi body]

Originally Posted by Bucho

Yeah, Keith's dead right, when you look into it it's obvious he's talking about a past version of himself, not another human being.

Maybe I need to re-watch the first video, but I recall him absolutely saying he's not the same guy. That is, if the guy from the 'I Get Wet' era was still around, and the current AWK was in the same room, you would be staring at two different, albeit similar looking people.

I met the 'I Get Wet' AWK back in 2002/2003 and it does seem (assuming I can recall a person's looks that far back) like that guy was much older than the current version. Shit, in the video AWK asks the audience if they thought the two of them looked familiar and seemed surprised that most of the audience thought they were the same person.

I think AWK's little lecture accomplished exactly what it was supposed to; reveal partial truths so that he can no longer be called out as a fraud, but leave it confusing enough to where some people may think he's talking about the AWK image/persona (I think the true story is more complicated than this. In fact I think he, as in the current AWK, is the real AWK, but didn't get to be the original frontman). Either way I'm not going to loose any sleep over this. I still like the old AWK and think the new one is a nice guy with a great attitude about life.

Too bad he doesn't play with a band anymore (or does he, all I ever see is him singing to a pre-recorded backing track of music). It was fun getting fucked up and watching an actual band play songs off of 'I Get Wet'.

[hayroob]

Originally Posted by golgi body

Maybe I need to re-watch the first video, but I recall him absolutely saying he's not the same guy. That is, if the guy from the 'I Get Wet' era was still around, and the current AWK was in the same room, you would be staring at two different, albeit similar looking people.

.....

Too bad he doesn't play with a band anymore (or does he, all I ever see is him singing to a pre-recorded backing track of music). It was fun getting fucked up and watching an actual band play songs off of 'I Get Wet'.

Ok so here's where I stand on this:

1. He definitely started in weird quasi metaphorical land. Then he said for sure that he is not the same guy that's on I Get Wet. I don't think he meant it as "I'm a different guy than I used to be ...", he meant that there was physically a different guy.

2. I know a lot of people who knew him when he was just a local rock guy, the dude on stage is definitely the guy who was in those bands in the 90's.

Considering those two things I'm pretty sure that he is the guy from I get wet and there are not two AWKs. I think he just tried to confess to having a contrived persona and did it in a really dumb way.

[MonsteroftheId]

This isn't Hegel guys. There is one physical AWK who is commenting on AWK as both person and a brand and how he has changed in a provocative way.

[Bucho]

Originally Posted by golgi body

I met the 'I Get Wet' AWK back in 2002/2003 and it does seem (assuming I can recall a person's looks that far back) like that guy was much older than the current version. Shit, in the video AWK asks the audience if they thought the two of them looked familiar and seemed surprised that most of the audience thought they were the same person.

He doesn't make it 100% clear but from what I know from interviews with the guy this sounds like how he'd frame the metaphor. But I never met the dude so you're one-up on me there. Then again Keith's met the dude a couple of times and had a long face-to-face with him so he has one up on us.

Also, what state-of-mind were you in when you met him in 02/03? You can be honest. I won't tell.

[golgi body]

Originally Posted by Bucho

He doesn't make it 100% clear but from what I know from interviews with the guy this sounds like how he'd frame the metaphor. But I never met the dude so you're one-up on me there. Then again Keith's met the dude a couple of times and had a long face-to-face with him so he has one up on us.

Also, what state-of-mind were you in when you met him in 02/03? You can be honest. I won't tell.

I was dead sober when I met him, but we didn't have a long or involved conversation either (also 7+ years leaves a lot to the imagination, I can't credibly say who is who based off of those memories alone, could just be a placebo effect). My friend won some radio give away for backstage passes and AWK happened to be playing this music festival. Back then (and probably still to this day) he was very dedicated to his fans and as cheesy as it sounds, gave 110% during their set. After they finished playing he had to lay down for a few minutes because he was so exhausted from rocking out.

The way I see it, he's a fun guy, the 'I Get Wet' songs were silly, but could always make me smile. That shit just reminds of a fun time in my life and I think I sort of lived by his mantra of living life to it's fullest and just being happy to have friends, good health, and being young and a bit careless.

Whether or not he is physically the same person, the persona of AWK is pretty hard not to enjoy. And I will say this, the attitude that the current person embodies is no different than what I remember AWK being all about, so who knows. It's just if you look into the whole conspiracy with the 'Steev Mike' guy (I'm not sure if you're even familiar with this name) things just don't seem Kosher.

If you recall, when AWK was a guest on KATG, he couldn't even comment about the bloody nose cover to 'I Get Wet' due to legal reasons, and a lot of it has to do with this guy named 'Steev Mike', who by the way, the current AWK appeared as in some UK magazine in the late 90's (see below). Just weird shit (sort of like any conspiracy). I never really thought much about this until this thread popped up and it seemed like he was confessing to some of the suspicions.

One thing that remains honest and true to this day and 'til the end of time and this is, "when it's time to party we will party hard!".

EDIT 1: I believe these were the links to pages Dzagama posted back when AWK was a guest on KATG: STEEV MIKE, http://www.freewebs.com/andrewwklinks/index.htm

A word of warning, the story gets a bit ridiculous (which is why I didn't give it much thought until recently), there's a little nudity on the site, and the conspiracy may all be a part of the viral marketing campaign to keep people like us talking about a musician most kids today have never even heard of.

EDIT 2: On a side note, the drummer for Obituary (a metal band), Donald Tardy, was the drummer for AWK back in the early 00's and was more than willing to talk about music with my friend and me. Another great guy.

EDIT 3: Oh and here is part of the magazine article I mentioned (I think this is supposed to be the current AWK guy, or whatever, who the fuck knows)