Andrew W.K. has been blowing up.
Or, more accurately, blowing things up.
More than 10 years after exploding onto the music scene, the party rocker has recently hosted a live-action Cartoon Network program called “Destroy Build Destroy.” While there are surely nuances to this game show, at its root things get blowed up real good.
| Onstage |
| Andrew W.K. |
| Where: 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW |
| When: Doors 7 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: Sold out at press time, but tickets might be available through resellers; 930.com |
“When I say blow things up, I mean we have very significant explosions,” W.K. said during a recent phone interview, adding that the show employs anything from gasoline to bazookas to make things go boom. “I like explosions a lot. Like most people, especially when they’re not used for violence but used for entertainment.”
More recently, W.K. has been lighting up stages across the country. He’s celebrating the 10th anniversary of the defining party album “I Get Wet” by playing the work live in its entirety.
W.K. performs at a sold-out 9:30 Club on Sunday.
“The songs are more fun to play now than they even were the first time around,” said W.K. from a tour stop in Milwaukee.
Released in late 2001, “I Get Wet,” with its cover featuring a bloody-nosed W.K., spawned such popular nuggets as “Party Hard” and “Party til You Puke.” The musician hasn’t grown tired of singing these party anthems.
“The minute that those songs start, I’m just filled with energy,” W.K. said. “It’s the nature of this music. The whole purpose of it is to be completely energizing, and so really it just sort of carries you along. I’m certainly thankful and amazed that we’ve been able to do any of this, let alone do it for over 10 years now.”
Part of the “I Get Wet” celebration is a reissue with bonus material, due out this June. W.K. has also been playing a new song at shows, and plans to record a new album in June.
W.K. still does motivational speaking when he can, and stars on a new Web comedy series titled “Let’s Big Happy” featured on MySpace.
But it’s the music, and fans, that keep drawing W.K. back to the stage. At his shows, he sees a younger generation of folks looking to party hard.
“They want their chance to have this experience,” W.K. said. “That’s just as satisfying, if not more, than having someone who’s stuck with you all those years also come back, which is really mind-blowing to me as well.”
