The Opening Act And The Main Act - musician Andrew W.K.'s opening act for music group Foo Fighters - Brief Article - Interview

Interview, April, 2001 by Dimitri Ehrlich

WITH SOME HELP FROM A FOO FIGHTER CAN ANDREW W.K. MAKE KARAOKE COOL?

THE OPENING ACT: ANDREW W.K.

"First of all, he's a great guy," says rock-star-in-waiting Andrew W.K. of his new friend, Dave Grohl. "The first time Dave called me, I didn't know who he was. I had heard of the Foo Fighters but I didn't know his name. But I liked his drumming for Nirvana, for sure." A few days later the two met, and a month later, Grohl offered W.K., who had previously been playing at a Starbucks, the opportunity to open for the Foo Fighters in San Francisco. "That was very exciting. It was the first show I played in front of a large crowd--3,000 people. Dave flew me and my manager out there and we stayed in a nice hotel. It was fun, generous and mind-blowing," says the 20-something multi-instrumentalist, who moved to New York from the Detroit area about three years ago. "I was just running around with a microphone, twirling and catapulting, jumping into the audience and singing to a boom box. And the reaction of the crowd, especially people in the front, was pure joy."

W.K.'s music recalls the heyday of '80s rock, but with a wink. On Girls Own Juice (Bulb), an EP released last year, you can practically hear him grinning as he conjures the spirit of David Lee Roth. His major-label debut, I Get Wet (Island/Def Jam), is due this spring. "What I'm trying to do is make music that's fun and inspiring and easy to lose yourself in. Like a pure blast of emotion."

THE MAIN ACT: DAVE GROHL

"A friend forwarded me a tape of Andrew and a picture of him with a horrible bloody nose. It's the sexiest thing you've ever seen in your life. My girlfriend immediately had a crush on this kid. So I hated it, and then I put on the tape and thought it was genius. After falling in love with every one of the songs, I said, 'This could be a really big deal.' I found out he was performing them karaoke-style, like a 17-year-old kid in his bedroom listening to Iron Maiden--just a boy on stage jumping around with a microphone, throwing himself against walls to songs that sound like sweet '70s glam-rock anthems. Andrew has a real knack for writing purely simple pop hooks. It's refreshing to hear something that you can actually hum along to and smile."

Dimitri Ehrlich is Interview's Music Editor at Large.