Andrew W. K.

Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier
Born	(1979-05-09) May 9, 1979 (age 37) Palo Alto, California, United States
Origin	Ann Arbor, Michigan (childhood residence) New York City, New York (current residence)
Genres	Punk rock, alternative rock, party-metal nu-metal, hard rock, alternative metal, heavy metal, experimental
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, bass, drums, keytar
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Hanson, Bulb, Island, Universal, Mercury, Skyscraper Music Maker/Steev Mike
Associated acts	Wolf Eyes, To Live and Shave in L.A., Matt Sweeney, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Matt & Kim, Reverse Polarity, Ancient Art of Boar, The Pterodactyls
Website	Official website

Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier (born May 9, 1979), better known by his stagename Andrew W.K., is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, motivational speaker, and music producer. As a musician, he is known for his singles "Party Hard" and "We Want Fun". He also has a role in the game Fallout 4 in the Nuka-World DLC. He plays the character known as "Redeye" who runs the Nuka-World Radio Station.

Andrew Fetterly Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His father is Professor James E. Krier, a well-known legal scholar at the University of Michigan Law School and co-author of the widely used Dukeminier & Krier Property casebook, and his mother, Wendy Wilkes, is a violinist. At the age of 4, he began learning classical piano at the University of Michigan School of Music. He was dubbed Andrew W.K. by an elementary school teacher to differentiate him from his classmates Andrew Cohen and Andrew Gilchrist. He later attended the private college preparatory Greenhills School for middle school before attending the alternative Community High School from 1993 to 1997, where he studied jazz keyboard.

In 1993, at the age of 14, he joined the band Slam, later to be called Reverse Polarity. In 1996, a song recorded by W.K. entitled "Mr. Surprise" was included on Plant the Flower Seeds, a compilation by the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based record label Westside Audio Laboratories, marking his first publicly-released recording. Over the next 5 years, W.K. would play in a number of Detroit-based punk rock and heavy metal bands, including The Pterodactyls, Lab Lobotomy, Music Band, and Mr. Velocity Hopkins. in addition to forming the noise rock project Ancient Art of Boar, later known as AAB, which essentially served as an outlet for his solo material.