"WHERE YOU FROM"
AKM:
What I really like about him is his whole idea of "where you're from, is
where you're at." I find he's really huge on
the whole thing of representing where you're from, 'cause that's really
the only thing that you know, and that is who you are. Where you're from
- that's, you know, who you grew up around, more or less.
AWK: Yeah, that's a very
interesting approach, that's an interesting way to look at it. That
makes sense. I'm sure some people can really relate to that. Other
people probably can relate to that by taking the exact opposite
approach. Some people want to have nothing to do with where they're from
and then that ends up shaping them just as much. Whether you're
embracing it or rejecting it, trying to contradict it or trying to fully
embody it, you can't escape it, so I can see what you're saying.
AKM: I guess now that
we're done this Essential Albums thing, and we have a little bit of
time, could I bring this back to you?
How do you relate to
where you're from? I read that your dad is a pretty influential law
professor. What was it like growing up in that family - how did that
shape who you are and where you went with your vision? I guess that
would be some kind of shadow to grow up under. How did that guide you
toward what you're doing now?
AWK: I never really thought
that seriously about what my dad did as it compared to me, except for as
to whether I would go to college or not. Other than that, I never really
considered the idea that you're supposed to do what your dad did, or
really care what he does - at least in how it relates to what you want
to do. I always thought the fact that he was a professor was amazing. I
was always really excited about the world that he works in, what it
entails. It's very heavy. And as I've gotten older, I've gotten to be
more amazed at what he's done. It was easy to take it for granted and
not really fully comprehend it when I was so close to it, being so
young. I didn't know anything different. He was always doing that from
when I first existed. But I realize how amazing it is more and more the
older I get.
AKM: Yeah, and not even
in terms of what he's specifically doing, but more like the type of
person he is, right. 'Cause, you said it, he's dealing with really heavy
stuff. Do you feel like as you get older, you'd ever pursue a path quite
as heavy as that?
AWK: I don't know. Um, it's
funny, 'cause he thinks that what I do is way heavier than what he does,
and I can't even imagine operating in the academic world. It's pretty
interesting to imagine. I mean, he really is a performer, though. I
think there really is some common ground there. Because, as a teacher,
when you're teaching at the University of Michigan, the classes you're
teaching are big classes. He's performing on stage, in front of a big
audience every day - multiple times a day.
Maybe that somehow
subconsciously rubbed off, really. But I have been influenced to try and
have the confidence to grapple with either opportunities or other people
that are in a realm that seems intimidating. Because, to me, that's all
I think of when I think of academics - it's very intimidating. Because
it's something I haven't done. I didn't go to college. And that seems
intimidating to me, but I've been trying not to be intimidated by it,
and say that I can still engage with that world. Even if I haven't been
educated in the same way, I still have an education that counts for
something. And I can be of value to academics, and it can be of value to
me, in some way.
other
topics:
HIS UPCOMING INSTRUMENTAL PIANO ALBUM,
'55 CADILLAC
FINDING NEW SENSATIONS IN DESOLATE PARTS OF CANADA
GHOSTS
N' STUFF
"GETTING
A BIG FEELING OUT" - MORE THAN MUSIC
"SOME OF THE
GREATEST PEOPLE THAT EXIST"
COVERS,
AND "SOME ESSENTIAL ALBUMS"
ON
CRITICS AND MUSIC WRITERS (US!) - "IT'S
JUST IDEAS"
interview
conducted by Andrew Kai-Yin MacKenzie
June 2009
published July 11, 2009
--
ANDREW W.K. ONLINE |
ANDREW W.K. ON
MYSPACE |