Credit: Photo by Gary Miller

SXSW Featured Speaker: Andrew W.K.

Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 16

Andrew W.K.: Haute couture’s loss, music’s gain. The party-pop philosopher started his career as a fashion designer at Comme des Garçons but described moving from Michigan to New York just to get sacked as a positive moment in his life. It led him back to music and a real band and a real career. The key to finding the right path, he said, “is not saying yes to everything. It’s about saying yes to your instincts.” Take Anvil, “The heavy metal band that never gave up, and in the most bizarre, roundabout way, they have found their dream.” He found an unexpected kindred soul in dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry. “He’s a living artistic creation,” W.K. said, who believes that “the gods or destiny or the fates bring him the things that he is supposed to do.” Over the years, the dub guru has developed unique bad decision filters. “One of them is being crazy,” said W.K. One day, he finally asked Perry why he was so wild and erratic around people he did not know. Perry’s response: “The people who think I’m crazy and hard to work with are the ones I’m not supposed to deal with.”

This article appears in March 18 • 2011.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.