http://awilkeskrier.homestead.com/
I have been following this whole thing for about 6 months. I was wondering if anyone out there knows about it. What is your take on it? Culture jamming? Viral marketing? Alternate Reality Game?
Full Version: Anyone down with Steev Mike
I read about that a few days ago, actually. AWK is a deep man. People shrug him off as a bubblegum pop-rocker, but he has important friends and a scary mind.
Who is SteevMike? Good question
Who is SteevMike? Good question
QUOTE(Capt. Midnight @ Oct 11 2006, 09:08 PM) 
AWK is a deep man. People shrug him off as a bubblegum pop-rocker, but he has important friends and a scary mind.
Absolutely. From his roots in the Ann Arbor noise scene (Wolf Eyes) to his current involvement in the noise scene (To Live And Shave In LA), to his apparent assonciation with Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy), AWK is lot more than Mr. Party Guy.
Anyone care to fill me in on the Steev Mike/Andrew W.K. connection, so I don't have to spend the next 45 minutes reading through that web page?
From Wikipedia:
And finally, the sad news:
QUOTE
Rumors have circulated that before there was an "Andrew W.K." the press was holding interviews with a "Steev Mike" whose image and sound later became known as "Andrew W.K." (the first appearance of "Steev Mike" was inside the pages of the cutting-edge UK magazine "Dazed & Confused".) Furthermore, an 1992 unreleased vinyl record on Bulb Records by Steev Mike has been discovered and is the same music as the first 7" EP by the band Couch. The record is copywrited by Andrew's father and Pete Larsen. A radio promo and a full album by Steev Mike have also been leaked onto the internet by unknown sources. The promo contains demos of tracks from I Get Wet and The Wolf, and even a demo of the new song Kicks & Bricks.
QUOTE
Though seemingly no one knows who Steev Mike really is, he is listed as the producer of Andrew's first album, I Get Wet, his third album, Close Calls With Brick Walls, and his live DVD, Who Knows.
One thing that is related to Steev Mike is the number 55. This number became related to Steev Mike when Andrew W.K.'s website became "Hacked" and this number appeared in a bit of code. Now the number has been turning up everywhere A.W.K. related. Some places are the picture on his own homepage (The picture shows Andrew standing in an an alley under a sign, and the sign says "Lane One", with the number 5500 above it). Another place 55 has appeared is the Steev Mike 45 record. Etched into the dead wax of the vinyl on side A is "SM-A 55". It is the same on side B, just replacing the letter A with B. But most strange of all places for the number to appear is Andrew's own album, Close Calls With Brick Walls. First off, on the front cover, Andrew's watch reads 5:50, and the watch reads that time in many pictures inside of the album booklet. Second, on the back of the alum, the 5's in track 5 and 15 are tinted green, while the rest of the track numbers are white.
One thing that is related to Steev Mike is the number 55. This number became related to Steev Mike when Andrew W.K.'s website became "Hacked" and this number appeared in a bit of code. Now the number has been turning up everywhere A.W.K. related. Some places are the picture on his own homepage (The picture shows Andrew standing in an an alley under a sign, and the sign says "Lane One", with the number 5500 above it). Another place 55 has appeared is the Steev Mike 45 record. Etched into the dead wax of the vinyl on side A is "SM-A 55". It is the same on side B, just replacing the letter A with B. But most strange of all places for the number to appear is Andrew's own album, Close Calls With Brick Walls. First off, on the front cover, Andrew's watch reads 5:50, and the watch reads that time in many pictures inside of the album booklet. Second, on the back of the alum, the 5's in track 5 and 15 are tinted green, while the rest of the track numbers are white.
And finally, the sad news:
QUOTE
In September of 2006, Jim Magas, member of Couch and co-founder of Bulb Records stated that the Steev Mike 45 was indeed a fake, and that Steev Mike was just an alter-ego to Andrew W.K.
QUOTE(Capt. Midnight @ Oct 14 2006, 06:28 PM)
From Wikipedia:
And finally, the sad news:
QUOTE
In September of 2006, Jim Magas, member of Couch and co-founder of Bulb Records stated that the Steev Mike 45 was indeed a fake, and that Steev Mike was just an alter-ego to Andrew W.K.
It's not really as simple as that, though. Andrew has admitted to Steev Mike being his alter-ego, only for "Steev Mike" to respond and say he wasn't.
I am pretty sure it is all a work, but it's a good work, and there are alot of believers. I happen to have run into the kid that wrote Jim Magas, and he is a douchebag. He is also the person behind the wiki entry. I bring this up because of the heat it caused within the AWK community. There was alot of "playing along" and letting people think somthing was really going on. But even considering that, the whole saga, which I believe is still going on, is quite entertaining. AWK is in a position now where, he still has a fan base (mostly in Asia), but still takes an active part fucking with his American audience (which has become a little more intimate, consisting of really strange fanatics and a scattering of noise fans like myself). He constantly watches his message board and will post (under various aliases) or edit other people's posts and drop some creepy cryptic images. It has become high concept art in a way.
Fact of the matter is, though, is that nobody knows the truth. The backstory has changed so much over the years that it's anyone's guess.
Here is a little bit of sampeling from the past.
The coded message from Steev Mike to AWK from the AWK.com hack incident
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Random freaky pictures
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
And from the CNN.com/AWK is dead incident
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Oh, and he wears a wig too...
(In the last picture, notice the clock in the background reads 1:54. 1+54=55 I don't know if that was intentional or not, but considering the origin of the photo, it probably was. I'm not sure about the bong in the background, though.)
(In the last picture, notice the clock in the background reads 1:54. 1+54=55 I don't know if that was intentional or not, but considering the origin of the photo, it probably was. I'm not sure about the bong in the background, though.)
Wow, that is ridiculously awesome. I'm going to have to start posting there. Jesus Christ this is deep stuff.
Hahaha this is very creppy/scary. You mean to tell me that Andrew W.K wears a wig? Wow.
QUOTE(MrkentJONES @ Oct 22 2006, 06:12 PM)
Hahaha this is very creppy/scary. You mean to tell me that Andrew W.K wears a wig? Wow.
Well... yeah. "Andrew W.K." is a role. He seems to really play up this character, but it's not his whole life. And it's not like he really tries to hide it a whole lot. A few weeks ago, he was seen on Conan playing piano in Bonnie Prince Billy's backing band:
But, here he shortly thereafter in a picture from his current tour of Japan:
And, just for kicks, here is an old video from his noise days. It is from somewhere between 95 and 97, at least 2 years before the release of I Get Wet. Warning, you will be creeped out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faC1482sIO4
Anyone happen to know when the next two AWK CD's are due out in North America? Supposed to be before the end of the year but it's already November...
Rob
Rob
That youtube thing was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I thought something was going to burst out of my screen and kill me. What the fuck.
I'll second strobogo. Talk about night and day compared to the videos for Party Hard and She Is Beautiful.
QUOTE(shoeWORLDorder @ Oct 24 2006, 06:34 AM)
And, just for kicks, here is an old video from his noise days. It is from somewhere between 95 and 97, at least 2 years before the release of I Get Wet. Warning, you will be creeped out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faC1482sIO4
That was excellent. Brilliantly freaky. And that last shot was just disturbing.
I was reading about this in the summer time. It all seems weird as hell. Also supposedly Andrew was born in 79 which means he would have been 13 wheen that Steev Mike album came out...
From the first time I heard about AWK, I figured that Jimmy Coup was the mastermind. Jimmy was in Obituary, as were a few other members, I think, and always struck me as being half of, if not most of, the product known as Andrew W.K. Maybe that's just me, though.
this seems to be the steev mike album http://awk.dudeguy.com/bulb7inch/ I haven't listened to any of it yet though
Wasn't there some "Steev Mike full-length" released to the 'net that included a whole bunch of AWK demos?
just found these pictures earlier today. someone had told me that AWK had short hair all along, and that he has been wearing a wig and fake hair for over 5 years. WHAT!?
what about this? i seriously doubt this is actually Andrew WK or the same person? these photos are said to be from early 2005, but other pictures i saw from that time had long hair.
does anyone else think it might be just that there are multiple people going around saying they're Andrew WK?
what about this? i seriously doubt this is actually Andrew WK or the same person? these photos are said to be from early 2005, but other pictures i saw from that time had long hair.
does anyone else think it might be just that there are multiple people going around saying they're Andrew WK?
QUOTE(shoeWORLDorder @ Oct 17 2006, 09:29 PM)
Oh, and he wears a wig too...
(In the last picture, notice the clock in the background reads 1:54. 1+54=55 I don't know if that was intentional or not, but considering the origin of the photo, it probably was. I'm not sure about the bong in the background, though.)
(In the last picture, notice the clock in the background reads 1:54. 1+54=55 I don't know if that was intentional or not, but considering the origin of the photo, it probably was. I'm not sure about the bong in the background, though.)
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