A paradigm can be loosely described as way of seeing the world. The term paradigm shift was introduced by Thomas Kuhn in his landmark book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, in which he shows that every significant breakthrough in science was first a break with tradition, with old ways of thinking, and with old paradigms. The earth is the center of the universe vs the sun, Newtonian physics vs relativity, and of course the earth is flat vs round.
The present paradigm in rock music can be described as grim. Influenced heavily by punk and it's child grunge the mentality of present rock music is usually one of angst, rebellion, and sadness. Popular musicians are political and personal, their lyrics reflect either a strong anger or depression that a lot of their listening audience can relate to. Usually in this genre if a band does not have this edge they are frowned upon, if anything at all, because they usually don't make it very far.
The importance of music on a person's life cannot be overlooked. Music, thru sound and word, present a listener with more than just audial pleasure but with an emotional response which shapes two important personal ideas, the way people think things 'are' and the way they think they 'should be'; reality and values. Obviously the ideology of the music described above is rather bleak and negative, and many fans embrace it because it truly parallels their view of reality.
In today's rock hemisphere there is but only one break with this paradigm; Andrew WK.
Although I regard myself as a devote atheist, I would have to admit the first Andrew WK concert I attended seemed like a true spiritual experience. It opened my eyes, I had a mental "A-ha!", and I experience profound joy.
Andrew WK is the antithesis to the negative-angry-depressed rock world. His philosophy is 'have fun', simply put. All his songs are positive and uplifting, they come across as corny and silly, and all have sing along choruses. To the layman, he seems like an amateur, simple melodies and songs about partying and having fun. However, he is far from amateur, he is a visionary who is trying to envoke emotions a lot of the rock-'in'-clique have never experienced; pure happiness.
Andrew WK isn't trying to be cool, popular or a rock star. He doesn't really even try to make people think the way he does. He has fun playing his music and is elated when others find happiness as well; his motive is a purely selfish need for happiness and he finds it thru making anyone and everyone he can happy. There are no pretenses, there are no jokes, what you see is what you get.
I stood in the front row at the concert as he ran out, strutting around with a child's face on, as his band swayed and he belted out an emphatic "It's time to party! Let's party!" I felt a huge cancer being ripped out of my stomach up thru my throat; I felt like a kid again. I didn't know many of the words at that point, but I jumped up and down and flailed my arms, singing anything that came to my mind. I took Andrew's lead, and just went wild. I didn't think about what I looked like, what I was doing, I just did anything that felt good. My paradigm had definately shifted, in fact it had been bodyslammed, and placed completely upside down. All of my punk-rock ideals, my grudges, fuck them! "You only live once", and I was going to make the best of it, I was going to "go for it".
For years I had been depressed, I had read and re-read books about the "key to happiness", they said "do this" or "think that"; they focused on a true personality change. As I learned, personality is like the skin of an apple, it may look ok, but the inside may be rotten or filled with worms. What I needed was a true character ethic paradigm shift, I needed to stop overthinking every move I made trying to decide if it fit my hardcoded philosophy and just let go and have fun. Andrew WK truly helped me let go. His shows were like church services, I felt rejuvinized, and for weeks following them I was happier and made people around me happier (which in turn made me feel even better).
"We take having fun very seriously", a quote from an Andrew WK interview in which the interviewer is trying to "crack" him. Sorry guys, theres nothing to crack. Here is a man who wants to have fun and be happy and is not afraid or embarassed to say it. Interviewers have a hayday with him trying to get him to say a mean or negative remark about other bands, pop music, anything; and it never works. Andrew has learned that getting mad or being negative never pays off, it does not "feel alright". Some people have resorted into even taking personal jabs at Andrew in interviews, but he always responds as cheerful and jokingly as seems humanly possible with clever commentary, which usually makes the interviewer a true fan, and a true believer.
The first time I actually got to meet Andrew I told him "I get it, I didn't before, thank you". He put his hand on my shoulder smiling, knowing exactly what I meant, and said "That makes me very happy". On how many occasions can two guys stand together telling one another how happy they make each other without people ridiculing them? But actually, who really cares if people did. Andrew likes all music with melody, there are some band he is not too "fond of"; particularly bands that have negative or angry lyrics, but if the melody is good, if he can get a positive feeling from it, it is gold. Today many kids feel embarassed to like certain things, they know they "shouldn't" if they want to look cool in their scene or fit into the mold of what they think they "should be". They dress a certain way, talk about certain things, listen to certain things, all for the wrong reasons. This breeds the negative attitude and sadness than infests the world; and what is really sad, they do it all for nothing.
I love Andrew Wilkes-Krier, and I am not ashamed to say it. I realize he doesn't even really know my name, and that is fine, I do not feel like a fanatic or that I am just going thru a phase. This is real, this is big, this is forever.
-Josh P px@vt.edu