Donald Tardy, the drummer of Obituary, has gone on record in an exclusive interview with MetalSucks in an attempt to defend Andrew W.K., on whose debut album "I Get Wet" he played drums (as well as live during the following 2+ year Andrew W.K. touring cycle). The Internet has been swirling with rumors lately regarding the true of identity of Andrew W.K., who said in a recent video that more than one actor has played the role of Andrew W.K. throughout the hard partying rocker's career. Excerpts from the interview follow:There are all these crazy rumors, and who knows who started them, that "Andrew W.K." has been played by different actors and that there are 2 different dudes. Like I mentioned before, as if there was some kind of creation like a Disney character or something. What's your thought on that?
I don't know. Andrew is a dude. He is a dude that I know. I think it's when something happens so quickly and so successfully, people can't accept that. That's understandable especially when people don't understand his talent and how focused he was and how the songs were already there long before he got signed. I can tell that he had many ideas and songs. He probably had 2 or 3 albums worth of music before anybody experienced who he was. When it explodes as quickly as it did, people can't accept that so they probably just make up rumors. Let's face it, he's quite a charismatic kind of dude. He's bigger than real life. You combine those two [things] with the success and people can't understand it so they immediately think there has to be more to it. But he's a dude. He's a dude from New York that grew up in Detroit. He's a metalhead, but he's a phenomenal piano player. You combine those two [things] and what do you get? You get metal meets Meatloaf. It's just songs that people don't know how to write, he wrote way more catchy than it should have been and people just didn't know what to think. It was unquestionable when you hear "Party Hard" and "She is Beautiful." I was playing it for the singer of Six Feet Under, it was still a demo then, and he was like "oh my god, this is going to be a gold record the minute it comes out." It was. The minute that people heard it, it was unquestionable that it was more catchy than anything. That's where rumors start.
Who is Steev Mike?
Steev Mike is the one that I never met in person, but it's a dude that Andrew really trusts, and it was a guy that always had his vision. He was there to guide Andrew when needed. When it came to, not necessarily the song itself, but to stay focused on how the concept should be and what the albums and the people need to hear from Andrew. I never got to meet him, but he was obviously always there and Andrew was always turning towards him for just staying focused on what these albums and what this concept should be. - read the full interview
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