"Party Hard" was the first single Andrew W.K. released after being signed to Island Records. They signed him in 2001 after he put out two EPs on the small Michigan label Bulb Records and cut his teeth playing solo gigs around New York City and other parts of the East Coast. The label helped him refine the persona of a hyper-kinetic rocker always looking to party. He had already released a song on Bulb called "
Party Til You Puke," which was rather visceral:
We kill, we stab, we rob, we stealWith "Party Hard" he kept it fun and uplifting, which set the template for his message: enlightenment through partying.
The line in this song, "When it's time to party we will party hard," serves as a mantra the same way "Always do your best" does in
The Four Agreements and "
Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow" works for P-funk.
Andrew W.K. has spent a lot of time explaining how his party philosophy is a way of pushing to get the most out of life. Before performing at Download Festival in 2018, he explained: "It's a positive activity that can add a kind of optimistic enthusiasm to life. We're here to celebrate not just the good times but all aspects of this adventure called being alive. It's worth our full effort and appreciation. It's difficult to appreciate the hard times, the bad times, the ordeals and obstacles, but through that celebratory attitude we can extract value even out of the rough stuff."
The I Get Wet album cover shows Andrew with blood pouring down from his nose, presumably from partying a little too hard. He says the bloody nose was contrived - he had that image in mind and tried to create it authentically by hitting himself with a brick, but ended up using pig's blood from a butcher shop to get the full effect. He credits the photographer, Roe Ethridge, for telling him to stay expressionless, which made the shot work.
Andrew spread a rumor that the record company pushed back because they thought the bloody nose was supposed to have come from snorting too much cocaine. That probably isn't true, but some big-box stores did put stickers over the cover so as not to offend their shoppers, which delighted Andrew because he knew kids would buy it to see what was underneath.
Andrew W.K. released a whole string of "party" songs, including "
It's Time To Party," "Big Party," "Dance Party" and "Party, Party, Party."
Politicians and marketers would call this messaging. Instead of trying to "evolve as and artist," he stayed laser-focused on the brand he so carefully built, even wearing the same uniform (white T-shirt, white jeans, white sneakers) throughout his career.
"Party Hard" was a hit in the UK, where the song was first released, reaching #19 on the Singles Chart. Island Records put their promotional muscle there and sent him there to play shows and do press. It paid off when the British magazine NME put him on the cover of their October 20, 2001 issue with the headline "The Saviour Of Music."
In America it got favorable reviews in Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly but failed to crack the charts, where dance-pop and R&B were the order of the day and there was little room on playlists for bombastic rock that didn't fall under nu-metal. The video, which showcases the intense energy Andrew puts into his stage show, garnered buzzworthy status on MTV, but that wasn't enough to get it on the charts.
So Andrew W.K. didn't sell that many albums in America but he was able to leverage the attention into other opportunities. He became a popular speaker and TV personality, often playing off the image he created with this song. In 2012, he hosted a panel called "What Would Pinkie Pie Do?" at a My Little Pony convention. In 2023 he got married to the popular actress Kat Dennings, known for her TV series 2 Broke Girls and movies that include The House Bunny and Thor.
Andrew did drink and indulge in drugs, but that was never a prerequisite to partying. When he gave up drugs and alcohol, he was able to keep the party going.
"'Party Hard' was always very open, a mindset that encouraged celebration," he told The Village Voice. "I never try to tell anyone how to party, but just to facilitate that excitement and energy."
This song was used in the trailer for the 2013 movie Monsters University, and in 2014 it was featured in the "And You" commercial for Google/Android.
Andrew W.K. played "Party Hard" when he was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, April 13, 2002. The Rock was the host for that episode.
After giving a lecture at New York University on November 17, 2006 that extended to four hours and proved quite entertaining, Andrew W.K. added "motivational speaker" to his skillset, and in 2016 did a speaking tour of all 50 states called The Power Of Partying, where he explores the dissonance between a surface-level party song and the complex emotions it evokes.
Andrew W.K. wasn't the first to build his image around a "party" song. The first hit for the Beastie Boys was "
(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)," which embraced a petulant, frat-boy style of partying they took to heart. A few years later they dissociated themselves from that song and image as they matured along with their music.
