From Pitchfork Today : Andrew WK Pelted by Rocks and Bottles at the Gathering of the Juggalos!
Pitchfork: I saw online footage of you getting yanked offstage at the Gathering of the Juggalos last year. That didn't look like a lot of fun.
AWK: It was incredible. It was absolutely overwhelming in ways that I never could have imagined. But I am extremely grateful. I didn't have the chance to play, but I actually did have an incredible, life-changing time.
Pitchfork: How so?
AWK: I've had things like that happen before, playing before really rowdy audiences. That wasn't so new; what was new was being in an atmosphere that one band, or one record label, or one scene, or one mindset has created out of sheer will. It was completely autonomous and completely what they wanted to do. That was extremely inspiring. It's mind-blowing how someone with enough desire can build something so huge that brings joy to so many people.
Pitchfork: So you didn't mind that the audience didn't treat you well?
AWK: Well, I still don't really know how to interpret it. The audience was throwing stuff around and screaming, acting really rowdy all day with every performer. So it wasn't clear to me. I've played before crowds in Europe where that kind of reaction is considered a particular kind of support or almost a kind of initiation. I don't know how to interpret it, but I was just glad for a very passionate response. That's really all you can ask for-- to get energy back from the crowd.
Pitchfork: Did you get pulled off the stage? It was hard to tell what was going on.
AWK: They said it was an insurance reason, that I had to be removed from the stage for my own safety. I think when people were launching bottle rockets and large boulders, they decided that for my own welfare-- and the welfare of the insurance company-- that it was best to stop. That was really wild. I didn't realize it during the show, but I have to take their word for it that it was. Afterward, the next day, I realized I was covered in bruises. I didn't feel anything like that happening during the show. Once I start playing-- I'm sure many people relate to this-- I go into a place that's so driven by adrenaline and by the music that there's a superhuman state that you're in-- not necessarily above human, but definitely using all your resources. It's a very athletic, physical place to be. I wasn't processing everything that was happening.
