A conversation with Andrew WK is about as strange and wonderful as you’d expect.

The man is, simply put, charming. He lives in Midtown, by choice. He answers his own press e-mails, usually ending the correspondence with “Love, Andrew.” And, recently, the guy best known for creating perfect, frat-rock anthems like “Party Hard”, “It’s Time to Party” and “Party ‘Til You Puke” is off trying out something completely unusual and different, like a solo piano show at the New Museum, producing an album for dub legend Lee “Scratch” Perry or showing up on Fox News as a commentator. Weird, wacky stuff.

The first contact I had with Andrew came on Wednesday, when we scheduled an interview (playdate?) at the Carousel in Bryant Park. It was his idea; not only was it near his apartment, but it (sort of) tied into his upcoming project: a children’s book reading, in conjunction with clothing/lifestyle store Paul Frank, followed by an after-reading concert with the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars.

“Hello, Kirk? I’m running late. I’m so sorry.” He honestly sounded like he meant it.

“No problem. We’re here.”

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be from Pennsylvania, would you?”

“Um, no…do I sound like I have an accent or something?”

“Oh, no. I wouldn’t even know a Pennsylvania accent sounds like.”

He never explained what he meant, and I never asked. Over the next two hours, Andrew discussed many things, often veering wildly off course into discussions on the joys and pitfalls of eating Taco Bell, the 36 hours of no-sleep he was on, the wisdom behind “The Secret,” seeking an autograph with Karl Rove...and everything else that turned a serious-minded Ann Arbor, Michigan kid into one of the most iconic, underground pop culture heroes of the decade (well, at least for some people).

And, so, we begin to talk.

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