Andrew W.K. plans to drum for 24 hours straight in an attempt to set a world record.
The audacious plan from the musician, motivational speaker and all-around Party King is part of a stunt to promote the O Music Awards. Now in their fourth year, the celebration of music, tech and fans will transform itself in 2013 into a 24-hour online live music festival featuring more than 50 bands, a ton of awards, and the day-long drumathon.
The drumathon is begin on the evening of Wednesday, June 19 and is scheduled to go through the majority of Thursday if Andrew can manage to pound the skins that long. The self-proclaimed “Grand Czar of Positivity and Having Fun” is hoping to break the official world record for the longest drum session held in a retail store.
Kicking off at 7pm EST, he’ll be joined by Roots bandleader and drummer Questlove, as well as a dozen yet-to-be-revealed guest drummers who’ll be joining in on the fun.
Andrew WK says he’s taken a break from partying to prepare for the amazing feat, and told The Hollywood Reporter that he’s been practicing air drumming with weights instead of sticks. “I want to feel like it’s harder than it is,” he said. “I’d rather be over-prepared.”
“Some of these I would consider the greatest drummers in the world,” he says. “People that I’ve admired for years and years.”“It wasn’t really until four days ago that it really hit me –- like wait a minute, that’s a really long time, that’s a full day. It’s not as long as a year or even 48 hours, but I realized it’s not like drumming for 24 minutes or even 12 hours; it’s going to be very challenging.”
“That sort of changed my whole point of view from being very excited to still being very excited but also very intimidated.”
He won’t reveal who the guest drummers are but says his excitement over playing with them should help give him any needed energy boosts. “Some of these I would consider the greatest drummers in the world,” he says. “People that I’ve admired for years and years.”
“Just doing anything for 24 hours is a feat of endurance. Staying up for 24 hours you go into a very interesting space. But I’ve done that many times, so I think having long bouts of wakefulness under my belt is gonna [help]. Also I did another feat of endurance. It was meant to be a 24-hour autograph signing in Tokyo, but it ended up becoming 36 hours. I did make it through that.”
Last year, organisers of the awards enlisted Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips to break the Guinness World Record for the most live shows in 24 hours in multiple cities.
