Ex-ANDREW W.K. Guitarist: 'I Gave Everything Of Myself'

Former ANDREW W.K. guitarist Jimmy Coup (a.k.a. James Mecherle, formerly of Minnesota's COUP DE GRACE) has spoken to Schwegweb.com about the circumstances that led to his departure from the group halfway through their most recent U.S. tour. Acknowledging that he was "technically fired" from ANDREW W.K., Coup goes on to say that "I was definitely an integral part of AWK. I gave everything of myself for that first record and marathon tour. Not just singing all over the place, but I also took care of Andy so he could make the best record possible. We couldn't wait to finish so we could get out on tour — and neither of us had even met the rest of the band yet! Andy was like racehorse and I felt like I was watching over a winner. I got us to the gym on a regular basis, cooked us healthy meals every day, made sure he got a little fresh air and sunshine, and when needed made him laugh. And I helped him communicate his ideas with the other people involved in that record and tour-which was possibly the most work of all! But on the second record, I was asked to do nothing. I was like, huh? What happened? Needless to say, I found it difficult to get motivated to jump, kick, cheer, and believe in the whole thing after that. I naturally felt like I lost an important connection with it all. So maybe I was just a hired gun all along, and I was the last one to know.

"When I met Andy, I was painting houses," he continues. "Then along came this guy and this music, and my life changed. He was something of a savior to me. And I was the loving, infinitely helpful, philosophical-not to mention stadium-rock-ready big brother that he needed.

"I think as things went along and the AWK thing started to succeed, Andy started feeling pressure from everywhere, which is normal in this business. I have never seen anybody work so hard on the details, but he just would not share the burden. And if you've ever been in a similar situation, you know that the person with all the pressure eventually feels like he's doing all the work, that's when the problems begin."

Coup is currently working on a "full-on metal" album with ex-FIGHT/DANZIG guitarist Mark Chaussee, ex-THE COUP DE GRACE guitarist Steve Wresh and drummer Brett Degendoffer. "It's gonna have lots and lots of guitars, killing double leads, tough vocals and [it will] hit hard," Jimmy promises. "All the shit I love!" In addition, he is collaborating with the Japanese band THE LIZZY BOYS on an album of original material, tentatively due next year. "I love THIN LIZZY so much I'm almost out of my mind, and when I met these guys at the Vibe for Philo (a concert held every Jan. 4 in Dublin to commemorate Phil Lynott's death) I knew I had found guys just as crazy about it all as I was," says Jimmy. "We were bros right away and we communicated through glasses of Guinness and LIZZY lyrics. Our mutual love of THIN LIZZY will manifest itself into a record of original material." Read the rest of the interview here.