The life of Ball State freshman Patrick Wilkes-Krier defies any falsehoods of first impressions. When you first see him, you might not recognize anything significantly different than the guy next door. But sometimes that's not all that bad.
When he tells you his brother is Andrew W.K., a rockstar and main attraction on this past summer's Ozzfest tour, things still don't change. The 18-year-old Ball State golfer, can teach you a thing or two about face value and the relevance of there being more to someone than meets the eye.
Like his brother, he's Patrick W.K., a crazy Michigan native who loves music and sports.
"When I used to turn in papers in high school I'd write 'Patrick W.K.' on it," he said. "It's just something we've always done."
As a family of four, their mother decided she would keep her last name Wilkes and hyphenate it with their father's last name, Krier.
Beneath Andrew's long hair and messy appearance, the two bare a slight resemblance. At first sight, they appear as complete opposites. Patrick, tall and skinny with short hair, and Andrew definably different.
"They think we're completely different," he said. "My closest friends back home - they've met my brother and they know me really well and they see we're pretty much the same people. We're very crazy and weird...Since he's got this image now, because he's a celebrity and stuff, he's had a whole bunch of people kind of misconstrue what he's really like. Then they take me for face value, too. Just because we look different doesn't mean we really are."
Wilkes-Krier came to Ball State this past fall on a golf scholarship where he now practices anywhere from three to five hours a day. After narrowing Ball State down with four other schools including Ohio State and Michigan State, Wilkes-Krier said he loves Ball State and although he doesn't travel with the team, he loves practicing.
As the brother of a rockstar with hits called "Party Hard," and "Party Til You Puke" Wilkes-Krier faces another dilemma of taking issues for face value. He doesn't drink and never has - but that doesn't mean he goes to bed early, he said.
Just last week, Wilkes-Krier and a group of friends took a half-hour road trip to Spooks Corner by Taylor University. The road is rumored to be haunted from a fatal car accident.
"They're all freaking out in the front seats and they were driving through it so fast and I was like 'Come on you guys, let's stop and get out or something,'" Wilkes-Krier said. "We're going to go back next weekend."
For Wilkes-Krier and his brother, partying hard has a different meaning.
"I think what he tries to get across when he says 'party' doesn't mean go to a party and get drunk, he's kind of just like don't ever stop living as hard as you can," he said. "Live life with a lot of excitement...That's what he really means by party."
While he finds himself explaining his brother, Wilkes-Krier said he loves to talk about him. They come from a close family, he said. Their father is a professor of law at the University of Michigan and his mother is a "just a mom."
"My mom's like the perfect saint mother. She always does everything right. She always knows where everything is. She always does everything for you when you need it done. My dad's like the sarcastic guy who makes fun of you and you can make fun of him."
According to Wilkes-Krier, their parents gave them every opportunity they could when they were young. He played the piano, saxophone, golf and just about every other sport, he said.
Although he's an undeclared major at Ball State, Wilkes-Krier knows exactly what he dreamed to be.
"I honestly wanted to be and still want to be - but it's not going to happen - in the NBA because I'm a huge basketball fan," he said. "I've always have been. I'd be a golfer too. I've always kind of shaped my life around sports."
Andrew moved out to New York City when he was 18, Patrick said. From that point on, he pursued a career in music.
"One day he called and I was listening to my parents have this huge conversation with my brother and I didn't know what was going on and I was kind of worried," he said. "He asked to talk to me and he said 'I have to convince mom and dad to let me buy all of this recording stuff because I want to start doing music.'"
With his brother's career in full swing, Wilkes-Krier said he supports him 100 percent and loves to attend his concerts. When he gets the chance - he shares his brother's story and his love for music.
"A lot of people take him for face value. They'll look at his picture and they'll hear his music and just because it's loud they'll think he's angry at the world," Wilkes-Krier said. "Sometimes I wish they would listen to his music, listen to what he's saying and then they'd love everthing he's saying."
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