So, [the song] 'It's Working' is like, "Yeah, we went out there and we did a lot of drugs, and it's not that great". Upon the release of "Congratulations", he has cited his literary influences as being "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman, The Ice Storm, The Anthology of French Poetry and authors such as Robert Anton Wilson and John Ashbery. His favorite pastime is surfing and says that in the future he would like to produce. Andrew VanWyngarden is in a project with Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal called Blikk Fang. In October 2014, it was announced that two songs would be released by Blikk Fang in Polyvinyl Records' "4 Track Singles Series" for 2015. He appeared in "The Heart is a Drum Machine", a documentary film about the nature of contemporary music. In 2014, he released a solo track entitled "I Just Knew" for the surfing film "Spirit of Akasha". He also released a cover of "I'm Alive", a song originally by Peter Howe. VanWyngarden mentions Werner Herzog, David Lynch, and Federico Fellini as his favorite directors. VanWyngarden said that he is of Dutch descent. He previously dated two models: Camille Rowe and Andreea Diaconu. He currently lives in Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York. In March 2020, VanWyngarden endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders's second presidential bid.