THE AUDIOVORE "BEST OF ALABAMA 2013"

***A QUICK DISCLAIMER: This list is in no way "definitive" and reflects my own personal tastes, biases, and predilections for the music I dug most from my home state of Alabama in 2013 and is meant to be nothing more than a personal "best-of" list for the things that caught my attention throughout the year. I know there are plenty of albums and EPs that slipped under my radar or I just didn't have time to listen to thoroughly, so please consider this to be what the Minutemen might call "one reporter's opinion" from the belly of the local music business. As you may notice, a lot of the performers who are listed here either don't live in the state anymore- or were never from here to begin with (as is the case with Wooden Wand)- but are here for a reason and either have a profound connection to the Yellowhammer State, put on breathtaking performances within our borders, or would not have been able to produce their work were it not for the plethora of incredible musicians we have here in Alabama. So, please forgive any accidental oversights, glaring omissions, missed field goals, or the like....and ENJOY the best our state has to offer!!! RMFT!!!!

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Knowledge, Rhythm & Understanding by Shaheed & DJ Supreme

Beautiful packaging, amazing sound quality, sick beats, and some of the dopest rhymes this side of the ATL. I haven't stopped listening to this record since the day it came across my desk and haven't looked back since. In fact, I've probably played this record more than any other product from the state of Alabama this past year and may continue the trend into 2014. With the help of audio engineering whiz Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Beck, Outkast) and guest spots by the likes of Akil The MC from Jurassic 5 and R-Tist from The Green Seed, Communicating Vessels put out one of the most satisfying listening experiences of 2013 from the burgeoning Birmingham hip hop scene and set the stage for a larger audience for one of my favorite rap groups since A Tribe Called Quest. From Shaheed's impeccable flow and positive lyrical attitude, to DJ Supreme's encyclopedic rhythmic sensibilities, there's not much to not like about this amazing double LP of righteous rhymes. From the epochal single "Right Now," to the driving street funk of "Power Moves" and "Revolutionary," this album ruled from beginning to end and every track in between. One day this will become an important founding document of the Birmingham hip hop community. For now it's the best hip hop record to have ever come out of the Magic City.

                                         Music video for "Right Now" by Shaheed & DJ Supreme.

TOP 10 ALBUMS

1. Blood Oaths Of The New Blues- Wooden Wand
2. Southeastern- Jason Isbell 

3. Muchacho- Phosphorescent 

4. The Grenadines- The Grenadines 

5. Cerulean Salt- Waxahatchee
6. Defcon 5...4...3...2...1- Man or Astro-man?
7. The Brave And The Blue- Belle Adair
8. The Breeze- Banditos
9. Overseas Then Under- The Bear
10. Hits & Missives- Teen Getaway

                                      Alabama Shakes perform "Always Alright" on Saturday Night Live.

SONG OF THE YEAR: "Always Alright" by Alabama Shakes

Although officially released in 2012 as part of the soundtrack to the movie "Silver Linings Playbook," this song didn't really take hold until well into 2013 when it got a significant showing during the band's much-lauded appearance on Saturday Night Live following their empty-handed stop at the Grammys just a few nights before. As the second song from the group's performance that night- following a rather subdued take on their hit single "Hold On"- the Shakes shook off whatever nerves they might have had the first time around and let loose on a barnburning rendition of this firecracker of a tune that would eventually see it nominated for "Best Rock Performance" for the 2014 Grammys alongside such luminaries as Led Zeppelin, Jack White, and the Queens of the Stone Age. As the sole musical missive from the group in 2013 as they stormed stages across the world, the song would ultimately serve as the proverbial shot-across-the-bow for the resurgence of "Alabama music" in national consciousness in 2013, particularly from the northwest corner of the state, which would soon be immortalized in the Muscle Shoals documentary a few months later. Having lead the charge for the past two years, the Shakes deserved to take the year off from recording and let people bask in the glorious, soul-stained sweat of their live shows as the band unwittingly provided a calling card for a new generation of Alabama musicians around the globe. And no other song was needed. "Always alright" indeed.

TOP 20 SONGS

1. "He's Not Mine"- The Bear

2. "Broken Bones And Pocket Change"- St. Paul and The Broken Bones

3. "Right Now"- Shaheed & DJ Supreme

4. "Cover Me Up"- Jason Isbell

5. "Supermoon (The Sounding Line)"- Wooden Wand

6. "Warmer"- The Grenadines

7. "Song For Zula"- Phosphorescent

8. "Lips And Limbs"- Waxahatchee

9. "Unwelcome Guest"- Belle Adair

10. "The Breeze"- Banditos
11. "All Systems To Go"- Man or Astro-man?

12. "I Had Me A Girl"- The Civil Wars

13. "Rabbit Runs A Destiny"- Duquette Johnston

14. "Someday This Child Will Die"- Wooden Wand & The World War IV
15. "Up All Night"- Maria Taylor

16. "Constantine"- The Dexateens

17. "Rome"- Through The Sparks

18. "Spring Fever"- Teen Getaway

19. "Dirty World"- Cosmonaut On Vacation

20. "Temple Of The Guiding Light"- Dorado

                                      Jason Isbell performs "Cover Me Up" on Austin City Limits.

BONUS:
1. "Terminator"- Preston Lovinggood
2. "Come Down"- Feather Canyon

3. "I've Been Searching"- The Blind Boys of Alabama feat. Merrill Garbus
4. "Last Night"- MackONE

5. "Silver Hands"- Onehundreds

6. "Heavy Dreams"- \\GT//

                                        Music video for Wooden Wand's "Supermoon (The Sounding Line)."

TOP 10 CONCERTS
***These were the ten best shows I saw in the state of Alabama this year by both local and national acts from Muscle Shoals all the way to Gulf Shores.

1. Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires (Old 280 Boogie/4.23.2013)

As the headliner for the Old 280 Boogie, Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires delivered the goods at this soul-stirring performance at Standard Deluxe in Waverly, AL this past spring. From Bradley's James Brown-inspired dance moves, to the Menahan Street Band's air-tight arrangements, it was hard to take your eyes off the stage as the band ripped through their set in what can only be described as a monumental throwdown of funk and soul. So much so that I was late for my own DJ gig back in Birmingham the same night, as I just couldn't bring myself to leave early to make it back in time. The Screaming Eagle had landed and left nothing but scorched earth in his wake. I'm not sure the Boogie will ever be the same. 

2. Neutral Milk Hotel (Iron City/10.20.2013)

As a classic "bucket list" show for any aging indie hipster worth their salt, it was hard to not be moved by the hundreds of screaming fans singing along to every note of this epic performance by one of the most mysteriously intriguing bands of the 1990s alt-rock explosion. As one of the leading lights of the Elephant 6 collective, Jeff Mangum re-emerged from his self-imposed exile fully intact and wasted no time in delivering a set of broodingly beautiful songs that were both glorious and heartwrenching in their dark melodrama and raw emotion. A powerful performance that pretty much left everyone in the room elated. Riveting.  

3. Stevie Wonder (Hangout Fest/5.15.2013)

Stevie Wonder. On the beach. 'Nuff said. Epic setting for an epic set by an epic artist. You could literally "feel it all over."

4. St. Paul and The Broken Bones/Otis Blue House Show (Highland Underground/3.9.2013)

I saw a lot of great performances by St. Paul and The Broken Bones this past year, but this one was a sentimental favorite. Having taken place in the basement of a house off Highland Ave. that was built by my ancestors in the early-1900s, I had asked the band to be a part of a special house concert series I was producing and wanted to give those in attendance a show to remember as a way of saying "thanks" for all of their support for the band over the past year. Having initially floated the idea to the band of doing a special set of covers to help add to the night's allure, the band decided to one-up my suggestion by performing Otis Redding's classic soul album "Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul" in its entirety (complete with covers of songs by Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, and The Rolling Stones, et al.) to a small crowd of 80 rapt onlookers that would prove to be an especially buzzworthy performance and one that the band would go on to perform to sold-out crowds in both Birmingham and Charlotte. It was an incredible night of music and one of the most unique concerts I've ever put on. My father was also in attendance that night, which really helped to bring things full circle, as some of the very first records he ever gave me were from his Otis Redding collection when I was in high school. One of those truly special moments that seemed to make sense out of so much of my life. "Meta" in the best possible sense of the word.

5. Steelism/Jason Isbell After Party (116 E. Mobile Street/12.14.2013)

You know it's a good show when the band has to come back out for an encore and play part of their set all over again just to sate the masses, which is exactly what happened when Steelism took the stage to play Single Lock Records' after party for Jason Isbell's homecoming show in Florence last month. Although most people weren't familiar with the group's ace instrumental work on unreleased songs like "Caught In A Pickle" and "Cuban Missile," by the end the group had the audience howling for more and even had a small super-jam with Chad Fisher and Ben Tanner from the Alabama Shakes to help round out the evening. Didn't hurt that they threw in spot-on covers of Vince Guaraldi's "Linus & Lucy" and Booker T. & The MG's "Hip-Hug Her" to help get the crowd in the holiday spirit. Incredible vibe. One of my favorite shows I've ever seen them play. 

6. Man or Astro-man? (Birmingham Museum Of Art/8.9.2013)

To say that I was stoked to see Man or Astro-man? return to our terrestrial plane as a functioning band in 2013 would be a vast understatement. As one of my favorite bands from Alabama going back to my high school days, their Devo-meets-The Ventures In Space (On Speed) aesthetic is one that I immediately latched onto as a young lad and have held close as one of the shining examples of our more wayward creative tendencies as a state. But I'm pretty sure the Birmingham Museum Of Art (and its patrons) had no idea what they were getting into when MOAM? took to the stage for their "Art On The Rocks" extravaganza this past summer. Having moved the concert indoors into the museum's small theater after a threat of bad weather, it became clear almost immediately that there were only a handful of MOAM? aficionados in attendance surrounded by a small sea of stunned onlookers who didn't quite know what to make of the sci-fi surf rock explosion happening on stage. With people peeling off after almost every song to escape the multi-media spectacle/synapses burn that is MOAM?'s live show, those that stayed for the duration of the set sat plastered to their seats like deer in headlights in what was surely one of the strangest crowds to ever be at one of their shows. It also didn't help that they set their theremin on fire in a crowded theater. Awesome AND hilarious. Just as you'd expect.

6. The Polyphonic Spree/Rocky Horror Picture Show (Bottletree/6.12.2013)

As the warmup show for The Polyphonic Spree's performance of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at Bonnaroo this past year- and the first time they had ever performed it in the United States- this was one of those rare concerts that only the Bottletree could deliver. Incredible show that perfectly adapted the Rocky Horror aesthetic to the band's already theatrical proclivities coupled with a second performance of the band's original music the same night. Not sure you could ask for more.   

7. Jim James (Iron City/9.6.2013)

Although this show didn't sell out, the energy in the room was palpable as James proceeded to weave his special brand of magic through both the crowd and his music, providing the audience with a rocking yet intimate performance of material from his solo album "Regions of Light and Sound of God" along with a few nuggets from My Morning Jacket's repertoire. Expertly paced with a great light show, it still boggles my mind that more people weren't in attendance.

9. Drive-By Truckers (Iron City/8.1.2013)

A homecoming show if there ever was one. Loud, brash rock n' roll from one of Alabama's finest musical exports that effortlessly moved between poignant lyricism and straight up bravado. Didn't hurt that one-time Birmingham resident Matt Patton (from The Dexateens) was now manning the bass in front of a crowd of hungry locals. Ace performance that deftly balanced rowdy musical acumen with emotional commitment as only the DBT's could deliver. Probably my favorite time I've ever seen them. 

10. EMEFE (Bottletree/1.24.2013)

The night I discovered my new favorite Afro-beat band. As the headliner of a one-two punch that also featured one of the early showings by St. Paul and The Broken Bones, this concert proved to be a double whammy of rhythm and soul that made a mighty impression on the handful of people in attendance. Featuring Miles Arntzen from Antibalas on drums, EMEFE exploded onto the stage with gale-force winds and didn't let up until the very end, taking the audience along with them every step of the way. Needless to say, I was hooked. Really looking forward to hearing their new album in 2014.

St. Paul and The Broken Bones perform Otis Redding's "I've Been Loving You Too Long" LIVE at Highland Underground as part of their "Otis Blue" house show.

                                           Man or Astro-man? LIVE on KEXP.

Soul Resurgence

w/ St. Paul & The Broken Bones

     Move over Brittany Howard, there's a new shaker in town and his name is Paul Janeway. And he's nipping at your heels. For those of you who don't already know, Birmingham has given birth to one of the hottest new soul bands around in the form of St. Paul and the Broken Bones and it looks like they may be giving their Athens-based counterparts a run for their money when it comes to barnburning live shows and a new take on retrofitted indie R&B with a garage band twist. Lead by bassist/arranger Jesse Philips and the inimitable blue-eyed vocal prowess of St. Paul- who at times sounds like a cross between Otis Redding, Al Green, and Solomon Burke (as filtered through the ghost of John Belushi)- the band has been gaining a reputation around town for their incendiary stage show and spot-on readings of everyone from Tom Waits and Screaming Jay Hawkins to O.V. Wright. Backed by ace guitarist Browan Lollar, drummer Andrew Lee, and the horn section of Ben Griner and Allen Branstetter, the band have developed a small cult following among music aficionados here in the Magic City and are seemingly poised for bigger and better things beyond our state lines.
     Having recently graced the cover of B-Metro magazine's music issue a few months back, the band has been busy preparing their first official release in the form of a new 4-song EP entitled Greetings From St. Paul & The Broken Bones and have finally given fans something to gnaw on before hitting the road in early December to take their music to the masses. Recorded at Ol' Elegante Studio by Les Nuby (with help on the mixing board from none other than the Alabama Shakes' Ben Tanner), the EP is a powerful display of the band's best chops coupled with their dynamic take on brass driven rock and roll. From the opening single of "Sugar Dyed Honey Pants"- with its mix of mainlined Memphis soul and preaching blues- to the tender balladry of "Broken Bones And Pocket Change" and the driving Nuggets-era organ romp of "Champagne Halloween," there's not a clunker in the bunch and may prove to be the opening chapter of an extremely promising career. With an upcoming performance set for Wednesday night on Music City Roots- a live streaming music program hosted by Jim Lauderdale and broadcast from the Loveless Cafe Barn in Nashville- the band may very well be on their way to following in the Shakes' footsteps as a slice of authentic Yellowhammer Soul on the national stage.

     We'll just have to wait and see....


     Check out their new single here:
     
http://stpaulandthebrokenbones.bandcamp.com/track/sugar-dyed-honey-pants

     And stream their performance on Music City Roots here:

http://musiccityroots.com/

OUT OF LIMITS: MAN OR ASTRO-MAN? RETURN TO EARTH'S ORBIT WITH BRAND NEW SINGLE

     It's been nearly 12 years since Man or Astro-Man? graced the human race with terrestrial product, but fortunately for us it's been well worth the wait. Having intermittently re-appeared in earth's orbit over the past few years to deliver blistering sets of inter-planetary rock and roll to hungry fans, the time away from our gravitational pull seems to have served the band well when it comes to studio prowess, as their new single signals a return to form, with three tracks of cosmic madness worthy of the Silver Surfer himself. As a lead-up to their highly anticipated new full length album, the band teamed back up with legendary producer Steve Albini and Chunklet magazine founder Henry Owings to put out a series of 7"s to help sate the masses until its arrival. Dubbed the Astro Analog Series, the three singles will feature tracks off the new album, along with bonus material that can only be found on the limited edition runs (released on multi-color vinyl!!!), and should serve as a welcome reprieve for any starved disciples in need of a stereophonic fix.    
     And if the new single is any indication, longtime astro-fans will not be disappointed. From the barnburning A-side of "Defcon 5," with its synth wave warm-up and raucous Sonic Youth-Meets-The Ventures In Space mutant surf-rock attitude, to the high-octane, high-density B-side of "Anti-Matter Man" (featuring a rare vocal performance from Star Crunch), the album tracks are on par with anything the band has released in its 20 year career and point to a very bright future ahead. In fact, both songs harken back to the glory days of the band's mid-to-late-90's output, and seem to speak to some unfinished business from the last time they visited our solar system. But the real treat is the non-album B-side "Dr. Space." With its propulsive rhythm guitar and accordion-fueled thrust, it almost sounds like a mash-up between Dick Dale, the Feelies, and Rain Dogs-era Tom Waits, if all three had been left stranded in a remote galaxy with nothing more than polka records, freeze dried ice cream, a twelve pack of beer and a mixing board at their disposal. It's like nothing the band has ever done before and stands out as an object of desire for all MOAM? completists. And for a band that has pushed the boundaries of sonic reduction, space flight, and manned touring operations to their outermost limits, that's really saying something.
     As a preview of the new series, I spoke with MOAM?'s Birdstuff about what brought them back to this side of the universe, the new album, working with Steve Albini, and what exactly it is they have in store for humanity. This is what he said...



Audiovore: It's been almost 12 years since your last proper release, and although there have been periodic sightings of the band in live settings, it's been a pretty long hiatus. What motivated you all to reenter earth's orbit after so many years traveling the spaceways?

Birdstuff: We thought they had brought the McRib back at McDonald's so we ventured down to gorge ourselves on those artificial, heat lamp-induced, hormone-injected, overly-tender meat juice sticks. They are a high delicacy in the Grid Sector where we're from and go for huge monetary units there. Alas, we were wrong and now we're stuck here once again.

A: You just put out the first in a series of singles leading up to the release of your new full length album. What made you all decide to have the long roll out?

BS: Well, we were thinking about the way we used to do things way back in the yesteryears of our youth, and I think the thing we always enjoyed the most was putting out 7"s. I always thought that was the most suited format for us. Plus, it gave us a chance to analyze what all we had for the album and do some editing with what was going to eventually be on the LP and what would be exclusive B-sides. It both made it more fun and bought us some time to think about the material overall.

A: Had you all been working on new material prior to your return to the stage or did things just start to come together after regrouping?

BS: No, and it was certainly daunting being in a practice space for the first time together in 13 years, but we realized pretty quickly that we still pretty much sounded like we did when we left off in 1997. It was more natural than I was expecting it to be, but I think we were all concerned about it before it actually happened. Nostalgia– especially of a personal nature– can be a very dangerous thing. We didn't want to suck or be a sad parody of our former selves. For us it was a sort of therapy as well. We toured so much and really pushed what being in a band is to the limit, and I think it made us aware that it was the situation we were in that made things tough at times and maybe things weren't as difficult and unbearable as we sometimes remember them being. We had amazing times together, but we had almost too many amazing times together. Over-exposure in any capacity makes it difficult to function. This time it's a lot of fun though. There's not much pressure at all and we've all had a good time doing it again. It's sort of like our middle-age high school garage band.

A: Has the creative process changed for you at all? Or are you still working in the same mode that first brought you together so many years ago?

BS: I do think the biggest challenge was writing new stuff. We used to bang entire songs out– or at least the structures– at practice. Now with us all living in different cities, it was pretty much Star Crunch doing all the writing and sending us demos, and then we would flesh them out when we were all together. We worked pretty feverishly to get everything really tight in a short time and I think that shows in the recording.

A: What was it like working with Steve Albini again?

BS: Sort of high school reunion-y. Steve has been great to us over the years and was a big part of us getting on Touch and Go. The process has been a bit different for this album, but it's all been the same vibe we used to have with Steve. We knocked out a bunch of material in two days the first time we went up to Chicago and I think he really enjoyed that. Later, Star Crunch and I finished up a lot of the tasks (overdubbing, tracking instruments individually, etc.) and that was a much slower process. Not to say Steve wasn't great with all that stuff as well, but I think the thing he likes most is just hearing a band play well in a room together, all tracking at the same time in as much of a live, authentic form as possible. The cool thing though about this record I think is that the sounds vary a good bit from song to song. The other records Albini made with us like Experiment Zero I really like, but we made them where there was pretty much one sound for every song like a Ramones or AC/DC record or something. This recording was pretty diverse in how we recorded it. Some of it was on our end and some was just light experimentation in the recording and mixing itself.

A: Did you all happen to pass our new space probe on your way back to earth? What do you all think of man's latest efforts at space exploration?

BS: While primitive, the Mars thing is actually pretty cool. We were thinking about heading up that way and mooning Curiosity's camera. Nothing like good old Martian pale-white Astro-butt to wake you up in the morning. It is pretty sad though that manned space missions are absolutely over until there is a huge sea change in funding and general interest in the idea. Ironically, and jokingly, I wanted to call the record "Whitey's Not On The Moon"– after the Gil Scott Heron piece "Whitey On The Moon"-- because, truth be told, he really isn't and hasn't been for 30 years. Maybe I'll do my own spoken word piece about it and lay down some mad congas in the background in order to add that Greenwich Village angry poetry slam vibe to it.

A: Finally, should humanity take your return as some sort of harbinger of the "end times"? Is there any link between your new releases and the Mayan Calendar? If so, what is your message to the human race?

BS: Oh, man that would be cool. I wish we had the ability to end the human race– not that we would use it– but it would be a really handy device to threaten people with. Buy our record or we will end existence as you know it!!!

The new single is available NOW through Chunklet's website at http://www.chunklet.com/.

ELVIS, EDISON & UBU ROI: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID THOMAS

     This is an unpublished interview I did with David Thomas of legendary Cleveland art-rockers Pere Ubu back in October of 2011 before his first-ever concert in the state of Alabama. Having been fortunate enough to bring David to Birmingham to play in the home of my good friends Troy Thompson and Laney DeJonge as part of his Living Room Concert Series, I had set up an interview with a local writer to help cover the event for one of the city papers who unfortunately backed out at the last minute and decided not to do it. Having written my senior thesis on Pere Ubu as an American Studies major in college, I decided I couldn't let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fall by the wayside and opted to do the interview myself in hopes of getting it published at a later date. It never happened. So with no place to put it and no working blog at the time, I ended up shelving it as a keepsake. Having recently stumbled across it again after moving out of my old apartment, I decided it was finally time to let it see the light of day after so many months on my hard drive. In spite of the fact that its expiration date has come and gone several times over, I thought it might be an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of David's music or the history of rock & roll in general, as it touches on a wide swath of his career as well as that of many others. Enjoy.

A: This is your first time to ever play in Alabama. Have you ever visited the state before in any capacity?

DT: I'm sure I've passed through somewhere. We used to vacation up in Cloudland, Georgia which is right on the border. I'm sure I've been here before, just not in any significant way.

A: This is the last stop on your fall Living Room Concert tour. How have the shows been so far? What motivated you to embark on such an adventure?

DT: A couple of years ago...maybe it was only last year…I don't remember…there was a guy in Copenhagen who asked me if I would do a show in his house. It wasn't really his house. He had a little outhouse around back and he had transformed one of the rooms into a small little concert venue, and it had a stage and a PA and everything. Held about 40 or 50 people. And he would put on shows and he would bring some fairly big people in. He brought in Mark E. Smith from the Fall and a bunch of other people. And he'd do maybe 3 or 4 a year. And he invited me down and it was really a great show. It was a great atmosphere…very enjoyable experience. And so, I got the idea from that. And I guess there's a certain amount of it going on in Europe…living room sort of shows. And I guess it's sort of catching on over here, so I thought I'd do it and give it a try. And I did three out in California in April and those were all highly successful, so I'm just doing the second series now. I'd like to do more. I've got a lot of offers, it's just the problem is organizing them, because everybody wants a show on the weekend- for obvious reasons- so, that really limits it to you kind of having to put together three at a time. But they have to be geographically linked, because I can't do these three, and then tomorrow night be somewhere else, and then Wednesday be somewhere else…I mean there's a five day gap. So on just practical matters it's just very slow and catchy to put them together. But I'll announce that I'll do a third one and see if I get enough offers to link some more things together. I've got two offers in Dallas and one in Wichita, so I might put that together. I don't know. It's really just geography (laughs). It's just really that simple.

A: It seems like a very interesting position to put yourself in, especially given the fact that you don't know anything about the people who are hosting them and/or attending?

DT: It's been brilliant. It's been great. I tried to set it up so that it would be a party atmosphere. The relationship of everything is totally different. So, yeah you don't know who the people are and if you screw it up, you've really screwed the pooch. Because at least in a commercial venue, if you screw it up- not that I do it that much, but I do have shows that I think are bad and other people say, "Oh, they're great," but I know that they're not- you just walk out of the place and you're done. Where, I'm sure some day will come along when I mess one of these up- for whatever reason- and that'll be hideous. A really hideous experience. But, so far that hasn't happened, and the audiences have all been really excited, and happy, and overwhelmed, as it were. And, you know, you rely on different skills. It's a totally different environment and relationship with the audience, which is challenging and why I do these things.

A: You just released the first new music from Rocket From The Tombs in 36 years. What was it like to revisit the creative impetus of your youth at this stage in your life?

DT: It wasn't particularly revisiting anything. It's just that we got back together in 2003 and we decided that the band sounded really good and everything worked really well and we just decided to go on being a band. It wasn't any sort of "revisiting" thing. It was a good band, so it wasn't like "we're a good band and just revisiting the past"…..no. It just took us a while to put the record out because there was a lot of volatile stuff going on- drinking and drugs and stuff that would interrupt everything- and there were some issues there that caused a lot of friction and trouble. And over the years all that got sorted out and everybody's dried up and cleaned up. So, we started writing right away back in 2003- or very soon after that- and over the years we'd get together every so often and work on new material and finally the band went into a permanent stable situation and this time we thought, "Let's record this stuff now."

A: The first single off the new Rocket From The Tombs album is titled "I Sell Soul," which is a phrase you have used to describe the nature of the act of performance as a musician. What exactly do you mean by "selling soul"?

DT: Well, what you do is you try to create something that feels like life. Something that feels like life in all its variations and conundrums. That's what I mean. It's not a terribly complicated or sophisticated thought. There's not really a lot of explanation that's necessary for it.

A: The music of Rocket From The Tombs and Pere Ubu has often been labeled as dark and doomstruck, but there has always been a great deal of humor involved as well. In fact, you playfully named the newest Rocket From The Tombs live release When It's Too Late To Die Young. In what ways has humor informed your art and music? And in what ways have people misread- to use your own words- your "strange kind of wit"?

DT: Well, you answered the question: they misread it. I don't know. I mean, everybody has templates that they apply to things. And things like doing stuff that's humorous at the same time that it's- as you say- "dark" doesn't fit any template. They want you to be Marilyn Manson, or they want you to be the Bonzo Dog Band or something. And when something doesn't obey those things- those templates- people get confused. Or they want to describe you according to the template that they like. All the bands that I grew up with in the Cleveland scene used [humor]. It's not that you're "using" humor, it's just that things are funny. It's a very classic "rock" point of view that was established by "Heartbreak Hotel." "Heartbreak Hotel" is not about the narrator. It's not about Elvis- the singer- checking into the hotel. It's about the clerk- the desk clerk- who's observing this whole behavior. That's the unique point of view of rock music, that God's eye point of view, or that third-party point of view. So, if you have that point of view, then it's also the point of view that many people experience in their lives, where they can stand back from themselves and see, "Oh, don't do that. That's gonna be a mess." Or, that's gonna be stupid and funny and foolish. And that's humorous. You can see the humor in the tragedy or the tragedy in the humor. You know, none of that is terribly sophisticated stuff. It's all pretty standard. I don't know…it's not my problem that this is an issue with people.

A: You've also previously equated the role of being a singer with that of a priest "mediating between the musicians and their intentions and the audience and its expectations." It is a paradigm you have suggested was ushered in by Elvis Presley….

DT: He didn't bring it in. It was established by the technology that Edison came up with. That's what established the role of singer as mediator. A priest is a mediator. But the technology- the microphone- established that. The speaker…the microphone…the technology made that inevitable.

A: Did Elvis influence you at all? Was that a voice you listened to?

DT: No, not really. Not more than anybody else. Elvis- in a lot of ways- was the first to do certain things, but I've never been an Elvis fan. I always appreciated what he did though.

A: In your lecture "The Geography of Sound," you also talk about Thomas Edison as being the father of rock and roll and the moment he first recorded sound onto a wax cylinder as the cultural "Big Bang" that would- in many ways- define the 20th century. What do you think that moment must have been like for him? Do you think he realized the implications that the "fracturing of scale" would have on human consciousness, perception, and art?

DT: Totally ordinary. He had no idea what he was doing…or, at least, I don't think he did. Edison was a very practical man. I don't know where he came up with the idea- this issue- that he set out to solve. I mean, he did do a lot of stream-of-consciousness poetry that's extremely weird- so you never know with him- but I haven't really made a study of him. I can just tell from what he did and what he said what was going on in his head. So, I don't know what he thought at the time. I mean, he must have understood to some degree what he was doing, but I don't think he would have understood the massive cultural implications of it right away. Nobody ever does. Most people just have a practical issue that they set out to deal with. Nobody sets out to change the world. And those that do end up being like Hitler or something.

A: In what ways has Edison's "fracturing of scale" informed your work? Have you been conscious of it?

DT: I wasn't conscious of it at the beginning. I came to an understanding of it. At the beginning I just thought that I was into sound. When I was getting into music it was the time of the analog synthesizer. Or, even before that, there was the Velvets who were doing different things with sound. Tons of people were doing different things with sound. And I recognized that pure sound- abstract sound- could play a vital role in music and that you could add great depth and width to the standard musical forms of melody, harmony, and rhythm. So, I imagined I understood what was going on, but it took me years to bother to explain it and put it into words just because, you know- like Edison- you don't sit there and go, "This is going to change the way people perceive things." You just see something and go "yeah." And I was aware of what else was going on in music. I wasn't sitting there thinking I was inventing anything, because we weren't. We were just continuing this very clear path that had been established by others…including Elvis…or Les Paul when he electrified the guitar…or when Edison did the microphone. They're all steps along a path. And in the 60's that path was accentuated by the analog synthesizer. And…you know…we just paid attention to where we were in the stream of time. And this was obviously the direction that it was supposed to go in, so being young and in touch with the moment- as it were- of what was going on, we said, "Well, this is where we're going to go with it. This is interesting. This is different. Few people are doing this. Few people have these ideas. So let's do the thing that few people are doing." As opposed to what everybody else is doing, which we really weren't suited personality wise to do in any case.

A: You have often stated that you have wanted to "change the boundaries of expression in the narrative voice." Are there still boundaries- in your mind- to be changed? Or have we reached a point of stagnation?

DT: Of course. There's always boundaries. There's always stuff to do. There's always further that you can go. The object is to replicate the human experience. And that's a pretty major project…a never ending project. There's no end to the boundaries. If you think in terms of limits to the boundaries then you're already screwed. That's why this is nonsense about "how rock has gone as far as it can." People that say that are just Neandarthals who want rock music to be stupid and like a dog returning to its vomit. Which is what punk was all about. It's no coincidence that punk happened at the same point that the new generation of rock musicians were going off into this abstract world- this greater depth- of creating an art form that was equivalent to literature. Or could certainly be considered to be equivalent to literature and art. And not in some creepy, turtleneck sweater-wearing, flute-playing girl way, but in a real meaningful adventure. So punk was simply a corporate effort designed to turn back progress. It was counter-revolutionary. It was reactionary. A totally destructive force. It worked. It sidetracked the mainstream- or what should have been the mainstream. Pere Ubu should have been the mainstream. In all of the great "new wave" or "punk" bands- the ones that ever really did anything like Television, or Talking Heads, or the Residents, or a hundred other groups- they all started before punk. They all started- really started- in the early-70's when this new generation of musicians was developing these ideas. Very little of substance followed that initial burst. I mean, that's not to say there weren't good bands, or good pop bands, and on, and on, and on…but of substance. It really was sidetracked. Because everybody had something to copy! You know, all of a sudden you could copy- not to criticize the Ramones, because they were a good band- but there was a template. You know: fast and hard, and blah-blah-blah, and angry…yaddy-yaddy-ya. So, you know, you dress a certain way and sound a certain way and you sing about certain sort of stuff…and blah-blah-blah. So there was something to copy. People always prefer to copy something. It's easier. You don't get grief over it. And again, I don't mean to be critical- people have the right to do anything they want- it's just that that's the way it worked and that's the analysis of it. There's no value judgements in the analysis, it's just that that's what happened.

A: The last Pere Ubu project before your new release The Lady of Shanghai was your adaptation of Alfred Jarry's infamous 19th-century play Ubu Roi, whose lead character was not only the inspiration for the band itself, but also your own alter ego Crocus Behemoth. You often talk about the idea of conceptual continuity as being a guiding principle in all of your work. Was there a natural- and perhaps inevitable- narrative arc that lead you to reinterpret the work of Jarry for a new generation?

DT: No, it wasn't inevitable. I've been asked over the decades "why don't I do it"? And I always thought, "Well, I don't really have anything to add to it." I'm not going to do it just because I can do it. What's the point of that? Then along the way I was at a Brian Wilson party at the Southbank Centre and this guy- Glen Max who used to do the Knitting Factory in New York, and then he was music director at Southbank, which is the biggest arts venue in England- asked me to do it. And at the time I had been thinking about the fact that I wanted to make the next Pere Ubu record something that went in a much more theatrical direction…using sound as theater. So I was already set up to do something like that. I had already done "Mirror Man"- which is sort-of an improvisational opera- and I thought, "I can go further with this idea." So, he suggested it and- coincidentally- I had been thinking about some ideas that Ubu Roi would suit…that could be a good vehicle for it. So, I thought, "Alright. I guess it's time to do it." I mean, I took great liberties with it. I tried to stay faithful to the intention and the spirit of the original, but there's a lot of stuff that I just adapted. The play is just…it ain't that good of a play (laughs). You know? Let's face it. I know it's influential and all that, but it ain't that good. There's a lot of crap in it. So I cut out the crap and just focused on the stuff that emphasized certain ideas that I wanted to present.

A: How was the play received?

DT: The people that have seen it think it's great. It's a bit of a mess at times, but it's meant to be a mess. It's meant to be totally chaotic and verging on falling apart at any moment. And it was set up to do that. But the people who have seen it think it's great.

A: Is it the original Disastodrome?

DT: Well, that notion of how to do things has always been part of our work ethic. People like that too. They think it's "dangerous." They feel the tension of the thing just barely hanging on. And it's a technique we've designed into what we do forever. Often at times over the years I would pull the band off the stage if things were screwed up- for various technical reasons or something, or we just weren't playing that well- and I would say "we'll be back in five minutes." Because it's easier just to go off and get your breath, calm down, get the sound man in and say, "Blah-blah-blah this is all screwed up." But there's also another thing to it where the audience is really worried, you know? (laughs) They're going, "Are they going to come back? What's going on?" And that's very beneficial. It's very good technique to use with an audience.

A: Finally, this summer your hometown of Cleveland, OH lost one of its great musical personalities in the form of revered journalist Jane Scott, who was an early supporter of Pere Ubu. How important was she to the music community there and to Pere Ubu in particular?

DT: Well, the thing that Jane did is that she didn't perceive, or treat, or consider some local band like Pere Ubu who had just played a couple of gigs any differently from the Rolling Stones or something. She didn't think any of these weird bands in the Cleveland scene that everybody knows about were any different than any band just doing cover versions that could attract a thousand people...whereas we were getting twenty or fifty in some wretched little club in the Flats. She didn't think she should treat any of those people any differently. And she was always enthusiastic about everything and wrote enthusiastically. She didn't write particularly perceptively, or particularly great, or in-depth, she was just enthusiastic about it all. And in those days when everybody thought we were shit it was important. At least psychologically. I mean- gee- the main writer in town likes us. She writes about us. You know? And that's nice. It's psychologically good. And it was beneficial that she would write about us and people would come to see us. So, she was very important.

In memory of Jane Scott (May 3, 1919 – July 4, 2011). Forever young. Forever 16.

The Flaming Lips LIVE at the 2012 Hangout Festival

Here's the complete show from the Lips' closing slot at the Hangout Festival performing Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Enjoy.

ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE

The Kings of Existential Rock Return to the Hangout to Present Pink Floyd's 

Dark Side of the Moon

        When it comes to brain-searing, synapses-frying rock & roll shows, there are few modern bands who can match the cartoonish psychedelic maelstrom of Oklahoma City's the Flaming Lips. As the minds behind of some of the most visionary art-rock of the past 15 years- starting with 1999's avant-pop masterpiece The Soft Bulletin- the Lips have made a point of turning their live concerts into a symbiotic spectacle of light, sound, and theater that remains unparalleled in contemporary music. Littering their stage with giant balloons, oversized confetti canons and streamer guns, and fans dressed up in a dizzying array of costumes- with everything from space aliens, super heroes, and giant caterpillars making it into the mix- the band have managed to transform their performances into day-glo bacchanalian rave-ups that can only be described as epic in their scope and intensity. Crowning their visual onslaught with a giant LED screen flashing synchronized, high-def cinematic eye-candy behind the band as they run through crescendo after crescendo of aural delight, it is truly a sight to behold.
        And whether singing songs about pink robots, the state of world affairs, or the death of a loved one, the group repeatedly go out of their way to bring a sense of levity to what can be an overwhelming physical- and mental- experience. Sublimely juxtaposing the psychological extremes of joyous revelry and existential anxiety with the prismatic pandemonium they unleash on a nightly basis, the band have pulled off an unlikely synthesis in the annals of 21st century art and music. Having tapped into the zeitgeist of hope and fear that seems to permeate our cultural politics, the Flaming Lips seem hellbent on making sure that their fans leave their events with a smile on their face and a new perspective on their place in the universe. And although P.T. Barnum may have laid claim to "The Greatest Show On Earth" years before the band ever existed, a convincing argument could be made that the title rightfully belongs to them, as the band seem to relish the idea of creating a communal freak-out of monumental proportions.
Having recently released the highly anticipated compilation album The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends- a series of wild, one-off collaborations featuring everyone from Yoko Ono, to Ke$ha and Biz Markie, and Jim James from My Morning Jacket- as part of the nationwide Record Store Day celebration, the band are ready to take their three-ring circus back out on the road for a series of summer dates, including a Sunday night closing slot at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores. Returning to the festival for the second year in a row to give a rare performance of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon- a thematic touchstone that could be seen as a founding document for much of the band's oeuvre- the group couldn't be happier about making their way back to the sight of one of last year's most dramatic performances.
        But they're not the only ones, says festival talent buyer Todd Coder, "We couldn't be more excited about having the Flaming Lips back to the Hangout for a second year. Their show paints perfectly on the canvas of the festival, and to witness their rendition of such a classic work- like Dark Side of the Moon- on the beach is sure to be one of the highlights of this year's special event."
       As a preview of the upcoming extravaganza, the AUDIOVORE spoke with lead singer Wayne Coyne about their new album, working with Yoko Ono, the influence of Pink Floyd, and why the Hangout is one of the best festivals anywhere on the planet. This is what he said....


A: You all have put out a rather remarkable series of releases over the past year or so, including a gummy skull with a four-song USB stick embedded in it, a 24-hour long track, and a piece meant to be played simultaneously on twelve smartphones. Where do you get your inspiration for such radical formatting?

WC: Well, part of it is that we just think that it would be cool. I don't think it really requires inspiration. I'm constantly around creative weirdos who think, "Wouldn't it be great, Wayne, if you put some music in a human skull?" I mean, as an idea, I think anybody would think that that's cool. You know, it's like, "Sure, that sounds great!" Luckily I live in a city where there's one of the only people- one of the only professional companies in the whole world- that allows a weirdo like myself to just come in and buy an actual human skull. And I wasn't aware of that until I went to make these. I'd been going by this place- I think they go by the name Skulls Unlimited- and they're a supplier of all these types of bones that are being cleared of all their flesh and everything, so, I think it's just by coincidence. As far as us doing gummy candy and stuff like that, I would be searching and thinking, "I like that too. How can I make this?," and someone would appear- like Eric, this guy who owns a gummy factory- and he would say, "Wayne, I love you guys, let me help you." So a lot of it is serendipitous: I'm trying to get something to work and people come to my aid and help me and that allows things to happen. And I think that's just the spirit of all the collaborations that we've done. It's not just collaborations with the music. Like making the vinyl for this record that came out on Record Store Day. I mean, we did work with this guy's record manufacturing shop in Dallas, and he dedicated two of his machines completely to us, and I had a friend of mine who's an artist in there handmaking each one of the vinyl. And it takes a lot longer than just feeding the machine automatically and it just prints out records. He did each one by hand. And it's a meticulous, time-consuming job, but it's done out of the spirit of doing all of this. And it's done because they love it and it's something very cool.

A: I was going to ask you about that. It's a rather unique set of collaborations. How did the album come about? How did you decide on the artists you wanted to work with?

WC: Well, I don't think we really knew going back more than a year ago. We were simply in this mode of releasing something every month. Part of us thought that it would just be kind of boring after three or four months just to get another Flaming Lips song….or two, or three. So, we thought, we'll try and make every other month be with one of our friends, or some group that we've run into, and we would make them into one of these one-off collaboration things. And then, as it went, it eventually became an interesting part of what we were doing. All of these are kind of limited releases. All of the collaborations that we've done have only been released on vinyl, and some of them are only 2,000 copies. So, they would go quite quickly and not very many people would be able to get them, because frankly, they wouldn't make it to very many record stores before people would buy them up. So, I think all along there's been a little bit of a desire to make it more available. And then, as the year started, we thought, "Well, why don't we see if we could do a bigger release on Record Store Day."
        And- I have to tell you- this was long before I knew that I was going to work with Bon Iver, or Edward Sharpe, or Ke$ha, or Jim James, or Chris Martin. I mean, there are six or seven that are on this thing that I didn't even know I was going to be doing anything with until the very end of January. I just kept trying and trying. So, there's a lot of it that's just been pure panic over problems of seeing if we can get these people to do this or that. So, I think that's what makes it really great: a lot of this was simply done on the spot. Which can make it good or bad, but sometimes that makes some of the greatest, unique music. And, you know, I wish that wasn't true. I wish that you could just sit in a room and think, and think, and think, and would come up with something better, but sometimes that's just not true. Sometimes things just happen in the spirit, and the energy, and the creativity that's happening right there and it's just wonderful. So, I think part of us knows that that has the potential to happen. And, of course, sometimes nothing happens and it's boring. But I tell you, I think it's something really, really special. We tried to collect what we feel like are some really stellar moments, like, "Here is the best junk that happened when we got together with everybody."

A: What was it like working with Yoko Ono?

WC: Well, Yoko is one of those that most of the stuff we did with her was just simply over e-mails and computers. We worked with Sean- her son- and his group the Plastic Ono Band, but Yoko was in Japan the day we worked with him, so that was a little bit weird because we're working with a real group but Yoko wasn't part of it. But Yoko was involved by us sending her tracks and she would send us tracks back- and she would have a lot of opinions and say-so about what happened- but it wasn't as though we were standing there with her. I mean like with Nick Cave….I know Nick Cave and I've been around him, and when we went to record he was one of those that we really did in a studio with people- like Neon Indian, Lightning Bolt, and Ke$ha….there's quite a few of them. I don't think we could have done this many this quickly if we were trying every time to be standing in the same room at the same time. Some of these people are just too busy. I mean, Chris Martin, and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and Jim James of My Morning Jacket were all three at the Grammys at the same time while I'm texting and talking to them about the music that we're making, so it wasn't as though many of these people were "recording" when I was dealing with them. They were doing other things and we were just doing this happenstance and any way we could get the recording done. But I wasn't really aware of it. I know that everybody's busy, so I just got to work to see what we could do. Luckily, through e-mails and through the computer you can really do tons and tons of great music and have it released in the same month together.

A: You actually got to perform with Yoko a few months ago as part of your annual New Year's Eve extravaganza in Oklahoma City. Seemed like quite an event….

WC: Well…the idea that someone like myself- and here's what you have to remember, I mean, I'm 51 years old, so I grew up with my older brother loving the Beatles and loving Yoko Ono and all that- so to actually be able to be around her and play a show of that magnitude with her was incredible. And there were two shows, so we really had some time together. And we had played shows before with Sean and his group, and he's beautiful as well. Really just wonderful people to be lucky enough to be around. I mean, to know that they are this living connection to John Lennon…it's just amazing. You know, whenever we do a New Year's show- obviously it's a big Flaming Lips extravaganza- but there's always an extra thing that we do. And this past year we did a series of these John Lennon/Beatles songs- songs that we just subconsciously play in our mind all the time anyway- and we did "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," which is a song John wrote at the peak of being in love with Yoko Ono. So, to play that song while Sean and Yoko stand just eight feet away from you watching you play it onstage was a pretty powerful experience.

A: As a band that seems to put a high premium on original music, you guys really seem to enjoy the idea of covering other people's music as well. What is it about the cover song that you all find so appealing?

WC: Well, I think that it's a great compliment. I don't necessarily think the things I create are all that good, but occasionally something really special happens, and I'm an obsessive, creative freak. I'm not proud of that, I just know that it's in my nature to do things, so I think a by-product of that is that we do make a lot of original music. I don't know if it's always good music, but it's original. But I love, love, love music, and any group that's been together as long as the Flaming Lips have been together- almost 30 years next year- you have the luxury of exploring not just your own music….but….we have a lot of time to consider, "How is this other music made?" and "What did they do?," because we're curious…. we're interested. And when you get to meet someone like a Yoko Ono, or be around someone like a Sean Lennon, you just talk to them about how things are done and how they did the work. That's just the nature of curiosity. I don't think you could love music as much as we do and not almost be compelled to play this music that you love if you're able to. I mean, I'm not a very good musician, so I can't always play other people's music. But someone like Steven [Drozd], he can play any music ever. He can play Igor Stravinsky. He can play Miles Davis. He's that calibre of musician where he can play anything. So, I think we're really lucky to have this combination of one of the great living masters of music, and then you've got me who's just the fucking weirdo and I'm lucky that I get to play any type of music that I can dream of….

A: Is there an art to the cover song?

WC: Well, I don't know. The way we do it, we take the creation of the song very serious, because we know how all the lucky accidents- and how many little things- happen that are not always your intention. There's what you're trying to do, but then if you're lucky- the way we do music- we accept everything that happens to our music as we're making it, because we think it makes it better. We think it makes it more human and makes it…special. We don't really want to have to think of everything before it happens. I mean, I think this would also be true when you talk to people that write novels. You know, they have an idea of what they're going to say, but of course they don't have the words before they say it, they just start going. And sometimes a whole chapter gets written before they even know what's going on. Painting is like this. All things are like this. You kind of know what you're doing, but if you're lucky, you kind of get into a sleepwalker's state of mind and you're going into it and creating and you're not actually doing it consciously. It's happening and you're letting it happen. So, to me, when I hear other people's music I always try and think, "We can't change that bit of it." You know, there's times when we know we can change the dynamic, or we can change the drama, or some of the big sounds and make them different. But then there are other times where there would be things that we would not change. And it depends on the song.
       And, you know, when we would talk about doing something like a Beatles song, most people living today never saw the Beatles play. I almost never run into someone who saw the Beatles play. But a big portion of the their catalog is stuff that they never even played live because they stopped being a live group pretty early on. So when we would do something like cover a song like "Strawberry Fields Forever" or "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," we would do it as much like the record as you can. That's not to say that I can sing like John Lennon or we can play exactly like Ringo Starr, but we would play it like what you think would happen. We'd play it with some dynamic- and with emotion and feeling and all that- but we wouldn't think that we'd want to change it. The only thing that we changed about it is like when we played "She's So Heavy" in concert we made it 15 minutes long. I mean, on the record it's only like six minutes, but we always got the feeling that they played it, and played it, and played it, because you really do get kind of possessed with this riff. You kind of get hypnotized by it. It's not easy to stop once you're into it because it's kind of energizing you every time you go through it. So we kind of felt like that was us taking some liberties and saying, "We think it could last 15 minutes and still be a really intense experience."

A: Speaking of cover songs…you all will be returning to the Hangout Festival for the second year in a row to give a rare performance of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. How big of a touchstone is Floyd in terms of your music? Do you see a lineage between them and the Flaming Lips?

WC: Well yeah, I mean, there's a whole slew of groups who wouldn't even know to exist if it wasn't for a group like Pink Floyd. Even with their popular music- and we're playing Dark Side of the Moon, which is arguably their most popular music- it's really the idea of Pink Floyd. Even starting with Syd Barrett, it was very punk rock and art-oriented and anybody who's interested in experimental art would love a group like Pink Floyd. I don't know why you wouldn't. For us, a lot of the reasons we started as a group were based in this punk rock idea of doing music. But not just doing punk rock. Because we love punk rock, but more than we love punk rock, we love the idea of punk rock: meaning you could just make any music you wanted to and you didn't really have to be a very good musician. I mean, currently I play with some of the greatest living musicians there are, but I myself come from this idea that I just like this voice in music and I'm not really sure how to make it. And Pink Floyd evolved into a very sophisticated musical group, but I think at their core anything can happen. You know, like, "Let's accept any kind of art. Let's make our music any way that we want." There's anarchy, and there's love, and there's all these things that make it remarkable. So, yeah. But I know a lot of groups that we talk to- even if their music doesn't sound like Pink Floyd- love Pink Floyd, because it's all about everything. You know, it's not just music, it's a performance….it's a show. It's evoking so many things.

A: There seems to be some common narrative themes running throughout both….life and death, darkness and light, madness.

WC: Well, yeah. I think that's basically the nature of that type of artist. You know, when you're so insecure- and I'm not paralyzed by insecurity- but when you think about your place in the world and in existence, usually the things that you sing about are the horrible, uncontrollable things that you can't do anything about. So, for me, I'm rarely writing about things that are silly and fun- like having sex and stuff like that- because I kind of do that all the time anyway [laughs]. So the things I can't control are, you know, going insane and death in my family. Things that are like, "Oh my god, I can't do anything about that," those are the things I sing about. So, I just think that's the nature of that kind of artist. Most artists I know do the exact same thing. The things they can control they're not worried about that much. I'm not going to sing about always having a good time. I'm singing about, "Oh my god, what's going to happen? I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen to my family or my mind." I have questions about the nature of existence and the nature of reality that I can't just sit there and forget about. I think that's what everybody does. Well, not everybody. A lot of people sing about sex and things- you know, these "great" moments- but, I guess to me, I don't feel an urge to sing- or think- about those things, because- the way the mechanism in my mind works- I'm usually thinking about things that drive me crazy. Like, "I don't know what to do," or things about insanity and death, or depression and isolation….those sorts of things. I mean, we get tied up with sex and desire and all that, but I'm not really singing about "I need to go fuck this gal"….[laughs]. I should though.

A: You all radically reinterpreted the album when you released it as a record a couple of years ago, but have also done some more straight ahead versions of some of the songs in concert. What can fans expect from your performance in Gulf Shores?

WC: Well, you're exactly right. When we went to go record Dark Side of the Moon you have to remember it was all very spur of the moment. We were really just doing it as an extra bonus thing that you could get when you bought one of our previous records on iTunes. So, we didn't really feel like we were constricted to playing something like Pink Floyd. I mean, we knew we were doing Dark Side of the Moon, but- some of the songs- I think you can hear them and still not really be sure what it is and then you figure out, "Oh, that's a Pink Floyd song." But, when we go play in front of people we want them to know this is this Pink Floyd song. I think most of it now we play pretty straightforward. I don't mean straightforward like we don't allow there to be any tension or drama, but we play what you would recognize as those songs to the best of our abilities. I mean, I don't want to be playing "Money"- a song that everybody knows- and people not know that we're playing it. You know, I've been to shows where groups do that and I don't like it. I mean, if it's a song that I know, I want to have the song roll over me as it's being played and have it triggering my memory and my experience all at the same time. So, we're aware of that. The songs that we really tripped out on the record we change to be more like something recognizable as a Pink Floyd song, just with us doing it. Then we add in these layers within the performance of The Wizard of Oz. We put in probably- I don't know- five or six references to that as well, because we're a part of that stoner folklore of putting on the movie while playing the record and sort of marveling at all the little coincidences that happen between the lyrics and the movie. And we love those sorts of things. It's all very visual, and it's all very drug-oriented, and it's all very fun to do. You know, there's a lot of really great music within The Wizard of Oz that talks about loneliness, and your place in the world and all that, so there's a lot of great connections to a lot of the great music out there. So, I think that it's a very Flaming Lips world to think that we could do music like The Wizard of Oz and we could also do music like Pink Floyd. I think it's what the Flaming Lips are all about any way.

A: Finally, as someone who has played music festivals all over the world, I was wondering what you thought about the Hangout. How does it stack up in terms of other venues/spaces you've played? As a band who loves to provide an unforgettable experience for their audience, it seems like the perfect setting for you all. Are you excited to come back?

WC: Well, I can't speak for what it's like when we're not there, but when we were at the Hangout last year, it was just the perfect moment. You know, I kind of got the feeling that everybody was waiting for this thing to happen. And when we came onstage and started playing- as cornball as it sounds- it was like, "Dude, now the party is here." And you just don't always get that feeling like, alright, when you think about all the things that are happening in the world, you think, "We're in one of the fucking coolest places in the world you could be at right now." In the whole world. And with everything that exists out there this is one of the places you should be right now. And that was the feeling we got last year, like, "Fuck. That's cool." And that's not necessarily just because of the festival. It's the people, it's the time, it's the weather, it's the drugs. It's a lot of things coming together and we're lucky enough to say, "We're gonna play this music where we all have this great couple of hours together." And then of course you go swimming and you've got the beach and it's summertime. And you know, not all festivals are lucky enough to get all those elements and that energy. These are things that are corny to talk about, but there has to be a little bit of a vibe of people communing with each other. That that happens. That there is an element of love, and energy, and care, and all these things that can sound a little bit cosmic when you speak about them, but really I think they're quite true.

The Flaming Lips will be performing at 6:30 on Sunday at the Chevrolet Stage. For more information visit the Hangout Festival website here: http://www.hangoutmusicfest.com/