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Sometimes you have to make music really at the edge of what you're comfortable with. We aren't one of those groups that want to make the same song over and over. -Wayne Coyne |
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Having A Ball
Confetti, lasers and balloons are just some of the props that have engaged audiences since the band was quite young. And to the delight of fans, including Vince Herman, founding member of Leftover Salmon, Coyne doesn't show any signs of stopping.
 The Flaming Lips :: Coachella 2004 by Jay Blakesberg |
"[We saw The Flaming Lips] a few years back and at one point Wayne gets up, sings and [the floor] starts to dissolve. Then suddenly we look down the eight-story atrium and he's laying there with what looks like blood pouring out," said Herman of a classic Coyne theatrical stunt he began in various forms almost 20 years ago. "It was amazing. I am a huge fan."
Such antics are what sets the band apart from others, according to Ivins.
"When you start out in a band there is a general level of insecurity that you have to overcome to forge your way," said Ivins. "We just kept going on and doing things. In a lot of ways, people compare us with Pink Floyd in that sort of way. That is something we have always tried to aspire to. You come to see The Flaming Lips show and you walk into a different world."
The band first began entering that "different world" with wild New Year's Eve parties, but soon realized every night could be New Year's Eve if you played it right.
"We always upped the ante [every NYE], threw more stuff in to make it more exciting," said Coyne. "Then we started thinking that we should do this every night. Why not make our shows a celebration every time, make these things permanent parts of the show?"
The band shoved personal insecurities and self-consciousness aside and began to bring massive numbers of balloons, buckets of confetti and other props into the shows until they struck the tone they wanted.
 The Flaming Lips |
"Think of New Year's Eve and these other clichéd markers in people's minds," said Coyne. "Regardless of where you were - at a hotel, some boring party - when you got home you turned on the television and watched the ball drop in Times Square and wished you were there."
In thinking through the musicians that made the biggest impact on them – The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and others of that ilk – the Lips realized that those groups mirrored culture which, of course, made them even more relevant.
"Everything about it is an art form - the way you stand, where you stand, how you play," said Coyne. "People don't come to rock shows just to hear the music. You don't go and say, 'I heard the Rolling Stones.' It is an event that really goes beyond listening. There may be purists out there that think the show can overwhelm the music, but I'd think not many. I always think about a Pete Townshend quote – who was never about just playing music – [where he] said he never lets the music get in the way of the show."
Ivins goes even further, noting that The Flaming Lips' concerts are beyond a "show" classification.
"It is a performance so it should be big and exciting and bombastic and not a bunch of guys just standing playing instruments," said Ivins. "Plenty of bands do that. We aren't all that interested in that. We are into being able to do everything with video screens and confetti and balloons, making [the concerts] New Year's Eve and birthday parties and a celebration every night. We are out here celebrating life and are able to let the audience know it's all right not to worry, to just uncoil at this time and jump around and have a good time."
And what about that giant plastic ball that Coyne climbs into and launches so that he can roll around on top of the audiences?
"That image of me in the bubble," said Coyne reflectively, "you never know the thing you are doing that is going to capture some unique essence. The space bubble thing I did at a Coachella show, I did it and I don't even know when we were doing it or why. You fear you will do something like that and pick up the reviews the next week or the next morning, and people will think it's a dumb gimmick. With that, we played this giant festival with Radiohead and The Cure and I picked up the paper the next day and I was on the front page of the paper in that giant bubble. That's what people remember at the shows. I think you just get lucky and you capture something people love."
Behind The Music
The innovative stage shows and ever changing music of the Lips has led journalists and fans alike to consistently wonder what master plan Coyne and his bandmates follow to keep their music fresh. On October 13, the band will release their twelfth album, the 18-track Embryonic, that's already garnered a plethora of chatter for being edgier and more psychedelic than anything since 2002's breakout Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
 Wayne Coyne |
"I'm glad to hear when people enjoy it," Coyne said. "We never know what to think. We have embraced recording with computers. It's a fascinating, strange way to make music, sort of piecemealing things together, sound by sound."
In a way, this new album was perhaps more experimental than most in their catalog as it was born from an impromptu session between band member Steven Drozd and Coyne.
"Steven's a great drummer and I'm not a good bass player but we still said, 'Let's get some stuff out and just bang around, see what develops.' We didn't know what would come of it and we were surprised by things that happened," said Coyne. "You do stumble upon these little accidents, these grooves that are exciting when you find yourself moving in some direction that you weren't prepared for. There are all these clichés about recording that [say] musicians instinctively go where [the music] takes you. That's bullshit. That's why you have the same people making the same song over and over and over again."
Yet Coyne said with experience comes a form of intuition, which guides many musicians through rough patches, prying their holds off certain parts of songs so they can move on and develop more artistically.
"It's interesting to see if we have any intuitive skills," said Coyne. "A lot of [Embryonic] is almost a first take. Perhaps a section of the songs we lock in and then it gets intense, or whatever the word would be. When people say, 'We like it,' we say, 'Oh, good,' because sometimes you have to make music really at the edge of what you're comfortable with. We aren't one of those groups that want to make the same song over and over."
Coyne is modest about his music, saying that a combination of luck and timing made his band move from "not very good" to a powerhouse while changing their sound. Coyne and Ivins both indicate that the Lips are the opposite of many other bands that took solid music and developed a stage show. For the Lips the show, in a way, came before the solid musical footing of the band. Now that the band members have been in the business more than 20 years, they feel more comfortable than ever letting experimentation lead the way musically.
"That's our style," said Coyne. "We would do a lot of things in the computer that didn't sound the way we expected. We would go to great lengths to make sounds sound spontaneous and real. That gives it an air of authenticity. Sometimes we want to take everything and make it perfect. Everyone can take a sloppy drumbeat and throw it in a machine and make it perfect, but 'better' isn't always in time, it isn't always perfect."
The Flaming Lips tour dates are available here.
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