I donÕt know if
itÕs any different than itÕs always been. I think a lot of their point of
view is, when youÕre alive on the planet youÕve got a certain number of
hours to fill up, and you find things that interest you to fill up that
time. And so they just keep filling up their time.
The Residents
at some point became an active touring unit, presenting their work in
elaborately staged events. WhatÕs on the agenda for the Talking Light
show?
The Talking
Light show approaches the concept of telling stories set against abstract
music. ItÕs something they really hadnÕt done particularly in a live
situation; the touring shows have generally been compositional. The
stories can change from show to show, and thereÕs a lot more
improvisation that goes on, and calculated surprises, to keep the music
from becoming too stale and predictable ÐÐ for them.
ÒRandyÕs
Ghost StoriesÓ are performed on the Talking Light tour. Apparently these
have something to do with TV culture and commercials, among other vaguely
delineated things. There are many different kinds of ghosts, of course.
The Residents
donÕt even know for sure if ghosts exist. ÒRandyÕs Ghost StoriesÓ has a
lot to do with the concept of aging and death, and how aging and death
affects perceptions. WeÕre haunted.
The new album
Lonely Teenager,
which grew out of ideas germinated on the Talking Light tour, reveals the
music growing more subtly complex ÐÐ and beautiful, and scary, too. ÒThe
mirror has two sidesÓ is a sample lyric. ÒI threw the ring and the babyÕs
skeleton into the hole, and I went home.Ó ÒI tried to convince myself it
was a dream.Ó What is going on here? Maybe it doesnÕt matter.
I donÕt actually
know. But it has something to do with a loss of innocence, and completing
the cycle of life to death. Everything about it really points to those
elements in some way or another. ItÕs something theyÕre concerned with; I
mean, you donÕt get to be doing your 40th anniversary without
getting pretty old yourself in the process.
As people age, they stop recognizing themselves when they
look in the mirror. ThereÕs a two-sided mirror in the show, one side
reflecting Randy and the other reflecting the audience. The audience has
to face the mirrors just like the performers do ÐÐ just like your death,
each person has to deal with that at a very individual level.
The Residents
donÕt take a political or moral stance as such. But do they feel that
their art posits moral imperatives?
I feel
reasonably certain not, because I donÕt know that they think anything
really exists. No, they donÕt really take much of a stand on anything.
TheyÕre much more in the position of other people taking stands. I donÕt
think that they really have an agenda, as far as a political or social
agenda goes, but theyÕre aware that other people do and sometimes they
incorporate that in what they do.
How about
musical/artistic imperatives? Is there a kind of music that can and
should be pushed, to edify, to better entertain?
No, because when
youÕre dealing with sound youÕre dealing with an abstract thing, and itÕs
sort of like dealing with color. It has a lot to do with one side saying,
ÒThis is what I like,Ó and then youÕve got the other side saying, ÒWell,
I agree with you, I like that too,Ó or ÒThatÕs not what I like.Ó The reality
is, there are many different ways of seeing things, different ways of
thinking, some of which you understand and enjoyed or those you donÕt
understand and you donÕt enjoy. ThereÕs really no right or wrong in
music.
Are the Residents affected at all by things of a
topical nature? Spurred to create music by current social or political
phenomena, natural disasters, assassinations, etc., etc.?
Usually not, but
I know that they were on tour in Europe when 9/11 happened, and so very
impacted with that uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen
next, whether there would be war or attacks all over the place or
whatever it might be. And the big concern was whether theyÕd be able to
get back home, because planes had stopped flying and there was just no sense
of what was going to happen. Well, there were two more weeks of the tour,
and all they could do really was just to keep touring, because that was
the reality that they had. And they were the family that they had; it
made them very tight and just made them want to keep doing those shows.
IÕm hearing
some really incredible guitar playing on Lonely Teenager. Is this a musician
who can be named ?
Bob. ItÕs Bob.
Oh, Bob. Everybody knows Bob.
ItÕs Bob.
The Residents have maintained a policy of strict
anonymity for 40 years, as if in rebuke to celebrity, though perhaps itÕs
just a practical stance.
Well, this is
interesting: TheyÕre not
anonymous now. TheyÕre now Randy, Chuck and Bob, thatÕs the new version
of the Residents. Of course, when you get down to it, Randy, Chuck and
Bob are just names like everybody has, it doesnÕt give information about
who the people are, all it does is give them names. They could be John,
Paul George and Ringo just as easily and it still wouldnÕt give any
information about who the people are.
EveryoneÕs anonymous if all you know is their names. But the
Residents are different because you know not only that their names are
Randy, Chuck and Bob, but you also have 40 years of seeing what theyÕve
done. So you know much more about Randy. Chuck and Bob than
anyone who would actually be anonymous.
Okay, now strictly musically speaking, what sort of
aesthetic do the Residents pursue? IÕm still struck by how their music grows ever more just plain beautiful. It is, of course, as dark
as ever, if not darker, even. Is this what they call a deliberate
juxtaposition?
Their view of
the world is that itÕs both beautiful and dark, and you know, theyÕre not
even really two different things. Life is complicated, and thatÕs why thereÕs
always an element of dark humor in what they do as well, because they see
that too as a part of the world, a part of humanity. So they sort of feel
like itÕs important to attach a lot of contrasting emotions next to each
other, because it heightens the impact of each of them.
The Residents
have influenced the culture, but who mightÕve influenced the Residents?
Did they find an affinity with Beefheart and Zappa, for example?
ThereÕs a
similar attitude of not feeling like you have to conform. The Residents
appreciated the fact that Beefheart and Zappa had a vision that they
pushed forward, and that it wasnÕt a vision based upon what other people
were doing. The Residents knew that anyone can do weird music, but
respected people who represent a vision, even though it may be a popular
vision.
Such as the
Residents' skewed interpretations of the Rolling Stones.
Like Beefheart,
they were a blues band, and the Residents always loved blues music. The
Rolling Stones were interpreting an American form into a British form
that changed what it was. They thought it made sense to try and change it
back into an American form. ItÕs like translating Spanish back to English
again, how it changes the meaning of things.
Would the
Residents accord similar respect to Lady Gaga?
TheyÕve seen her
on television and were very touched with her very strong sense of
visuals. But they would point out that she could be anonymous, too: If it
says ÒLady GagaÓ on itÉ[laughs]
The Residents
have pursued their alternative-to-all-alternatives music and art for 40
years, weathered the storms from late-Ô60s hippie counterculture through
Ô70s-Ô80s-Ô90s DIY counter-countercultures right on up into the Internet
digital free-for-all 2000s. So how do they keep up? How do they stay
savvy, trendy and very, very popular?
The Residents
work and think by observing, so they feel like they have to be tuned into
where the culture is. Even if theyÕre not trying to imitate whatÕs
current musically, theyÕre always influenced by whatÕs going on musically,
as well as any other art form. And theyÕre always very interested in
technology, and they keep on top of it ÐÐ What is this? WhatÕs the impact
on the culture? How does it change who we are?
The Residents
have done a series of podcasts called River of Crime. That seems like a natural medium for the
group.
ThatÕs an area
theyÕre exploring, providing the story by music: How do you combine them
and get interesting new ideas that work? And theyÕre very impressed by
the iPad; theyÕre trying to figure out how that can be turned into an
instrument for supplying media, just like a radio. Ultimately, the
Residents want to create a whole new medium itself, and thatÕs what
theyÕre looking for down the road.
Who are the
Residents for?
In every school
across the world youÕll find those pockets of people who donÕt really
relate to mainstream culture and who want something ÐÐ who need something ÐÐ different. Because they are
different. And those are your lonely teenagers.
(
