The Residents are hands-down one of the coolest things to ever happen in music, pioneering the art of high-brow pop rock parody, music video collage, avid use of consumer-grade recording equipment, computer animation, and the brazen deconstruction of all things precious in rock music, leaving behind the greatest collection of press photos ever assembled, among other things.
I talked to Hardy Fox, the band’s rep through Cryptic Corporation (and generally assumed to be part of the Fox/Flynn songwriting tandem listed with BMI on all the group’s recordings) about the tour and things in general.
The group is still playing around with new gizmos, this time employing tiny handheld video projectors (“I’m not entirely sure these things are going to last through the end of the tour, though,” he said “They’re not really road-tested.”).
As for the ever-present question of the group’s identity, Fox said he doubts anyone really cares anymore. “I don’t know what it matters,” he said. “The point in the beginning was to just be identified as a group of musicians that put out a specific kind of work. The Beatles — not John, Paul, George and Ringo.”
“In reality, most of us don’t know our heroes’ real names anyway. Who’s Bob Dylan? There’s no such person as Bob Dylan. He was invented.”
Fox says the band instructed their booking agent to get them gigs wherever he could; the result was a mixed bag of rock clubs large and small, with a few theaters thrown in. “I wouldn’t say they’re exactly looking forward to some of these venues,” he admits. And of course, there are risks to letting the magic just happen every night. “Some nights it’s going to be a fantastic show — and some nights it won’t be at all.”
Here’s hoping this Wednesday’s appearance at the Middle East falls into that former category. But rest assured, even a terrible Residents show can be inspiring. Some of their greatest moments are also their worst. (Just listen to their migraine-inducing cover of “Satisfaction.”) They’ve always been at their best as careless saboteurs, and this time around, that may be precisely what we’re getting.
“There’s really nothing to lose right now,” says Fox. “The biggest risk is alienating what small audience you already currently have. Otherwise, it’s an experiment. It’s gathering data for their own direction.” And if they drop a few stink bombs along the way? Fox doesn’t mind. “I’d say music is pretty overrated as an art form, anyway.”
Link to entire article at the Phoenix here.
PURE DENIZEN 