Psychic Walls Of Rock And Roll

The Flaming Lips Swing Back Through Athens With Awards And Costumes In Hand

originally published April 4, 2007

The Flaming Lips are coming back to Athens in honey-bright April to play a show at the Classic Center, marking their first performance since receiving two Grammy Awards this February and kicking off a small tour around the Southeast. The band has been gaining critical momentum since the turn of the century with The Soft Bulletin, continuing through Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and the current release, At War With the Mystics. The ensemble has also been busy with a flurry of various side projects, including a reworking of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Cambridge 1969” and a song on the Spongebob Squarepants movie soundtrack, “Spongebob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy.” There’s also been talk of the group's long-awaited film Christmas on Mars finally hitting an art theater near you in late 2007.

The Lips' most recent studio album is heavier than the last couple of records, and hints at a return to pre-Soft Bulletin muscularity. Despite this raw weight, there’s a ubiquitous space-jam feel facilitated by heavy-footed use of flange pedals and atmospheric synthesizer arrangements. There are also a couple of tracks on the album with the Lips' signature pop, throwing down disco beats aplenty and sweet melodic vocal hooks guaranteeing the band top spots on pop radio stations and romantically inspired mix-tapes.

A newfound interest in the 5.1 surround sound format has inspired the members of the Lips to rebuild some of their previous releases, adding new layers of sound and pulling apart and reweaving existing content. With Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, the group’s most successful release to date, as well as with At War with the Mystics, there are now 5.1 surround releases in addition to the originals, grouted with Easter egg surprises and a stratified susurrus of odd additions aimed to titillate the aural imagination of any listener lucky enough to possess the proper equipment. These deluxe albums include extra discs with video content and radio appearances, as well as an ambivalently inspiring high-school graduation day speech delivered by frontman Wayne Coyne to the class of 2006 in his native Oklahoma City.

In the beginning of his (almost) alma mater address, he looks up into the collective eyes of a graduating class, the benign smile of a knowledgeable patriarch playing upon his lips, "When I was first asked to preside over this great assemblage, I was not convinced that I was the right man for the job. You see, I am not technically a high-school graduate myself. I felt I was learning more from my life experiences than I was from my classes and my teachers. It is well documented that I worked at Long John Silver's and sold pot out of my apartment. Some of you may say it's a wonder I did not end up going to jail. I would agree with you." The extra footage and tracks give fans a good opportunity to explore the genuine strangeness and scope of the artistic project that is The Flaming Lips, putting the band's music in the context of a much larger endeavor.

The film Christmas on Mars has been anticipated in vain by avid fans of the group for more than three years now. One is hard-pressed to describe what could be expected from a feature-length film created by the Flaming Lips, set on a Martian landscape created in Oklahoma. In Coyne’s words, the film is like, "Maybe Eraserhead or Dead Man crossed with some kind of fantasy and space aspects, like The Wizard of Oz and maybe 2001: A Space Odyssey, except done without real actors or money, and set at Christmas-time."

The film chronicles the first lonely Christmas away from Earth, and stars the bandmembers and many of their friends, including Steve Burns of "Blue’s Clues" fame. The Lips have been scoring the film and giving it time whenever they have a few minutes, but there are no definite plans for release yet.

Since cementing its popularity on the festival circuit and outgrowing clubs like the 40 Watt, where the group made its last Athens stop in 2003, the Lips have evolved their live show to include giant hamster balls, animal costumes and loads of Gallagher-inspired fake gore for a truly unique and sometimes confusing experience. Flagpole spoke with Michael Ivins, longtime bassist and cofounder, via telephone about the band's recent awards, projects and the upcoming show.

Flagpole

Athens is the first show since your two Grammy Awards for At War with the Mystics. Will you be taking the stage with a newfound pride or confidence in the wake of this success, or will it be the same old business to you?

Michael Ivins

Well, it’s never the same old show with us. As far as awards go, you know, they’re cool, we’re honored, but it won’t change who we are or how we perform. Our motto has always been to just give the best show and to do our best.

Flagpole

Have you found a comfortable sound with At War, or will you continue to release albums in strange new directions, redefining your genre with each release?

Michael Ivins

We never plan for an album to sound a certain way and are always interested in new sound ideas as they come to us. Our goals are to challenge ourselves with keeping the music interesting to us and our audience.

Flagpole

Are you trying to say something new with each album, or is it the same message delivered in different ways?

Michael Ivins

We have a basic main idea that threads through all of our records, but still try to say new things in new ways. And old things in new ways. We never change as people, and believe in the same things from album to album.

Flagpole

Did you know At War was going to win you vast critical acclaim while recording it, or were you as surprised as anyone else to hear the verdict this February?

Michael Ivins

Well, with anything we do, we never assume the results. That’s true for music, writing, all art we create. It takes a work of art some time being out and away from the creator for it to gain its true identity. People interpret it in ways we couldn’t anticipate, attaching their own meaning.

That said, we don’t create while thinking of or hoping for awards, we just want to be interesting… Recognition is great, but we just do what we like and hope people enjoy it. We’d be doing the same thing regardless of success.

Flagpole

Your film Christmas on Mars has been in the works for quite a few years now. Can we expect that any time soon or is it on the backburner?

Michael Ivins

Well, it’s always on a burner. It really depends on what else is going on. This last time in the recording studio we made some more music for it. It’s coming along.

Flagpole

Any more octophonic releases planned like ‘97s Zaireeka [A four-disc release meant to be played on four stereos simultaneously.]?

Michael Ivins

Not really right now, we’re more interested in 5.1 surround sound at the moment. It’s a really cool format. Maybe someday we’ll try that again, but not now.

Flagpole

Are there any great bands you’ve heard recently that you’d like to mention?

Michael Ivins

What we listen to comes in phases. Right now I really like Deerhoof and this band Liars. My wife and I were listening to this band Gwendolyn out of California with our four-year-old niece. It’s this kind of children’s music that isn’t hard to listen to for adults, it isn’t traditional like that. It’s really refreshing to hear music so straightforward, where you don’t have to worry about production or motives, just straightforward music.

Flagpole

Athens tends to be a musician-heavy crowd. Do you feel that other musicians get more from your music or understand it a bit better?

Michael Ivins

Well, as a musician myself, sometimes I find that a technical knowledge of what’s going on actually detracts from the moment. It’s hard to lose yourself in a song when you’re stretching to see what pedals someone’s using or checking out their setup. I always prefer festival atmospheres for that reason; it’s easier to submerge in the music when it’s an all-day event.

David Commins

WHO: Flaming Lips, Stardeath and White Dwarfs
WHERE: Classic Center Theater
WHEN: Wednesday, April 11
HOW MUCH: $36.50