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What motivates the Residents?

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.





"Jesus Saves": The Residents in Bluefat Archive