God, it’s hard to say, because it’s not many of our albums until the end. If I were a seagull, I might find The Terror comforting. It has a warm hum, a bit like a fridge. My wife is quite melancholic, so when she gave birth, we didn’t hear anything specific. I would put the Alexa speaker on her pregnant belly and sing to the baby, although I have no idea if she cares when she’s in there. What’s the biggest animal you could tape to a lamppost without help and without brute force? I think a giraffe. JAMIEOH A little elephant? I would not recommend wrapping any live animal in a position. We used a dead pig’s head the first time we played LA in 1985. We put a wire in his ears and my younger brother Mark – the singer at the time – wore it as a necklace. We did it again in Dallas a week later and had to transfer it to a portable icebox to keep it from smelling too much. What goes through your mind when you roll around in your giant hamster ball? Do you roll in it every day? What if you need the toilet? hhhhssss, DeJongandtherestless and LeaderOfTheFree Coyne in his bubble at Glastonbury festival in 2010. Photo: Jim Ross/AP I don’t use it at home because it’s too big to fit through the door, but I do rehearse on it in the yard. On stage, I’m still aware that everyone is looking at me, so when I’m in my space bubble, I feel more relaxed, even though it’s sweaty. You can last about three hours before running out of air – we’ve tested it. I don’t know if it’s adrenaline, but you rarely have to pee on stage. The same thing happens with sneezing: your fight or flight mechanism kicks in. I’ve only had to play with diarrhea a few times, but I’ll still sing half a set and poop my pants. I remember Lollapalooza in 1994, where Nick Cave – with his big baritone roar – was battling it out. We joked that he’d better really hit the high notes. I noticed that his performance was a bit more subdued. not his insanely manic self. I asked him afterwards, “Did anything slip?” but she said no. What’s the most amazing thing you’ve seen at one of your concerts? JallenDM We were taking 25 fur suits with us. We had 12 or 13 people dancing on each side of the stage. One couple asked if they could pee in the suits. I thought, “Of all the weird things you could ask people to do, this is pretty harmless.” What other album would you like to cover? Pacifico Since I’ve had my own home studio, we’ve done The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, the Stone Roses debut… We’ve talked about Portishead’s first album and a Silver Apples record . Who would I most want to cover a Flaming Lips album? Well, who wouldn’t want to hear The Beatles do Soft Bulletin, Radiohead do American Head, or Billie Eilish cover Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots? What were the looks on your label’s faces when you suggested Gummy Song Skull: four songs on a USB stick buried inside a gummy skull? the cristeainstitute We also embedded a USB drive inside a real human skull. 14 were allocated. You can’t buy human skulls unless you’re a doctor or something, but this dealer guy here in Oklahoma City owed me a favor. We were between contracts with Warner Bros, so we did everything possible, just because we didn’t have to get permission. A big hand for Flaming Lips at the Wireless festival in London, 2006. Photo: Tabatha Fireman/Redferns You recorded my mathematician husband, Thorsten Wörmann, as the voice from beyond on your 2009 album, Embryonic. As you know, he passed away in 2019. I just wanted to say that working with you was one of the highlights of his life. Thanks for giving him, and me, this super memory. AmiAbroad He was so kind and vocal about how much he enjoyed it at the time, which was a huge relief because you never know what people are thinking. It’s such a beautiful, weird record, so his voice really adds to those six or seven tracks. I knew he was sick, so it’s great to hear from you, Mrs. Wörmann. Thank you very much for sending your question. We also got robbed at Hemi’s Pizza – around the corner from Long John Silver’s seafood restaurant in Oklahoma – where three guys held you at gunpoint as a teenager. Did your near experience contribute to your desire to go avant garde? Steve1us and favrion23 I think it made me less afraid to do things in the name of art. Now I’m thinking, “What harm will happen if I make a bad record?” Once you’ve stood with a gun to your head and thought, “Well, I’m going to die,” the little things don’t bother you. It definitely shaped my ferocity – if that’s the right word. At that time there were many robberies. You assumed that if you were robbed, you’d be shot, your body would be thrown in the fridge, and your mother would find out about it on the news. This pizza place was around the corner. I had a feeling these guys had already robbed a few places, but all we saw was a brief police report. At the age of 16, 17, I assumed, “Everyone must almost die two or three times growing up.” Only later in life did I understand: this is not normal. The lyrics to 1993’s She Don’t Use Jelly go: “I know a girl who thinks about ghosts / She’ll make you breakfast, she’ll make you toast / But she doesn’t use butter and she doesn’t use cheese / She doesn’t use jelly, or any of that / She uses petroleum jelly.” Who the hell eats petroleum jelly on toast? The GoodThief We’d make quips – not even when they were stoned – like, “People put Vaseline on their chapped lips, but you wouldn’t eat it. But you would not put butter to your lips, even though you would eat it.’ Presenting ideas that no one else is going to think of always makes it feel like a Flaming Lips song. I’m not talking in metaphors. I’m literally talking about eating Vaseline on toast. When we put up our Christmas tree, we don’t take it down until summer because we don’t want to waste it Did you realize the Google Street View car was coming when it took the photo of you in the bathroom in your front garden? MarkReed No. I’m definitely more aware of that car you see driving around town with the crazy rotating camera. But at that moment, I happened to be out there. I had six of these huge metal tubs for our Christmas on Mars movie. They are still there, full of dirt and flowers. My house is full of junk. too good to throw away. I don’t know what the traditions are in England, but when we put up our Christmas tree, we don’t take it down until the summer because we don’t want to waste it. How has parenthood changed your outlook on life? First name – Last name Our oldest is three. the other, four months. I hope they see that doing things you love is what life is all about. I’m lucky I’ve never been in that work cycle: go to work, come home, watch TV and drink all night because I hate my horrible job. Even though I’m old, I hope my children see everything I do – make music, paint – play, laugh, have fun. Do you believe in cosmic love or is it all a glorious biochemical delusion? DandysRuleOK I have a saying: there is no God, but somehow there is. The moment you reject that we live in chaos and that everything is random, you realize that there is something in your DNA that your mind cannot quite understand. When you see these images from the Hubble telescope of how vast and endless the universe is, part of you wants to live your life with the absolute freedom you define. But a part of you still wants to be like a spider meant to make a web. That’s one of the wonderful quagmires of being human: you can think about how much of it is you and how much is pre-programmed. Music is such a relief because it frees your mind. As the music flows through your emotions, you become a frozen, mindless, listening vessel. At The End of the Road Festival, Salisbury, 2014. Photo: Andy Sheppard/Redferns/Getty Images What exactly do you ask for in hair salons? Malaparti I don’t like people messing with my hair so I don’t go to anyone. Sometimes I’ll forget to wash my hair for a month or two so it’s dry enough, and then my wife will pull it out. So luckily my wife is always watching. The word he used today was “bum,” as in: “You look like a bum.” So I better do something about it. Got anything left on your list? GayerforMayer I’ve lived in Oklahoma since 1961 – my whole life – but I’ve never seen a tornado. I stood on the roof of my house and looked. They go through here all the time, so you’d think I’d have seen about 20. There is an optimism in your writing that is both eerie and at odds with the times we live in. How do you maintain such an upbeat, positive attitude? Miffy4boys and FeelingDisintegrated When the Flaming Lips are at their most expressive, we’re telling an emotional truth that you can’t really say in real life. We took an oath with the music gods to follow our hearts, no matter if it’s embarrassing, stupid or wrong. Sometimes I worry we sound like those miserable old dudes. So I hope we still sound like we are full of hope and love. How would you survive a zombie apocalypse? Potential octopus Disguised as another zombie? That’s what we do living in Oklahoma as Democrats. We’re hiding among the Republicans, so we’re just acting like we’re one of them, in case they want to kill us. The burning lips…
