Homer Flynn Discord Q&A, May 10th 2021
On May 10th 2021, Homer Flynn ("Captain Doc" of The Cryptic Corporation) made a 45 minute appearance on a dedicated Discord server, to answer a series of questions from fans of The Residents. The Q&A was arranged and facilitated by Discord user and Residents fan Mark (aka BananaFanna).
The below is a transcript which has been copied from the original Discord chat by a Mysterious Spanish Lady. Usernames and personal information have been redacted where direct permission has not been given by the participants.
Transcript
- Doop:
- Hi Homer, you can’t text in here yet. We’re just setting everything up at the moment, give us a minute
- Now, you should be able to send messages in here. Let us know by saying something
- BananaFanna:
- We still have a few minutes before the Q&A begins. If you would like to type something just to make sure everything is working in the meantime, please do so!
- Hi Homer! Welcome to our Q&A session. This is Mark from our email conversations. We're all super happy that you were able to take some time to chat with us, since we understand that your schedule has been pretty busy as of late. Before we dive into the questions themselves, how are things with you and the Residents in general?
- Homer Flynn:
- Okay, I finally found the Q&A.
- Doop:
- Thank goodness. Sorry if this was at all confusing
- BananaFanna:
- Wonderfull! Welcome to our server, Homer! We're really glad to have you with us, and I'm so sorry that getting things set up was so complicated. Homer, I understand that you do have a limited amount of time. Since it's about 2:45 right now, about how much time would we be able to talk for?
- Homer Flynn:
- It's okay. Obviously this is my first time here and it was a little more complicated than I expected.
- Doop:
- Yes, okay. How much time do you have to spare?
- Homer Flynn:
- Let's do another 45 min - how's that? I've already been on for half an hour.
- Doop:
- That's great! We'll start up now
- Milkyhighway:
- That's great, thank you very much Homer!
- BananaFanna:
- That would be excellent. We really appreciate it, Homer!
- Homer Flynn:
- Cool. No problem.
- BananaFanna:
- So, the first question we have for you is fairly general - what advice do you have for young musicians, Homer?
- Homer Flynn:
- The main thing I would say is to be committed to your art. Over time it's easier said than done, but commitment and having a passion for it are everything.
- BananaFanna:
- That answer makes a lot of sense, yeah! I agree that commitment is super important. Now, (Discord user #1) has a question for you!
- Discord user #1:
- Hi Homer, thanks again for doing this! I'm curious: In a previous interview, you mentioned the Finnish band Alamaailman Vasarat as something you had recently discovered and were enjoying at the time. Are there any other bands or musicians that you (or the Residents too, if you happen to know) have discovered since then and would like to recommend?
- Homer Flynn:
- I get that question a lot, and I listen to music a lot but I'm not so good at remembering names but I recently discovered Fred Pallem and Beverly Glen Copeland and like t hem quite a bit. Almost all of my new music comes from Spotify.
- BananaFanna:
- Very cool, Homer. Personally I'm not that familiar with those artists, but I'm looking forward to checking them out. And I agree, Spotify has a wealth of music to discover. @ImaginaryJacques , you're next!
- ImaginaryJacques:
- Hi Homer! I'm Jacques, an Australian fan of almost 20 years, ever since I first saw "The Simple Song" video in my early teens on a local late night music program called Rage. I am also one of the primary contributors to the unofficial Residents wiki, alongside @Doop. We love your work and that of The Rz and hopefully our efforts have not been unwelcome among the Cryptic camp!
- Like all of us I'm very excited to see Triple Trouble later this year - in the most recent Residents email newsletter, there was a brief allusion to the possibility of two feature films coming out in the near future, as opposed to just the one. Are you able to elaborate on this currently?
- Homer Flynn:
- Not sure where that info came from but there's only one feature film in production now - and it's going well. At this point we're not sure what the title will be but it's almost certainly not Triple Trouble, which seemed wrong as the film continued to develop.
- ImaginaryJacques:
- Wow!
- BananaFanna:
- That's good to know, thank you for that information! Looking forward to viewing the film once it's ready, whatever the final title may be! @Doop , it looks like your question is next!
- Homer Flynn:
- One of the titles going around right now is The Residents' LIE, but again, that's not confirmed.
- Doop:
- Hi! I'm Lisa Doop. I've loved The Residents for years and years. I particularity admire the pREServed series' thoroughness. I'd like to know how far into their career that project plans to go.
- Homer Flynn:
- That's really a question for Cherry Red but there's no end for series planned at this point. Glad to hear you're enjoying it. Richard at Cherry Red is doing a great job with it.
- Doop:
- Thank you!
- BananaFanna:
- Awesome! Yeah, I particularly enjoyed all the extra material we got for Freak Show, the Mole Box, etc. Looks like @Milkyhighway is up next!
- Milkyhighway:
- Hi Homer, hope things are treating you well and thank you for taking the Q&A! It's been six years since I discovered The Residents and they have radically altered the way I view all artforms and even how I interpret reality itself. I experienced Shadowland in the flesh and I walked out a completely different person, and the process happened again after seeing In Between Dreams. My question regards your '90s multimedia work:
- Are you open to the Freak Show CD-ROM and Bad Day on the Midway being rereleased and playable on modern systems in the future, including digital distribution platforms such as Steam or Good Old Games, as well as gaming consoles and phones/mobile devices?
- Homer Flynn:
- We would love to see Freak Show and Bad Day resurrected and there have been quite a few conversations about it, but everything seems to be too expensive or time consuming or unrealistic in some way. I am talking to a guy now about playing Bad Day live on Twitch which I think is a cool idea.
- Milkyhighway:
- That is a fantastic idea Homer! Thank you so much for your time.
- BananaFanna:
- I really like the idea of playing Bad Day (or any other Residents titles) on Twitch. I know I'd be excited to watch it. Looks like (Discord user #2) is next up!
- Homer Flynn:
- Sure. No problem.
- Discord user #2:
- Hi Homer, thank you so much for your time today.
- While the Residents are anonymous, they are also mortal (at least as far as we can tell!) Is there a chance the group will find a way to continue after the original members retire or "move on"?
- Homer Flynn:
- The Twitch thing will be announced on residents.com and socials when/if it happens.
- This is also a question I've gotten a lot. The Residents are going great right now so I guess I can only say we'll have to wait and see what the future brings but their plan is to go on forever.
- BananaFanna:
- Long live the Residents! Yeah, I definitely want to see them continue for as long as possible. No one else does music like them. Looks like (Discord user #3) is up next!
- Discord user #3:
- Hello, Homer! I'm (redacted), but everybody knows me as (redacted). I am a huge fan of The Residents and I would like to know if you guys would be up for a gigantic book of Residents info; like a page or a half-page on every song, every tour, every live album, just a giant compendium of Residents knowledge. Thanks! (edited)
- Oops, sorry, I typed "The Renaissance" on accident. Ignore that LOL
- Homer Flynn:
- 2022 is The Residents 50th anniversary and there are a couple of books in works. One is a very nice coffee table book that should be coming out around the holidays this year.
- BananaFanna:
- Looking forward to it! A Residents coffee table book would be the perfect addition to my home. It looks like we now have two questions from @Mx. Zoe! Eyerolls !
- Mx. Zoe! Eyerolls:
- Hello, Homer! My name is Zoe!, I've been hooked on the Residents since 1996 when a friend showed me Bad Day on the Midway. I'm lucky enough to have seen them on both the Icky Flix and Shadowland tours, and hopefully Dog Stab as well! You've already spoken about the music you and the Residents have been listening to lately, but I'm curious: if Ralph Records were still a full label today, what types of acts do you think they would sign?
- Homer Flynn:
- IF, and that's a BIG IF, Ralph was still around they would be looking for completely original acts. I was one of the ones responsible for the signing of Renaldo and the Loaf - I thought their music was some of the most unique I had ever heard.
- Mx. Zoe! Eyerolls:
- That's a truly excellent answer, thank you! As a totally unrelated follow-up question, I'd be interested to know: was there ever a point where the Residents wanted to ditch the anonymity?
- Homer Flynn:
- No, to my knowledge that's never been serious considered. The Residents are quite happy to live unrecognized in their anonymous bliss.
- Mx. Zoe! Eyerolls:
- That makes sense! Thank you so much for your answers and your generosity of time, Homer. It's been a real privilege getting to ask you these questions directly.
- Homer Flynn:
- Sure. It's nice to connect.
- BananaFanna:
- I can definitely understand that sentiment. While fame has its perks, there are definitely downsides to having everyone know your business.
- Homer, the next question actually is from me (Mark). What is the Residents' general approach to dance/choreography when it comes to live shows? We've noted that many of the Residents' shows have dancers specifically hired for the show (such as Demons Dance Alone and Cube-E), but do the Residents themselves have a background in dance/choreography?
- Homer Flynn:
- The Residents really don't have any training at anything, including dance but they love movement and enjoy working with dancers when they can. The Demons tour is a classic example but they're also working with a very good dancer for the God in 3 Persons performances which will hopefully be happening again in 2022.
- BananaFanna:
- Very cool, Homer. Thank you for your answer! I love the synergy of dance with the Residents' unique style of music, it's always been captivating to watch.
- Since we're getting close to 3:30, it looks like we may have room for one last question, which is yours - (Discord user #4)!
- Homer Flynn:
- The Residents are currently re-creating a new version of DUCK STAB! for the Night Flight Plus streaming channel and will be working with some dancers for that.
- BananaFanna:
- That is super exciting! Can't wait.
- Discord user #4:
- Hey Homer! My name is (redacted), but I usually go by (redacted) online. The Residents' music has taken over my life over the past 2 years like a parasite (you can thank Les Claypool for that) and they've quickly become my favorite band for reasons even the cosmos could not explain.
- Are there any plans to have Randy return to participate in future projects with the Residents such as vlogs or other performance art? I absolutely loved seeing the old vlogs and videos of him on Youtube and I'm hoping we could see him return again.
- Homer Flynn:
- I guess I'd have to say Randy is an open and unanswered question at this point, but he does make an appearance in the feature film I mentioned earlier.
- Milkyhighway:
- Randy hitting Hollywood... about time!
- Homer Flynn:
- No,. I should go. The only exercise I get these days is my daily walk and I'm already late getting out. It's a lovely day in San Francisco.
- Discord user #3:
- Alright, have a lovely day Homer! (edited)
- Sam:
- Alright. Thank you so much for your time!
- Discord user #4:
- Mx. Zoe! Eyerolls:
- This has been both wonderful and enlightening. Thank you again for your time, I know we're all very excited to see what the Residents do next!
- BananaFanna:
- Homer, it's been a pleasure! Thank you once again for taking the time to chat with us. We love the work that you do with the Residents, and many of us (including myself) are highly inspired by the work you all have done. I hope you have an amazing rest of your day! You are awesome!!
- Discord user #1:
- Thank you!!
- Discord user #6:
- Thanks homer and thanks for all the amazing art you guys have given us!
- We would be lost without it
- Milkyhighway:
- Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions Homer, it's been a privilege to have you have a great walk!
- Discord user #2:
- Thank you Homer! Have a lovely walk!
- ImaginaryJacques:
- I love your daily walk photos on Instagram! Thanks so much for bearing with us and for everything in general really!
- Homer Flynn:
- Sure, my pleasure. It was fun - maybe we can do it again someday. Thanks.
- Discord user #3:
- You're welcome, Homer! The Residents continues to inspire me every day.
- BananaFanna:
- Yay! That would be wonderful. Have a great walk, Homer!
Direct messages
Despite being asked not to send private messages or friend requests to Homer Flynn, a small number of participants in the Q&A could not resist the temptation, and engaged Flynn directly via private message to share memes which had become commonplace among members of various Residents Discord fan servers.
These apparent breaches of protocol were received graciously by Mr. Flynn, but received a mixed reception from other Q&A participants and fans in other online communities. One supposed interaction between a Discord user and Flynn referring to the video game Among Us, which circulated among Discord servers and other online Residents communities for some time following the Q&A, was later revealed to be a hoax.
"Lovely lizard memories"
A brief interaction between Flynn and Discord user "jamminjanet421" at precisely 5:39 PM EST regarding video game character (and Discord server in-joke) Gex would itself become a meme frequently shared across Residents Discord servers:
- jamminjanet421:
- Mr. Flynn, I am a massive fan, and as payback for years of enjoyment, please have this funny lizard
- Homer Flynn:
- Very cool lizard - many thanks. I have some lovely lizard memories from my childhood.