RIIFF Notes: Theory of Obscurity

Part of a series of personal observations from the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

It seems an undeniable paradox to be famous for being obscure, but The Residents have managed it. Widely regarded as the world’s most influential band (or avant-garde performance artists pretending to be a band) that no one is sure exists, they have nevertheless produced a flood of work including over 60 albums both studio and live as well as numerous films.

Known for challenging and cerebral experimental music that is impossible to describe, but sounds a bit like dadaist punk played by musicians landing airplanes on the roof, The Residents emerged from early 1970s hippie culture in San Francisco and, over more than 40 years of prolific work, acquired an ardent, almost fanatical fan base, much of it among other musicians and performers – including from Devo, Primus, Ween, Talking Heads, Pinback, Henry Cow and Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller), all of whom are interviewed in this film. Funded in one month to 161% of a $25,000 goal on IndieGoGo, the filmmakers enjoyed unprecedented and apparently carte blanche access to the band, their live shows, and their extensive archive.

Consistent early adopters of new technologies and do-it-yourself home recording techniques, the band, using primitive videotape in the 1970s instead of 16mm film, produced some of the very first music videos. They were among the earliest bands to release on Laserdisc, an expensive and now-forgotten format that was designed to appeal to the video equivalent of an audiophile. They were among the first musicians to use digital sampling in the 1980s, acquiring the pioneering Em-u Emulator that used 5.25-inch floppy disks: serial number 001 went to the more well-known Stevie Wonder while serial number 005 went to The Residents. They were among the first to produce a multimedia experience on CD-ROM.

The Residents carefully guard their anonymity as individuals, always performing in heavily disguised costume and preferring to be regarded as having solely a collective identity. Despite long-term alliances with other performers who have often appeared on stage with them, the core of the group has always consisted of four members, but no one knows who they are nor whether they have always been the same people. The band has made a point of deliberate inconsistency: although they never want to sound or look like any other band, they do not want to sound or look like themselves, either. The most iconic appearance of the band is when the four members don helmets that effectively replace their heads and faces with giant eyeballs crowned with top hats. These signature eyeballs have been appropriated as either plagiarism or homage, depending upon point of view, by others ranging from Ke$ha to Adventure Time. The fetish for anonymity extends even to the name of the band: when they submitted a demo tape to Warner, the band had no name and supplied only their return address, so Warner replied with a letter addressed to “Residents” at that address and the accidentally but ideally suited name stuck.

While it is challenging to become famous for being obscure, it seems even more quixotic to make a documentary film about a band whose members will not allow themselves to be photographed out of costume and who as a matter of principle never grant interviews. The band has what claims to be an independent business and management arm known as the Cryptic Corporation whose four founders are interviewed, more or less, for this film, including Homer Flynn and Hardy W. Fox, who remain Cryptic officers, and former officers Jay Clem and John Kennedy, who left Cryptic in the 1980s. John Kennedy says in his interview that he became president of Cryptic because he “had the right name” but possessed no other qualifications. Despite persistent rumors that The Residents and Cryptic Corporation are one and the same, all concerned emphatically deny this.

The Wednesday night screening was attended by Laurie Amat who followed the film with a question-and-answer session, and hopefully she will be able to do the same for the Friday screening. Over a period of about 10 years when she lived in San Francisco, Amat was a vocalist and collaborator with the band, and she appears in the film. Now Amat, who grew up in Warwick, has returned and is an artist-in-residence at AS220 in Providence.

Focusing more on the artistic concept behind The Residents, although including a fair amount of their musical product, this documentary offers a great introduction to viewers from a background of interest in or familiarity with experimental art in any form, especially music or film, who need to correct a lack of prior acquaintance with arguably the ultimate underground band of the past half-century.

Theory of Obscurity: A Film about The Residents, directed by Jon Hardy, RI International Film Festival http://www.film-festival.org/ Fri (8/7) 7pm, The Greenwich Odeum, 59 Main St, East Greenwich. http://riiff2015.sched.org/event/a7f9d4e20376858d35db6e1c1128db8d

Film: http://residentsmovie.com/ Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov5EqmOeuPY

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Residents

YouTube official channel: https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=theresidents