Double J. Topic: Music. Given that he's known for rolling across crowds of roaring fans in a Zorb ball, it might surprise to learn that Wayne Coyne describes himself as an introvert. Look at me!
But we're not at all. None of us really are. The music is the thing that makes you fearless. As the frontman of Oklahoma's psychedelic pop export, The Flaming Lips, Coyne, 63, has been a party starter for more than four decades, the band widely considered one of the greatest live acts out.
To catch a Flaming Lips show is to be caught in a cornucopia of colour and pure energy, with mind-melting visuals, confetti-filled balloons, Zorb ball crowd-surfing and β in the case of the band's current Australian tour β towering pink inflatable robots.
It's all stuff that you've made possible. Coyne told Zan Rowe that a suit and shoulder holster is a kind of on-stage uniform: "I feel like James Bond a little bit. Not that anybody else has to feel that, but I can feel that. As for confidence on stage? Much of that comes from rehearsal, with the band sound-checking for four hours before each show, perfecting the thousands of cues that come with such a multimedia spectacle.
At some point, you become a fatalist: you've done the work and it's out of your hands. A deluxe edition of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was re-released in , featuring tracks. The Flaming Lips' current Australian tour is part of a drawn-out 20th birthday for their beloved 10th album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots hence the inflatables.
