Interview: Homer Flynn 

It's brilliant how Homer continues to speak in third-person, but his subconcious mind frequently remembers that he's the singer and creative force of The Residents and he answers the questions directly as the leader of the band! He'll never 'out' the identities of The Residents because he no longer needs to - it's enough for the fans that we are in awe of his genius and continuing belief in this most beguiling and entertaining avant-garde masterpiece that he's still painting! =:^)

It’s crazy to think that man has been out on tour, mask after mask, most prominently the eyeball, for 40 years!

god I love this guy, he never ever drops the act.......I totally admire his dedication to keeping some things sacred.

The one and only Homer. Even now, in 2023, at the age of 78, he is still keeping Residents alive. A whole new generation discovers them every few years, and when Homer is finally laid to rest the Residents will go on. Thank you, Homer. You and the late Hardy Fox.

"CD ROMS" I Love how humble Homer is and how in a world where everyone wants to be famous, these cats played covertly; literally in the dark. And although their music always creeped me out, I admire their artistic ability, creativity, humility, longevity and most of all, getting their audiences to both think AND feel.

I love The Residents. It's an artistic concept and expressive force regardless of who's behind it. I've never desired to learn true identities or any of that nonsense. The works tell listeners everything they need to know through experiencing them in their full glory. Music should be fun, weird, irreverent, artistic, occasionally dissonant, and always true to itself.

He is the singer of Residents, you can hear it in his voice. I respect he doesnt admit that. Residents should go on. Btw i can see how a band from my city Laibach got huge inspiration from The Residents, when we talk about anonimus concept.

I’ve loved The Residents for about 40yrs. Weird is creativity.

I really appreciate Homer's world view. The Residents came to be because they did whatever they wanted without thinking if it would work. They made Vileness Fats not realizing it wouldn't turn out how they wanted. They toured with a giant stage show that was a headache and nearly broke the group, but they did it because they wanted to. So inspiring

Eskimo is one of my favorite albums of all time. It's still ten years ahead of its time.

Homer is the greatest residents fan

HERE I COME CONSTANTINOPLE!!!!

hahaha - hearing him talk about browsing record stores and liking covers reminds of finding my first Residents' record: I had no idea who they were, just picked up "Meet the Residents" in a record store one day and said to myself "I'm having this!".

I just got seriously into the Residents this last year and it was overwhelming going through their discography because of the sheer amount of stuff they have put out. It sounds like a nightmare trying to put out one album a year let alone build lore and art around the concept.

When Commissioner Gordon used to talk to Batman he had to use the bat phone, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Batman and Bruce Wayne because their voices are exactly the same. After spending many lysergic evenings listening to the Residents, it is inevitably conclusive that Homer Flynn is the voice that stays alive inside my mind and preys upon my leisure time.

Very interesting interview and i enjoyed every second of it - Homer is really a nice guy to talk with and i could listen to him for hours. It`s ( to me) more than obvious that he`s the driving force in The Residents.

He's beautiful and I loved meeting him.

In the documentary they discuss how the residents is an idea not a band per say. So his speaking in 3rd person is accurate. I met him in London he was a proper cool guy!

this was so great. the way he said "yeah yeah yeah yeah" is totally what "the singer" of the Residents says in their performance of "Teddy Bear" on Night Music.

"They." :)

I really like this interview... lots of space for Homer to give thoughtful, insightful answers.

How he ever thought he could keep his identity secret with those ears of his is heroically ironic

Wow! Thanks a LOT for this interview, man.

Thank you Sir!! I'm so glad the The Residents are finally getting the exposure that Obscurity deserves! I have been a HUGE fan since a friend played me Third Reich and Roll while we were tripping. I just acquired a Sealed copy of the First pressing of Meet the Residents which has been a personal Grail since the early 80's! I have no need to unravel the intricate and silly 3-D chess of the Resident world but I sure am glad about any documentation to help me learn more! 4 minutes in and a few questions that have haunted me for 40 years have already been answered!! Thank you so Much!!!!!💊💡🎱🎃🪐🐵👽

Modest MASTERMIND. We know who he really is and he lives the theory of obscurity.

I can't believe I only just found Make Music Weird. What a fantastic interview with Homer and I can't wait to watch your other stuff. You got yourself a sub. Keep music weird. It's necessary.

One could dream about the Moody Blues, Beatles, Pink Floyd, But it is people like Zappa, and the Residents who had lasting power, Like my future band TBK.

What? Homer is Randy?! And I always believed that the Residents were the Beatles in disguise, or even proper aliens (well to be honest, I still do believe that, no matter what other people say here). Anyway, Homer is still a pure genius!

You are a very lucky man! I would love to even say hello to Mr Flynn. Thank you so much for this insightful post!

My band The Scallions have done SOOOOOOOOOOO much with Residents/Ralph related folks. I reconstructed Title in limbo for cd. We have worked with Renaldo to Molly Harvey to Nolan Cook, etc. We released our first album through firmer Ralph owner Tom Timony…..

Lucky man for this moment and great interview. Bravo from a french Resident's fan

Wow, really interesting and inspiring comments on art here. thanks for putting this up

Just stumbling across this now! Thank you MWM.

Flynn, Fox, Kennedy and Clem are idols

Homer Flynn is not a member of The Residents. Homer Flynn represents The Residents. Always has, always will

I've made some comments here and forgotten my manners. Fantastic interview, he imparts some great wisdom and insights. Thanks for upoloading. Thumbs up.

Gosh, what a fantastic interview! You asked a question and allowed Mr. Flynn to expound on the artistic principles he`s been involved with for all these years. No "gotchca" questions of any sort (there is something to be said for respecting mystery and mystique, just like with magicians). You listened and came up with some very thought-provoking questions which really made him think as to how to respond. I love his reply to your 'creativity' question where he said that we are essentially vessels through which life passes. There is depth to that response. Finally, I really smiled and chuckled after you thanked him for the interview where, he said--in a fast patter--"Yeah...yeah yeah yeah." I thought fondly of the same "Yeah...yeah yeah yeah." in the Elvis interview with his dummies in the stage show "Cube E." But....I still enjoy the mystery. ; > ))

miss you, Homer

That was amazing, thanks heaps for uploading it!

Homer Flynn sang lead on most if not all the songs on God In 3 Persons and The King & Eye among others...

Eyes off to the man who drives the cryptids!

Homer's played all of us for fools, talking about the importance of an artist lacking celebrity, and avoid the limelight. All while going on to play significant roles in Blade Runner, Deadwood, and Newhart.

Undoubtable it´s the voice of the Residents

yesssss!!!! love you homer!

I had the honour of meeting him earlier today, I discovered The Residents around 1983 when they were presented on TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" over here in UK and was hooked for life. Tonight's show was a blast, interesting to see that there was absolutely no backing track, just four folks electronic drum kit, guitar, two keyboards and a frontman with various vox effects all playing 100% live.

Amazing! Great

The Mole show may have been a disaster to him, but all the footage I have seen from it is awesome. I never had the opportunity to see it, but I had friends who saw it and said it was amazing.

The Residents for Presidents.

I love him.

Thank you so much Anthony for this, I've been anticipating this interview for a few months now and it payed off! I'm so thankful to you! ps. it would be awesome if you where able to interview Devin Townsend or John Zorn at some point

Love to hear this dynamic aspect of the history of the residents. So interesting. Hey Homer, Can you tell Randy that I hope him the best on his search for that damn bigfoot that keeps bothering him.

"It is their project,ideas,&,imagination,so they can do as they want and they can be free to change,stay the same,or whatever without having to answer to a major company,but the interview I liked and the host was alright as an interviewer,thanks"-🤔🛂🗺

He reminds me of Mark E. Smith in how much he loves his band, and how protective he is of it. He's like a prim and proper and coherent MES. Two sides of the same coin.

(from The Residents Wikipedia "talk" page): "The Residents" are not a real band. Hardy Fox (in character as Chuck Bobuck) admitted as much in an interview[1]. They are a fictional construct, in the same way Goofy or Donald Duck are fictional; their records, the art & advertisement/copy/press releases surrounding the records, the performers hired to portray them (even if said performers are also the creators, they are still "performers," in this case hiring themselves), should be approached similarly, and by taking this knowledge into account I feel this Wiki article may be vastly improved, exiting the realm of band-mythology and attempting to approach "reality" (a rather difficult and contentious notion in and of itself, as The Residents' mythology was manufactured [I think] to point out). Walt Disney voice acting Mickey Mouse does not mean Walt Disney IS Mickey Mouse; hence Homer Flynn providing most of the voice(s) of "The Residents" on records (esp. after 1977), creating "their" lyrics, etc. does NOT mean he IS a Resident, because "The Residents" are an entirely fictional construct. Similarly, Hardy Fox coming out as "composer for The Residents" is no different than the fact that Mark Mothersbaugh was composer for "Rugrats" -- the key difference is that "The Residents" declined to credit individual contributors and purposefully sought to blur the line between fact & the media-manufactured fiction to which audiences had become accustomed via television, radio, merchandise (inc. LP's, singles, etc.), etc., whereas most productions credit all individuals clearly & decline to play such media games. Interestingly, the guy wearing the Donald Duck costume at Disney World has been instructed to never disclose the fact that he "is" Donald Duck. He's told to tell friends/relatives/etc that he is "friends" with this aforementioned fictional icon. Very similar to "The Residents," which are a production of The Cryptic Corporation. The goal, I think, of Homer Flynn, Hardy Fox, & the others involved in manufacturing "The Residents," was to intentionally blur the lines between fact and pop-culture mythology, as a sort of commentary on the relationship between art & business (called "Siamese twins" by Homer Flynn, in a lecture from the early '90's -- a reference to "God in Three Persons") and the audience which consumes its products. We now live in an era where music and artist images are manufactured to market towards specific preexisting, risk-free demographics, readymade and pretending to "realness," when in actuality fictional & prefabricated. The "Pre-fab Four" were a clever commentary on this trend, already emergent in the early '70's when "The Residents" were first dreamed up. Press material is drawn up to be repeated by a vast network of online "influencers," which together generate the illusion of popularity and relevance to the consumer base; similarly (and in a much more crude, DIY, and relatively primitive/low-budget/tongue-in-cheek fashion), the creators of "The Residents" frequently wrote mythologized articles and reviews under false names to create the illusion that "The Residents" were real and worthy of attention (see: liner notes of "Third Reich n' Roll" release from 2011, review of MtR by "Harvey Sox" found on "The Residents 1972-1982" Facebook page, etc). A very interesting project. [1] www.oregonmusicnews.com/charles-bobuck-hardy-fox-residents-interview -- "The Residents concept is completely malleable. It doesn't have to be associated with music. It could become an iPhone app design company. That is the remarkable aspect that sets the Residents apart from 'bands.'" Please note that both "Will Rothers" and "Charles Bobuck" are pseudonyms of Hardy Fox, who -- in this press release masquerading as an interview -- is "interviewing" himself. Since the very beginning of "The Residents" concept, this sort of manufactured, misleading media game-playing has been utilized to playfully (?) whet interest in this essentially fictional "band" amongst Cryptic's intended demographic.

loves it.

I still wonder if they ever found the missing eyeball head..

Homer from Texas? Sounds like a southey. Thanks guys. Still playing Night of the Vestal Virgins too.

I believe the Russian acapella group Homer is referring to is called Cool&Jazzy. The name of the album is "100 A'cappella Masterpieces: Concerto".

It’s really difficult to talk about a collective/group of artists creating new or different kind of art. Some art expressions are always demonized and also are the followers, people who feel attracted to this type of art, they usually are seen as elitists because what they like or feel attracted to is different to what masses follow. That’s what happens with The Residents. When I first knew about them around 1985-86 all the people I used to hang with, were like amazed or horrified to put it in more exact words. The problem as I see it, is that there is a lot of garbage in art, whether is it music, painting, architecture or you mention it. There have always been such garbage and of course has lots of followers, people who are interested on the “now” music o something that is the moment’s fashion. And in the other hand there are art expressions like The Residents that you cannot encapsulate on a specific period of time. One time back in the 80’s I was at a friend’s, and we were listening to The Resident’s Fingerprince, when suddenly another friend of us arrived and ask us “what are you guys listening, is that Stravinsky?” so, that sort of give you the timeless of their music it can be. Very clever interview and thank you for sharing it. Regards

He was so into it! What a lovely and brilliant bloke. Where was this filmed?

I wish you had asked him about my favourite Residents album - Not Available. I'd like to hear his thoughts on that one.

Two thumbs up this was a good interview....

Best band of the world!

great interview man!!

Randy is cool...I mean Homer!

They have showed their faces right in this interview

once again, great interview, cool dude! Please an episode with John Zorn.

Homer Flynn is the voice of The Residents!

They changed me

Homer Flynn is my artistic inspiration, i believe he is Randy Rose❤️

This guy alone has been "The Residents" for many years now...

Really enjoyed this interview and thanks for uploading it here. Have been really into the Residents lately and I was wondering whether you guys could forward an email to Homer for me. Thank you

Do you know which two bands (Finnish and Russian) Homer mentions starting around 13:30?

Homer is The Residents

What's the name of the "finished" group he mentioned at 13.25?

The Residents changed my life, for better and for worse 👁

Just change the words "they" and "them" to "we" and "us" and the whole thing will make sense. :)

Homer sure looks like Randy & Randy sure looks like Homer; wha?

24:01 Damn, Homer's got me totally pegged lol

10:03 these guys are in France ?! Where ! When ? I live there god damnit !!!!

Homer Flynn, Hardy Fox Jr., Jay Clem and John Kennedy. Probaly not their real names. But the whole point is that The Residents exist apart from the personel involved and long may that continue.

Is Homer Flynn the artist behind visions such as the animated face in the video for LOVE LEAKS OUT? That is completely nightmarish. Or FINGERTIPS? An various malformed faces popping up, with brains spilling out, and such. Thank God The Residents were never traumatized enough to stall in their creativity. In later years I think the art has become richer and more evolved, like the cover for ANIMAL LOVER. I guess that artists are always their own harshest critics. But The Residents always flowed continuously in their creative output, with one album following another. And big ambitious projects. I mean all the costumes, masks, and stage setups, complex choreography, planning and realizing tours. So much work, making it all come together. Then again, it's a long period spanning several decades, and I can't see what creative frustrations there may have been in-between in the process. Good how Homer emphasizes encouragement of personal unhampered expression. He is spiritual too. Social (and monetary) pressure does a lot of damage to would be artists. The truly daring are few. And I see how he wishes more would let go.

Did Frank ever know about them, or meet them ? I can hear the laughing song !

Can anyone tell me the name of the finish band?

Sigh... Homer and Hardy should really just come out and admit that they are founding members and the driving force of the Residents. It's not even that closely guarded of a secret. I love the idea of the theory of obscurity, though.

Where was this filmed?

HEEEEE WAS A GOLLLDEN GUUUUUY

now all the people know the residents? juaaaaaaaaaaa! the best manager is madame la morte.

I'm really confused. Is this trainwreck album "Night Train to Nowhere" or is it something else?

What band name did he mention?

without the web, the rez. may capt. their secret 25 years longer.but what a luck..it doesen"t make them mainstream or less obscure.sorry grammar,german

Wait! So Homer has a music career too??

You are doing well Randy.. I mean Homer... Doh! Easy mistake ;) *cough cough*

👁🤘👁🤘👁

Keep music weird. 👁

the singer of the residents only has one eye, seems to lack the rest of a head. not sure why people would ever overlook this important detail and confuse him w/homer flynn of the cryptic corporation. weirdos.

Les principes au dessus des personnalités.

every time he says "because" it kinda sounds like a chicken cluck

Is Homer Flynn Randy Rose?? We'll never know...

I wish I could go back in time and visit this place in time and tell those women in the background to shut up