Feature
Not Quite 20 Questions with Kliph Scurlock
If you know me, and possibly even if you don't, you know that I'm a huge fan of The Flaming Lips. When their latest, Embryonic, (a personal fave from last year) came out late last year I noticed through liner notes and interviews that someone from my old hometown of Lawrence, KS, was now a full fledged member of the band. Kliph Scurlock, drummer extraordinaire (and member of several bands that I remember like Panel Donor [a band that I miss and that I had the pleasure of playing shows with with another band I was in], Slackjaw, Cocknoose, and Kill Creek) has been the live drummer for the band for about eight years, but this album was the first he's really had a chance to integrate ideas into the recordings. I sent him a few questions via e-mail and Kliph was kind enough to take time out of his incredibly busy schedule to answer them. Thanks to Kliph for doing this for us (I think I've thanked him about 3, 587 times personally already, but it means a lot).
HL: How long have you been a part of the Flaming Lips family? When did you become the live drummer in the band? When did you get a credit on a record for the first time?
Kliph: I've been part of the "family" for 10 years now. I was a roadie for them from March of 1999 until September 2002, at which point I started playing drums with them. I think my first credit was on the Fight Test E.P.
HL: Is Embryonic the first time you had an integrated role with Flaming Lips? How integrated are your ideas in the overall equation that is the Lips?
Kliph: Other than some b-sides and things, yeah. And my ideas were integrated with everybody else's. Whoever has the best idea wins out.
HL: When writing songs, does the band consciously look to other bands to shape songs? Were there any bands that were an influence or model for Embryonic?
Kliph: Yeah, other bands and songs definitely influence songs, but it's more to do with production and arrangements than actual chord structures. There are some influences that run so deep with us that they're impossible to ignore -- The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc. I would say, other than the "standards," there was more of a Miles Davis influence on this record than others, but again, it was more to do with approach and arrangement than any of his songs.
HL: Wayne Coyne has mentioned the movie The Night Porter as an influence on songs from the album. Are there any other art forms that influenced how you thought about the album and your playing/sound?
Kliph: That's a hard one to answer because everything we see and experience influences what we do in one way or another, but we've been so busy since recording the album that I haven't had time to sit down and reflect on things and how they might have played into how something turned out. That might not be something I can really have any sort of perspective on for a few years.
HL: What do you think are your favorite songs from the album right now and why?
Kliph: Right now my favorites are "Sagittarius Silver Announcement", "Evil", and "See The Leaves". I don't really know why I like those ones the most right now, but I do.
HL: As a former fan rather than member of the band, what's it like to play live with them? What's it like to play older songs? Is there an old fave that you'd love to play but haven't had the chance to yet?
Kliph: It's really and truly amazing. They were my favorite band for years and I never dreamed I'd ever even meet them. Then I started working for them and getting to know them and hanging around them, which was an amazing bunch of experiences. Then I started playing drums and I had to pinch myself several times daily to believe that it was actually true. It was (and still is) an honor and a thrill that I can't put into words... I guess it's the same thrill that anybody would feel if they were suddenly part of their favorite band.
I love playing older songs simply because I love the songs so much. And there are several older ones I'd love to try that we haven't yet. Just think of all the songs we haven't done since I've been part of the band and those are the ones I'd like to do at least a couple of times.
HL: As a former fan turned player, where do you think Embryonic stands in the pantheon of The Flaming Lips?
Kliph: It's hard for me to say because it's so new and because making this album was my whole life for the five or so months we worked on it. On a base level, though, I do think it's a unique album in the Lips' history and is great for that reason, if for no other.
HL: Through interviews I've read it seems like this album was based on jams more than most. Is this new for the band or was it just better to not "finish" these songs; to create something organic rather than force structure upon them?
Kliph: It was definitely a new way of working. In the past, Wayne or Steven would come to the table with a song mostly finished and then everybody else would add their bits to it and flesh it out to be the song we all know. I do think the "jam" aspect of creating has been emphasized a bit much. I mean, yes, several of the songs came out of jamming, but we were very picky in what we kept. A lot of stuff got thrown away and weren't worked on at all and there were a fair amount of songs that came about in more of a "traditional" way -- Wayne or Steven coming to the table with an almost finished song that we would then complete.
HL: It seems that the process of recording has become a more important facet of the Flaming Lips recordings (people clearing their throat and the cell phone that appears in "The Sparrow...") over the last few albums. I know that there's talkback on some In a Priest Driven Ambulance songs, but it seems to be more prevalent on At War With the Mystics and Embryonic. Do you think this is true? How much of it is a constructed "world" and how much is a happy accident that's left where it lies?
Kliph: Any of the "extra bits" were happy accidents that we liked and left in, but I'd say the actual recording process has been very important to how the finished songs are shaped since at least In A Priest Driven Ambulance.
HL: Are you still based in Lawrence? If so, how's Larryville? I haven't been back in a few years. Do you have any time to play in any side projects in town?
Kliph: Yeah, I still live in Lawrence. It's always great whenever I'm actually there, which isn't a whole lot. And I do have a couple of other bands I'm in that I, unfortunately, don't get to put much time and effort into. I have a band with my friend, Brodie, called the Rohypnol Rangers and our music is as obnoxious as the name would suggest. I also have a band with my roommate, John, that doesn't have a name yet. It's more of a proggy, druggy sort of band. We've been recording bits and pieces whenever I'm home and we're hoping to have some sort of album out sometime next year.
HL: Your top five percussionists and why?
Kliph: 1. Steven Drozd. He is quite simply the best, most versatile player I've ever seen or heard. There is no limit to what he can do and he has great taste on top of it.
2. John Bonham. An obvious choice, but for good reason. He is one of the main reasons I wanted to start playing drums and someone whose playing still excites me and who I still steal from 30 years later.
3. Keith Moon. I love how his energy and expression would always win out over "time keeping". One of the few truly unique drummers ever.
4. Greg Saunier. The drummer from Deerhoof and the second best drummer I've ever seen or heard. I really don't know how to describe his style. It's very manic at times, yet it's not slop because he operates on such an elevated musical level that I'm certain he knows exactly what he's doing.
5. Jody Stephens. Just a really tasteful player. He would always drive the song and do cool beats and fills, but he never got in the way. His playing is so subtle sometimes that I wouldn't even notice how cool what he was doing was until I really sat down and broke his part down into pieces.
HL: Can you really stare that long without blinking (see Christmas on Mars, dear readers)?
Kliph: I can. I don't make a habit of it because it starts to hurt after a bit, but I can do it.
HL: One last thing on Embryonic: How were the overdubs recorded? They fit so well with the original sort of jammy things that if I hadn't read about it I wouldn't know. Was there a lot of tweaking to get them to fit? How involved were you with all of that?
Kliph: They were mostly recorded up at Tarbox [Dave Fridmann's studio in New York where the Lips have recorded most of their last albums]. Some were recorded at Steven's... it was a hodgepodge, really. And as far as getting them to fit... to us, for the most part, the overdubs and the stuff we did at Steven's really stick apart from each other and that's a lot of the charm to it. We really came to enjoy the mix of the low-fi from Steven's mixed with the hi-fi from Tarbox.
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