FAQ
1. Are The Residents a band, or what?
A. I guess I would have to say a "what." The Residents write, record and perform music, so I suppose that kind of makes them a band. However, they think of themselves as a "group" which is not so directly music-orientated.
2. Who is in The Residents?
A. If the question is "what are the names the parents gave to the people making up The Residents," then I would say that those names belong to individuals and not the group. The group doesn't have names within its structure. If the question is the real "who," meaning the philosophy and outlook, then that is all clearly stated in the work. I would find it difficult to summarize.
3. Is it the same people now as the people who started the group?
A. It is exactly the same. However they work with other people all the time and those people may be considered "Residents" for the period of the project or projects. I understand that the number of people who have been in The Residents is probably over a hundred at this point and still growing.
4. How does one get to work with The Residents?
A. It generally is a result of The Residents asking you to participate, or a recommendation to fill a needed role.
5. Why are the people who do The Residents obsessed with being anonymous?
A. They aren't. It is other people who seem to be uncomfortable with their privacy. Say you have a tank of goldfish. Say you have given each goldfish a name. A stranger wanders into your house and sees your tank of goldfish and wants to know who they are. Considering that he is a stranger, you tell him it is a tank of goldfish.
6. Why not just make up fake names, then? Who would know the difference?
A. Most people in show biz have made up names. That is true. The Residents reveal more about who they are by using no name than people who use fake names. But as you can see it is others, like you, who keep asking about names as though that matters somehow.
7. It is common knowledge that The Residents recorded early albums that have never been released. Why don't they release that material?
A. Like any artist, there is early work. But in this particular situation, the first actual release by The Residents was 1974's Meet The Residents. Anything earlier, including Santa Dog, was not by The Residents. But I know what you mean. There are recordings by the people who later became The Residents. Some older recordings were stolen from their studio, mostly unfinished experimental recordings. Also, a demo of material that was sent to Warner Brothers was taken. Most of the recordings were not touched and a lot of the old stuff has been discarded by The Residents at this point. They prefer to not release recordings that they feel do not represent them. This is true for all artists, not just The Residents.
Have a question whose answer would be of general interest? Send it to Big Brother (bigbrother@residents.com) and maybe it will end up here.