Infamous for the notoriety of nothing for over 40 years, the anonymous Residents are once again reinventing themselves with a crowd-sourced recording titled I AM A RESIDENT! along with Intruders, their latest studio album, both launching on PledgeMusic, Monday, September 25, 2017. The world's most obscure art-rock band opens a door on endless options by inviting die-hard fans to submit their own original versions of the band's songs and offering the possibility of appearing on the I AM A RESIDENT! album. For additional information, please visit pledgemusic.com/projects/
By appropriating their name from junk mail, the group initially suggested a sense of values based around the creativity of everyman. A bland anonymity with no names or faces, "residents" implies a void, a space waiting to be filled, fraught with promise and free from expectations. The group has flourished within this self-imposed bubble for over four decades and now expand the illusion to include their fans. For them, anyone who contributes is also "A Resident," waiting to be enabled.
Be they bogus or concrete, the four devoted dreamers who founded The Residents will of course remain as the group's core center. Heretics in a heathen homeland, they will continue greeting the few whose eyes and ears are open, but The Residents also see creativity as a gift given to all of us at birth. And, by building upon and enabling this birthright, the band is inviting any and all to participate in their latest recording. Fans who pre-order the album and/or items listed on PledgeMusic (starting at $10 and expanding to $100,000) can submit their versions of Residents' songs with the chance of having their music featured on I AM A RESIDENT!.
Upon pre-ordering the new albums, Residents' fans will receive an instant "Access Pass" allowing exclusive glimpses into the group's surreal world. Fans will hear snippets of new songs, see murky videos of the band rehearsing, check out obscure unpublished photos, and gain little insight into the band's opaque album making process. All song submissions will be posted on Residents.com; additional rewards offered through PledgeMusic include: a limited edition of hand cut eyeball vinyl discs by Michael Dixon Vinyl Art, a box set of vinyl first pressings, t-shirts, turntable mats, pom pom hats, socks, signed posters and vinyl test pressings, Executive Producer credits, and a special video opportunity with Homer Flynn, CEO of The Cryptic Corporation.
Coinciding with the fan sourced I AM A RESIDENT!, the group is also in the studio recording their next album, Intruders. Inspired by the persistence of obsession, Intruders are seen as alternate beings stalking the corners of our consciousness. The album's 11 original songs all pivot around the unseen and the uncontrollable spirits stuck in the seams of our minds. Whether it's ghosts, angels, aliens, ex-lovers or an angry old woman with a bittersweet smile, we never know who or what will wedge itself into the darker recesses of our minds. Hated, loved, or merely tolerated, we all have Intruders.
Featuring songs titled "Voodoo Doll," "Shadows," "The Intruder," and the first single "Frank's Lament," the album will possess and obsess Residents fans worldwide immediately after its release in the spring of 2018.
For fans who can't wait until spring 2018 for their next Residents fix, the band has just released a fundraising trailer to a brand new independent film they've been hard at work on, Double Trouble. Re-contextualizing the original video for Vileness Fats -- the band's infamous unfinished film project from 1972-76, Double Trouble fast-forwards to the year 2023. In the film, Randy Rose, the group's singer has just died, and his son, Randy Junior, a Catholic priest, has come into possession of the original Vileness Fats footage, and finds that his life holds some strange parallels to that long-abandoned project. To check out the trailer, please click here.
THE RESIDENTS
Alternately seen as a rock band, an arts collective and a spirit, The Residents have been regarded as icons in the world of experimental music for over 40 years. In addition to their groundbreaking work in the areas of trance, world fusion, electronica, punk, industrial and lounge music, the group has also been credited with being among the originators of performance art and music video, with their early videos included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Their over four-decade career has also taken them into the world of film and television music, having scored numerous films and TV series as well as several projects for MTV. In addition, the group is also thriving in the world of digital media having released ten DVDs, and two internet series.
Not content to rest upon their justly lauded laurels, the group has recently reformed as a classic four-piece combo that celebrated its debut at the prestigious Blue Note jazz club in Tokyo, performing six shows from March 21-23, 2017. Currently the group is in rehearsal for their In Between Dreams tour, performing in Europe in November 2017 and the U.S. in April 2018.
The Residents launch their first crowd-funding PledgeMusic campaign in September 2017, and release two new albums in spring 2018.
