Little less ‘ Obscurity’ for band
The Residents will be featured in an upcoming film
The Residents are one of the most important acts in San Francisco Bay Area music history. They’re also the most mysterious.
The hugely influential art- rock act has embraced absolute anonymity during its 40- year- plus career, with the band members refusing to show their faces in public, give out their real names or be interviewed by the press. We know nexttonothing about these musicians, other than that they’ve collectively released more than 60 albums and helped pioneer the music video format.
That’s why there’s so much intrigue around “Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents,” a new documentary that aims to shed some light on a band that has long fought to remain in the shadows.
Now, don’t get the wrong impression. San Jose director Don Hardy’s film, which had its world premiere at the 2015 South by Southwest ( SXSW) film festival in Austin, Texas, is hardly a “tell- all.” You won’t be able — to borrow the title from the band’s 1974 debut— to “Meet the Residents,” at least not in terms of learning their names or seeing their faces.
Instead, Hardy changed the script from what viewers have come to expect from character- driven rock docs, putting the focus on the concept behind the
JIM HARRINGTON
band and the struggle to stay true to that concept.
It’s all about the “theory of obscurity,” a belief that artists do their best work before they’re famous. It’s a theory that runs in complete opposition to pop culture, which screams that success must equal fame, and seems utterly incompatible with today’s social media- crazy world. Yet, the obscurity is one of the things makes this group truly legendary.
The film tells the band’s story through archival clips and interviews with a number of non- Residents, including Steve Seid, video curator for Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive. Seid sheds light on the importance of the band’s early short films/ music videos, which are now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“I think one part of ( The Residents’) legacy will be that they found and were able to establish meaning within this completely corrupted ( art) form,” Seid says.
The film also features insightful comments from Primus’ Les Claypool, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, Ween’s Mickey Melchiondo Jr. and other longtime admirers. Of course, not all of these artists started out as admirers.
“At first, I was like, ‘ What the hell is this?’” Bay Area bassist Claypool recounts of his first time hearing The Residents. “I absolutely hated it. To me, it was the music they are probably playing in hell.”
It took Claypool— and many others — some time to be able to appreciate The Residents’ defiantly avantgarde music, which can make Yoko Ono’s weirdest works sound like Carly Rae Jepsen. Yet, others were sold from the start.
“I loved it from the first moment that I heard it,” Groening recalls. “There was nothing like them.”
And, more than 40 years later, there still isn’t. That’s what makes the “Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents” such a joy to behold.
No word on when – or where – the film might screen in the Bay Area. The producers reportedly went into SXSW still looking for a distribution deal. Fans should keep checking the film’s website, residentsmovie. com, for updates.
Also, The Residents are scheduled to perform their latest stage show, “Shadowland,” named for the latest album, at SXSW. So — if you’re in Austin — make plans to see these Bay Area legends on Friday. For more information, visit www. sxsw. com.
Follow Jim Harrington at South by Southwest at twitter. com/ jimthecritic and www. facebook. com/ jim. bayareanews.