Oklahoma’s finest musical sons, The Flaming Lips, are generally seen as fun purveyors of freaky psych-rock but an entangled dispute that has led to the departure of a long-term band member involving abuse and allegations of racism has revealed an uglier side to the band.
In a lengthy statement detailing his side of events, issued to Pitchfork, drummer Kliph Scurlock says he was fired from the band after criticising an incident involving frontman Wayne Coyne’s friend Christina Fallin – the daughter of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin and lead singer of the band Pink Pony – Scurlock saying he was subject to “endless verbal (with threats of physical) abuse” from Wayne.
The dispute stems from an Instagram photo from Fallin showing herself wearing a faux Native American headdress, which resulted in some nasty public backlash. Enough for Fallin ato issue a public statement via her band Pink Pony (as Buzzfeed reports), which apologised for the photo but also defended her decision to use the headdress as a fashion accessory.
(Christina Fallin’s controversial Pink Pony press shot. Source: Buzzfeed)
Scurlock wasn’t happy with the misappropriation of the Native American headwear either and told Fallin as much on a mutual friend’s Facebook page. “I have several Native American friends who were very hurt by her combination of actions and I am nothing if not protective of my loved ones,” Scrulock told Pitchfork, adding that he brought Fallin’s political ties with her mother into his attack (though probably shouldn’t have, he admits).
The drummer says that Fallin then complained to Wayne Coyne, who then abused his bandmate – according to Scurlock – in a series of text messages reading: “You lost your mind dude…. that is some petty, sad, hater bullshit. You love to talk shit…. Like a punk coward…” “I am gonna make it so your ‘beliefs’ no longer have any association with the Flaming Lips…”
Scurlock says he apologised for the attack and his behaviour, but by this point, the problem had escalated beyond an online war of words, the drummer alleging Wayne told him: “You’re a fucking coward!! Go stick up for your Indian friends if its so important to you!!” Threatening in another text: “I think….. I am gonna make it so your ‘beliefs’ no longer have any association with the Flaming Lips ..” That was on 19th March, with Scurlock’s departure announced in early April.
Scurlock says he kept quiet on the details of his apparent dismissal until the issue caught wider attention, just as it did in the last few weeks in which more music media picked up on how Coyne had expressed support for Fallin’s Native American faux pas.
Most notably, with a mocking post on his own (already controversial) Instagram account, with three friends and a dog wearing a similar headdress; the photo has since been removed, as Indian Country reports. The Flaming Lips frontman was also part of a Pink Pony performance on 26th April where he allegedly joined in with the band in performing a “fake war dance” and mocking Native American protestors, as Gawker details.
(Wayne Coyne’s deleted Instagram photo. Source: Indian Country)
Among Scurlock’s full account to Pitchfork, he says: “I can’t lie and say that some part of me isn’t happy to see Wayne finally catch heat for some of his actions, but I do feel that some of the reactions I’ve seen have been extreme…
“I know those guys about as well as it’s possible to know a person and I can say in no uncertain terms that [Flaming Lips members] Steven Drozd, Michael Ivins and Derek Brown are three of the kindest, most upstanding (and outstanding) people you could ever hope to meet,” writes Scurlock, who also alleges that Coyne attempted to bully the drummer to “talk shit” on Twitter against The Black Keys and ‘throwing away’ a collaboration with Deerhoof.
The fallout appears to be continuing on social media, where Coyne took to Twitter to write a few posts directed at Scurlock’s Pitchfork betrayal, while Drozd attempted to take a slightly more diplomatic approach, tweeting: “This Lips/Kliph bullshit has gone too far. We parted ways because of the usual band musical differences. The rest has been blown way out.”
For his part, Scurlock concludes his Pitchfork statement by saying he has “a lot” planned for his musical future but that “the immediate aftermath of being fired from my favorite band was one of the darkest times in my life and your support kept me from sinking into an abyss of depression and self-loathing.”
