Steven Drozd, the previous co-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist of the Flaming Lips, has given his first interview on his sudden exit from the band. He advised FOX23 Information Tulsa’s Nathan Thompson that his departure adopted a call to retire from touring and spend extra time together with his household. “Wayne [Coyne] and I disagreed on what I ought to do shifting ahead,” he mentioned, noting that he would have appreciated to stay on as a studio member. “So we simply sort of agreed that I’d step again, after which step again changed into not coming again.”
Additional particulars on the cut up stay imprecise. When Drozd broke the information final December (in a since-deleted reply on Threads), Coyne mentioned his former bandmate’s rationalization—that the group was “accomplished with” him—was a lie. “The rationale he left is gloomy, and infuriating,” Coyne added. “It’s HIS accountability to inform everybody what occurred.”
Final March, Rolling Stone Japan revealed an interview with Coyne about Drozd’s absence from the band’s Japanese tour lineup, stating he’d been been involved about his bandmate’s consuming and drug use. “It by no means actually affected his efficiency, till the tip of the tour final September and October, when he could not even play in any respect,” mentioned Coyne, in line with Pitchfork’s translation of the article. The frontman added, “I actually thought if the band continued because it was, he may not survive. However now that it looks as if he is gotten by means of the worst of it, I feel we made the suitable resolution at the moment, although I do not know what is going on to occur.”
Within the new interview, Drozd alludes to “some private disaster issues” on the finish of the Lips’ 2024 tour with Weezer. (He was absent from the band’s subsequent tour dates, together with the Japanese run, however returned for a string of U.S. exhibits.) “Individuals know some about it,” he mentioned, “however I don’t wanna get an excessive amount of into that.” He added that he “blundered” by revealing the information on Threads, not realizing it might unfold so shortly.
Requested if the choice to half methods with the band was mutual, he responded, “I’d simply hold it at mutual. A part of me hoped I might be a man that doesn’t tour however continues to be within the band. I feel that may work for some bands—I assume it labored for the Seaside Boys…. however that simply appeared like an odd match that wasn’t gonna work. After 33 years, shifting on felt sort of proper.”
He additionally poured chilly water on hopes of reconciliation. “I’m engaged on a document […] that may in all probability come out in the summertime,” he mentioned. “I’m working with some folks, nevertheless it gained’t be the Flaming Lips.”
