The Flaming Lips Share Drummer’s Statement on Steven Drozd’s Departure

Final week, Steven Drozd revealed in a since-deleted put up that he’s now not within the Flaming Lips after a virtually 35-year-long run. The band hasn’t formally launched its personal assertion, and neither has Wayne Coyne, however their present drummer Matthew Duckworth Kirksey did share some ideas in an Instagram put up right this moment in collaboration with the band’s official account.

“Lots of nice buddies and higher individuals have come and gone alongside the way in which. I nonetheless love them, and miss them, and a few of them are my household,” wrote Kirksey, who joined the Flaming Lips again in 2014. “This concept that Steven was THE musical genius, and Wayne is just a few weirdo artist… Its simply not true.”

Kirksey goes on to elucidate how exhausting it’s to be in a band for a very long time, going as far as to name their rehearsals “brutal” however “fucking FUN,” and credit Coyne’s drive as making all of it worthwhile. He additionally revealed that the Flaming Lips are releasing new music quickly and known as it “the very best factor we’ve achieved in ages.”

Learn Kirksey’s full assertion beneath:

“Man… exhausting to learn quite a lot of these feedback. Being in a band, for a very long time, that by no means actually stops touring is tough. Some Individuals can hack it for five years, some individuals can hack it for 25 years… Lots of nice buddies and higher individuals have come and gone alongside the way in which. I nonetheless love them, and miss them, and a few of them are my household. I simply wish to say… If you have not heard this latest iteration of the band, give us a shot. The music, and the present is best than ever. And keep in mind… NONE of this ever occurs with out Wayne. This concept that Steven was THE musical genius, and Wayne is just a few weirdo artist… Its simply not true. Wayne pushes the creativity, the sound, and the present ahead, like no artist I’ve ever been round. Being in The Lips is tough… I keep in mind earlier than I used to be within the band, I might see them rehearsing for hours and hours and assume… man… thats brutal. However when you get to be part of that imaginative and prescient… its fucking exhilarating. Its fucking FUN. Its Wayne’s drive to be nice that makes all of it doable. All the time has, at all times will. Derek has been is that this band for 16 years. I have been in it for 12 years. It is our blood, sweat, and tears as nicely. We have given our entire selves to this factor… As a result of we like it, and imagine in it. There may be new music on the way in which and I believe its the very best factor we have achieved in ages. I can not wait so that you can hear it. Come see us this summer time when you get an opportunity. Comfortable Holidays!”