Flaming Lips frontman's double-neck 'Guitar Hero guitar'

by Ross Miller { Oct 27th 2008 at 7:45PM }

While filming a segment for NBC's "Chime In" campaign (where various musicians and actors "re-envision" the three-note NBC tune), Flaming Lips vocalist-guitarist Wayne Coyne brought with him what he dubbed the "Guitar Hero guitar," an Epiphone double-neck with the lower, six-string neck replaced by a five-button variant and wired to an oscillator. "[It's] because a lot of kids out there think this is actually the way you play guitar," he told Entertainment Weekly. Head over to EW's site to see a video demonstration of the hybrid (start at the 1:55 mark).

Tags: flaming-lips, guitar-hero, hacks, wayne-coyne

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Savage303 @ Oct 27th 2008 7:54PM

This is the second time that this guy has been kind of a D-bag about the whole GH/RB thing. I don't think there are any kids out there that really believe that people play guitar with plastic controllers.

brandon_r87 @ Oct 27th 2008 8:00PM

After this video, I had to look guitars up on Wikipedia. Strings? Frets? That looks tough.

But seriously, when was the first time you're talking about him trashing on RB/GH?

ToRo @ Oct 27th 2008 8:08PM

Yea. I don't like this guy at all. Just because some people just wanna play a plastic guitar for fun doesn't mean we think that's how a guitar is played. Meh, he's a mediocre guitarist as well.

lol he's prolly just mad at all the money the music games are pulling in.

Levi @ Oct 28th 2008 2:45AM

"This is the second time that this guy has been kind of a D-bag about the whole GH/RB thing."

*citation needed*

Markez @ Oct 27th 2008 7:53PM

Um, wut, well, uhm, ok? Man, er... Alright.

aristokrat @ Oct 27th 2008 9:05PM

Perhaps it was the awful camera-work that confused you, too. When a guy is talking about his special guitar, why would one aim the wobbly camera at his face?

Friday_Knight @ Oct 28th 2008 10:42AM

I think its just the combination of cocaine, lack of sleep and brain damage just won't allow the guy to stand still so the camera guy had to constantly dance around him.

Gotta say, very nice mod on the guitar there. Nice fan service and the fact that its actually hooked to a functioning oscillator is just cool. But this line:

"[It's] because a lot of kids out there think this is actually the way you play guitar.."

combined with his constant "rocking out even when I'm not really rocking" just makes this guys look like a total douche bag. I'm glad I never really like the Flaming Lips cuz this would have killed it for me. What an ass.

brandon_r87 @ Oct 27th 2008 7:59PM

I'd like to see their songs in Rock Band or GH. One of my favorite bands. I have a Rock Band avatar of Wayne singing for my band, complete with stage blood on his face.

Not sure, but his attitude about GH and RB seems like they would be unlikely to license their music to the game. Not judging but I'm surprised at how commercial they're getting by doing the NBC thing though.

xtremeholymuffin @ Oct 28th 2008 9:20AM

Tell everybody.........waitin'.......for superman

*blood*

Will @ Oct 27th 2008 8:00PM

It was kind of cool seeing the Flaming Lips live. Too bad the frontman is an asshole.

Kind of reminds me of Angel and Airwaves. I was interested in seeing them live until I realized what an annoying person their lead singer is.

xtremeholymuffin @ Oct 28th 2008 9:22AM

Angels and Airwaves != Flaming lips

And Wayne Coyne is awesome.

Lukeyo @ Oct 27th 2008 8:06PM

That's obviously why he doesn't like it - his music wont be in any of the games.

theturtle363 @ Oct 27th 2008 8:07PM

every time I hear about The flaming lips, i think of blues clues, because apparently Steve based his band he formed after the show on the flaming lips

WhatIsThatThing @ Oct 27th 2008 8:18PM

He actually made an album with the help of the Flaming Lips. I think they're helping him work on the next one.

No joke. Look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Burns

LameDuck @ Oct 27th 2008 8:12PM

I think people like this are more afraid of being put to pasture than being afraid that a generation is going to grow up trying to play plastic guitars. Most the kids I know have taken up guitars and drums thanks to GH and RB.

I listen to Maxim radio when I get really bored at work. A few months back, they were crying because one of their guys sucked at Guitar Hero which meant, it was a horrible game and horrible ideal. Well, some chap calls in saying how his band was playing at a night club and no one was paying attention to him because everyone was gathered around some kid playing guitar hero. This led to them proclaiming the death of music thanks to Guitar Hero.

Listen, if your band is being beat by some kid on GH/RB, your band sucks monkey chunks. No arguing. Rock band is a game and only a game. If any child believes that guitars are played like they are in game, then that child was touched to begin with. You're just being a prick and blaming your own fail on other people and things.

TL:DR: Man up, you wuss. Plastic guitars will never replace a real guitar.

Reuben @ Oct 27th 2008 8:14PM

I love The Flaming Lips with all my heart.

Cesaria (Gamertag: Cesaria360) @ Oct 27th 2008 11:17PM

I second that. Definitely my number one band to see live, followed closely by Modest Mouse.

Ranko @ Oct 27th 2008 8:17PM

http://i33.tinypic.com/wvojm1.jpg

Friday_Knight @ Oct 28th 2008 10:46AM

My thoughts exactly.

kavendano14 @ Oct 27th 2008 8:25PM

What?

thebackdrifter @ Oct 27th 2008 8:28PM

Wayne doesn't actually believe people believe this is the way people play guitar. Mainly, he is pointing out the fact that its a new staple in our society. People spend so much time actually working on perfecting their guitar hero score when they could spend it actually learning how to play the songs for real. I think south park put it best with their guitar hero episode. Wayne just wants to do something weird and different and bring something from society into his weird world of rock. If you really think about it he isn't bashing guitar hero, he is actually promoting it for people to think about playing the game but in a more realistic way. What is creative about playing guitar hero? Other than the input you have on the whammy bar, you don't change the song at all. Wayne is trying to make that icon and make it creative, that's all.

Plus that guitar is fucking rad.

aristokrat @ Oct 27th 2008 9:03PM

See Reel Big Fish's "Everybody Plays Guitar." Or the playing-guitar-in-the-stairway scene from "Animal House." We don't really need any more guitarists.

thebackdrifter @ Oct 27th 2008 9:13PM

So we dont need any more painters? No more Musicians? So we should just banish art completely... Riiiiight...

Saria the Cat @ Oct 27th 2008 9:32PM

@thebackdrifter: I think aristokrat's point is that there is no lack of guitarists, and playing guitar is not a dying art. So there's no need to raise alarm at a growing number of rhythm game players.

Shagittarius @ Oct 28th 2008 12:06PM

Now if only someone could point out what a douche bag you look like playing those plastic guitars...

aristokrat @ Oct 29th 2008 4:14AM

Yeah, that was hyperbole. Even the RBF song is ironic, given that it has a guitar in it. I'm a big Mason Jennings fan myself, so I obviously like guitar, but I get tired of the lame dudes using guitars as their only method for picking up chicks, for instance. The masses are not going to write the next great guitar solo, so leave 'em with plastic.

FSK405K @ Oct 27th 2008 8:50PM

Does he think people design houses and families (Sims) and slaughter monsters (anything) using a keyboard an d mouse?

Misfit Toy @ Oct 27th 2008 9:17PM

That is just pure unadulterated ugly.

lolzer @ Oct 27th 2008 9:19PM

compare the comments on this article to the ones on the kotaku article:

http://kotaku.com/5069563/flaming-lips-frontman-debuts-mutant-guitar-hero-guitar

BreadX @ Oct 27th 2008 11:48PM

Good point.

You all strike me as a very sad, defensive bunch. He's the kind of guy who likes to experiment with music and image, he's not setting out to stomp on your sensitive guitar hero loving nuts.

Go listen to a Flaming Lips album, and get cultured.

dark_inchworm @ Oct 28th 2008 1:22AM

And then consider Brian Crecente's reaction to the CAG community prank pulled a few weeks back.

I have no respect for that man, and little for his elitist fanbase. (Not that Joystiq commenters are much better...)

Markez @ Oct 28th 2008 2:12AM

I agree with what so and so said, and I now look down upon all of you.

"You all strike me as a very sad, defensive bunch." Now that is one truly hilarious comment, seriously.

Levi @ Oct 28th 2008 2:58AM

BreadX's comment isn't that laughable Markez. I still remember the shitstorm that erupted from Roger Dahltrey's one little misguided comment regarding plastic guitars replacing real guitars. The overreaction on this site was quite embarrassing.

And wouldn't you agree that video gamers are generally defensive in the first place? What other industries have fanboys as fervent as ours?

chaos3346 @ Oct 27th 2008 9:23PM

Five years ago very few kids played guitar; now it's all the rage. Rock is coming back thanks in part (VERY large part) to the success of Guitar Hero. I recall an EGM review with the main guitarist for GH1 (who did most of the covers) around its release, and he said "The main reason I'm doing this game is to help revitalize this music and get people playing. If more people pick up guitar, then I'd consider it successful." And this is DEFINITELY the case. Look at how often Wal-Mart and Target now tout their guitar offerings. Guitar Center is FULL of beginner sets, which in no way existed three years ago. I've seen kids - 11 years old - play incredible licks. Guitar Hero has been such a driving force behind the revitalization of musicality it's incredible. That anyone accuses it of anything otherwise is at best ignorant, and worst moronic. Being able to play guitar isn't "lame" - it's incredibly cool. In the summer program I worked at, all the kids were impressed with the kid who could beat Jordan, but man were they in awe of the kid who could play Led Zeppelin's back catalog.

People like this need to realize that Guitar Hero has done more to inspire a new generation than anything they could ever do.

Solid Warri0r @ Oct 27th 2008 9:39PM

looks retarded :(

Saria the Cat @ Oct 27th 2008 9:52PM

Sounds like a douche. I'd be more focused on the rising rates of child obesity than the nonexistent "issue" of raising rates of child Guitar Hero playing.

Will @ Oct 27th 2008 10:26PM

It used to be violent video games ruining our youth. Then music came along..

dark_inchworm @ Oct 28th 2008 1:23AM

"He pushed all my son's buttons and then sent his anger into overdrive. It must've been those damn rhythm games!"

Shagittarius @ Oct 28th 2008 12:06PM

Guitar Hero is the number 1 cause of childhood obesity.

Saria the Cat @ Oct 29th 2008 11:24AM

Hmm...why did I get voted down to 1 heart when the person before me said, "sounds retarded :(" and got voted up to 3.5 hearts? Oh, Joystiq. You so silly.

KM @ Oct 28th 2008 2:45AM

"See it really...that's what rock n' roll's all about."

Yes, that's what rock and roll is all about, pressing colored plastic buttons while hitting an oscillator. Ironic how he says kids think that's how you play a guitar, and he ends up playing that thing in the video more than he did the 12-string guitar neck.

Kralos @ Oct 28th 2008 3:06AM

holy shit the kaossilator. the whammy bar just got owned.

rudimentalist @ Oct 28th 2008 4:06AM

NERDRAGE he dissed Guitar Hero what does he know about rock and roll or anything else!! GRRR!

I love you jaded Joystiq kids. Joke's on you if you think he actually cares what kids do in their free time either way. I love what he did with the thing, turning it into an actual instrument by adding that Kaoss pad.

jdm @ Oct 28th 2008 5:32AM

Yeah, gonna have to call BS on anyone who thinks Wayne Coyne is making fun of/dissing GH/RB in this. 1) Go rent "The Fearless Freaks" (The excellent flaming lips documentary) and note that Wayne is probably the nicest, most down to earth (um, in a tripped out way) guy in rock n roll, ever. 2) Buy Zaireeka (oh, and 4 CD players to listen to it on), and note that Wayne is 100% serious about experimental music. Now tell me that he is not in fact *playing* his guitar hero+kaossillator in all earnestness. Didn't think so. And he does it with a lot *less* pretension than Matt Bellamy (Muse) and his Manson-guitar+kaoss pads. Yet you all jump down Wayne's throat. Well done.

Fry @ Oct 28th 2008 5:35AM

Wow, nerd rage much? Wayne was just making a statement about rhythm games and you guys have a fit.

Way to go, commenters!

Travis @ Oct 28th 2008 5:36AM

Wayne Coyne owns

Nicholas Muldoon @ Oct 28th 2008 8:55AM

Awesome guitar, I think it's cool especially if they use some sweet patches for it live but people in the comments freaking out over their nerd cred being threatened need to chill. If it was a negative it was, if it was a joke it also may have just been that, just chill

Flaming Lips and Wayne are fantastic, The Soft Bulletin is still one of the best albums of the past 10 years

Elias @ Oct 28th 2008 10:08AM

My little brother who is 10 is master at Guitar Hero and Rock Band and he loves The Flaming Lips. Does he have Nerd Rage over some man's opinion? NO

Tyson @ Oct 28th 2008 8:30PM

Seriosly. Rent fearless freaks, it's a great movie.

JohnHeist @ Oct 31st 2008 4:09PM

If anyone's actually interested, from the picture it appears the part he's "strumming" is either a Korg Mini-KP Kaoss Pad, or a Korg Kaossillator.

Since he said it's attached to an Oscillator, I'm going to assume the second.
Except tan/light brown instead of Yellow.

Those things rock, only about $200