It was going to be a difficult position to be in no matter what from the start.

How does someone fill in while the brilliant force that is Steven Drozd is on a leave of absence?

A.J. Slaughter, the incredibly talented,multi-instrumental artist from Oklahoma City, rose to the challenge delivering solid performances around the globe. And in doing so, Slaughter helped The Flaming Lips keep the music alive as the band blazed to work in the year 2025.

The Observer reached out to Coyne through Instagram and did not hear back. However, in an interview posted on thesatellitehead Youtube channel in September, Coyne spoke about A.J.’s contributions over the past year adding that fans “absolutely have embraced him and encouraged him at our shows.”

“I mean luckily we just are able to find someone that can play on that, of that caliber,” Coyne said. “He’s a great player, he rehearses fast and he’s great in front of audiences. He’s a very relaxed player and he’s just a lot of fun, and I think he’s very glad to be there.”

Audiences around the world, have come to get to know and watch Slaughter perform this year. Not only was his sit down pedal steel a different look on stage, but the notes themselves seem to add different layers to the music.

It’s undeniable that A.J.’s pedal steel during the band’s cover of Daniel Johnston’s True Love Will Find You In The End, has left audiences around the world in awe. Combine A.J.’s performance with Coyne’s delivery of the song’s heartfelt lyrics and you have one of the best renditions of this song since Johnston’s passing six years ago.

Other pedal steel contributions have included She Don’t Use Jelly, Five Stop Mother Superior Rain, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, War Pigs, and Waiting for Superman. Think this instrument does not work on Jelly? Well, if one were lucky enough to catch a performance this year and listened closely throughout the balloons and general craziness with a close ear one could hear the pedal steel adding a unique layer between Tommy McKenzie’s crisp, thundering bass and Derek Brown’s guitar.

Early in the year the online speculation about the band grew incredibly fast. Opinions were polarized. Some fans thought love, understanding and space was appropriate. Others demanded answers from the band, feeling that they were entitled to them.

Amidst all the questions and uncertainty about the band’s current status or future, Slaughter’s performances seemed to cut through all of that in a way that returned the focus to the music itself. From the audience or those watching online, the view of the band was different no doubt. However, the profound sense of joy the band leaves in the wake of each show, remained the same.

Some have said, the joy even grew a bit stronger.

It was sometime around 2019 when Slaughter — a native of Tulsa — then a student at Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma (ACM@UCO) caught the ear of Derek Brown from another room. Whatever it was that Slaughter was playing that day, it was enough to get Brown — an instructor at the school — out of his seat.  

“From my office I can hear a lot of the music that’s being played or rehearsed and one day I heard pedal steel and it was great,” Brown told The Observer. “I stuck my head in the door and introduced myself.”

From that meeting, Slaughter and Brown exchanged numbers and a collaborative relationship, and friendship, was born. Brown said he later invited Slaughter to play pedal steel on a recording he was working on, and from then on Brown knew he had found someone with a creative mind that he could work with.

“The playing was transcendent,” Brown said. “He’s a true musician and a sweet, fun guy.”

Slaughter began his music journey picking up guitar at the age of 10, working with a lot of acoustic fingerpicking arrangements. Years later in high school, Slaughter was

thoroughly digesting written music which allowed him the freedom to improvise over complex tunes while performing with his school’s jazz band. At the same time Slaughter was part of another band playing covers of Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, or Bob Dylan at the local VFW. (Veterans of Foreign Wars; more on that below)

It was also during these same years when Slaughter discovered The Flaming Lips.

“It had to have been my freshman or sophomore year of high school when I discovered The Flaming Lips. I think one of the first songs I heard was Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” Slaughter told The Observer. “Then one of my friends told me to listen to Soft Bulletin, but that just sent me down a rabbit hole where I eventually discovered Embryonic and I was hooked.”

Slaughter said his approach to working and performing with The Flaming Lips this year has been centered around being “very attentive to the very fine details within pieces of music.”

“The longer I’ve played music with different people throughout my life, I’ve learned the things that truly elevate a song are attention to detail,” Slaughter said.
“Monotonously speeding through a song breezing by tiny stops or ignoring intricate textures bores the musician and the listener. If a whole band is focusing on these it creates a very tight unit, so I love getting into the weeds of arrangements in this regard.”

Towards the end of 2024, the band was working towards the end of their multi-year anniversary tour of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. The music seemed to re-energize fans, and recruit new ones with sold out shows all over the United States with an eye towards the world Yoshimi tour.

But then, suddenly, there was an unexpected hole stage right. Like, a huge hole. And with it, many, many questions that could not be answered nor explained by the band. Rather than fold the tent, mothball the giant robots, and cancel shows, a search began for someone to fill in for the remainder of the tour starting in Australia in January 2025.

“I told Wayne I knew someone that could potentially step into the role and bring their own style to it,” Brown said. “A.J. came to a rehearsal with a few songs prepared and it was pretty obvious it was going to work and be cool.”

Coyne added that from those “couple of days of rehearsal” diving head first into the music, it was clear the show could go on.

“We were able to rehearse lots of dense, complicated music and he picks up ideas very quick and he’s a very intuitive player,” Coyne told thesatellitehead.

Photograph by Blake Studdard

Slaughter on stage performing on the pedal steel. Provided by Slaughter.

Brown describes Slaughter as not only a gifted musician, but someone who could join the group with a high degree of professionalism.

“I knew he was a serious musician, but I also knew he was a great guy and being on the road with someone… it’s important to get along, too,” Brown said.

Starting in Australia and selling out shows in Japan and Taiwan before moving on to Europe, the band was working towards the conclusion of the Yoshimi tour while dropping clues on social media about adding older songs like Riding To Work In The Year 2025 and The Golden Path, back into the performance rotation.

While performing in the U.K. this spring, A.J. and bassist Tommy McKenzie seemed to meld together during performances of Riding To Work In The Year 2025, a song that features some tight bass and guitar playing that compliment each other in a way that seems like the two instruments are intertwined together.

But then later on in the sets, The Golden Path groove got people moving, including Slaughter himself as he fingered the song’s riff over the sustained beat.

“He brings a lot of new energy to the stage and doing something like “War Pigs” – sometimes in the middle of playing that one I can look over at the guys and just feel like we’re unstoppable,” Brown said.

After a dozen countries, 60,190 miles — give-or-take — and legions of satisfied fans later, the 2025 campaign will be unforgettable because the band rose to the challenge of keeping the music going in 2025, and towards a bright and unwavering future.

“I’m grateful he’s been able to join us,” Brown said of Slaughter. “I’m grateful he had a passport!”

Slaughter performs in California during the 2025 summer tour.

Photograph by Blake Studdard

Slaughter on stage. Provided by Slaughter.

Following the band’s last performance at the Mempho Music Festival on October 4, The Observer was able to score an in-depth interview with Slaughter to talk about the past year and his contributions.

The Observer (TO): When you got the call from the band to join them for the end of the Yoshimi anniversary tour, and the greater 2025 tour, how did that make you feel?

A.J. Slaughter: Frankly, it was fairly overwhelming, but overall, incredibly exciting. It was also very last minute. I had about three days to prepare before rehearsals began for the tour. But I also had three gigs booked during those three days.

(TO): Were there any challenges you faced early in working with the band? If so, what were those challenges?

Slaughter: The earliest challenge was just making sure I could keep up with learning all of the material in a timely manner. I didn’t have much off time before rehearsals started so there were a lot of long days. After rehearsal I would get home and stay up very late to learn a few more songs for the next day, then I’d wake up extra early to go through all of the songs I’d learned as a reminder before going to the next rehearsal. The other challenge was just making sure that what I had prepared beforehand was the right fit for the music. Sometimes what I came up with/worked on/put together was not what Wayne was looking for, so I would have to adapt quickly.

Slaughter performs with McKenzie in Dublin, Ireland, during the last leg of theYoshimi Battles The Pink Robots anniversary tour.

(TO): Has performing and touring with The Flaming Lips had any impact on your growth as a musician? If so, how?

Slaughter: I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of growth as a musician working with The Flaming Lips. Previously my ear had been very attuned to conventional chord progressions within pop music so, when learning a set of music, it wouldn’t take very long. The catalog of the Lips, however, often has unconventional harmonic ideas and it never stays in one lane. Some artists may have their own trope they use in their writing frequently over time, but not with the Lips. Aside from a tool I use as a musician, I’ve learned many personal and relational lessons on patience with myself and others and how to just be a good person to others. As a musician I believe one’s greatest asset is how well you work with others.

(TO): On stage, there are times where you appear to be truly locked in and engulfed in the music. As an artist, can you try to explain what that feels like?

Slaughter: The moments I get to experience on stage are cathartic. I am so grateful for the position I am in and some moments I’m just soaking all of it in. Other times, I am very actively concentrating on and preparing for the next moment in a song where maybe I have a lot of different roles in the song musically. Sometimes I’m just trying not to make eye contact with the crowd or read someone’s t-shirt and lose my place in the song.

(TO): Do you have any favorite songs from The Flaming Lips catalog that pump you up to perform?

Slaughter: I’d say the 2 songs that excite me the most lately have been The Golden Path and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate for separate reasons. Golden Path excites me because it’s already such a danceable song and it’s not one that a lot of people really know about. But even the people in the audience who I can tell don’t know the song are obviously enjoying it. I love watching people smiling towards Wayne and the sun in the middle until I see them pointing over to just behind me where the aliens are awaiting their cue to make their entrance to the front of the stage. Seeing everyone’s joy is palpable. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate is already one of my favorites in the catalog and I have a strong emotional response to it every night. This is one of those songs that I’m very locked in for as I play keys, steel, and guitar on this one song, so there’s a lot to remember. I’ve found that the more things I do in a song the more excited I get, even if it may be difficult to achieve sometimes.

Photograph by Blake Studdard

Slaughter and McKenzie on stage. Provided by Slaughter.

(TO): There are times on stage when Wayne directs the focus towards you, for example during Five Stop Mother Superior Rain when you are soloing on the pedal steel, how does that spot light make you feel?

Slaughter: I’m not sure I’ve put too much thought into it, honestly. It seems so natural to me that I don’t think too much about it. I will say that it does feel very validating from the perspective of the newcomer in the band. It’s exciting to feel that love from the man who started the group. It shows to me that he trusts me with this music that I get to perpetuate with the rest of the band.

(TO): Some of the pictures and videos posted to social media have been fun to watch of you and the other members of group and the crew. Some of us in the audience are dying to know; how has touring with the band and crew been this year?

Slaughter: This has easily been the most rewarding and exciting year of my life. Immediately, I was able to travel the world and before this tour I hadn’t been outside of the U.S. I am so grateful to be playing for the audiences that have come out to see us in some of the most beautiful venues I could imagine. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be surrounded by while experiencing these amazing cities all over the world.

(TO): Have there been any shows this year that have stood out above others? If so, which one(s) and why?

Slaughter: There have been a lot of notable shows along the way and we always talk amongst ourselves about the energy of a show if it speaks to us after we step off stage. Out of all the shows we’ve done this year, the one that sticks out to me most is the festival we played in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. The festival grounds were right on the ocean and you could watch the freight ships sail by at night and, with a crowd of 23,000 people, it had been the largest crowd I’ve played to. It was a whirlwind of energy.

Photograph by Blake Studdard

Slaughter on stage. Provided by Slaughter.

(TO): What has been the biggest thing you’ve learned personally while working with The Flaming Lips?

Slaughter: It’s been such a transitional and transformative year working with The Flaming Lips, so a lot of things come to mind that I’ve either learned about myself or were just good lessons to learn. Personally, I have learned that hard work will never go unnoticed. It is entirely universal. It may not always be outwardly or publicly rewarded, but you notice when it’s lacking. It takes many parts for one large machine to work properly.

(TO): Anything you want to add?

Slaughter: I’m truly honored to be part of something so meaningful to myself and so many others. I have to thank a lot of the fans for making me feel incredibly welcome in this community. I’m beyond grateful for the lot of you and the privilege to do this interview. The last thing I want to do is shoutout the rest of the band for trusting me in this role and for the love and support I’ve received from both the band and the entire crew on this journey.

Photograph by Blake Studdard

Slaughter on stage. Provided by Slaughter.

###