Orginaly Published October 1, 2025

The Observer (TO): When did you first discover The Flaming Lips?

Kyle Stringer, KS: I’d say I became a real fan when I went to the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival in Lawrence, KS in 2008. I was in high school, had never been to a music festival before, and had certainly never seen the Lips before. As you might guess, it was an incredible and life-changing experience. I was born in a town of 1,000 and one stoplight, so it’s fair to say I hadn’t had many worldly experiences leading up to going to this music festival. I was excited to listen to music and camp with some of my best friends.

I had heard a few Lips songs before seeing them live, but nothing could prepare me for what I experienced that night. Through their live show and seeing Christmas on Mars shown in a circus tent, I was really shown the beauty of humanity. That humans could create their own happiness, and that the happiness could be created from really basic things. You didn’t have to have a ton of money or lots of resources. Just your imagination and the will to get it done. Fireworks coincidentally went off during “Vein of Stars,” Wayne told the audience they could get naked during their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “The Song Remains the Same,” and they played one of my favorite classical pieces, Igor Stravinski’s “The Firebird Suite.” What a night!

Post show, I found the Christmas on Mars movie tent around 2 a.m.; it’s still one of the loudest experiences I can remember. The scene where he cuts in to that sausage that becomes the baby still lives quite vividly in my memory.

Wayne crowd surfs in the ball.

All photographs submitted by Kyle Stringer

TO: How long have you been collecting Lips music, art and memorabilia?

KS: I have been collecting Lips stuff since I saw them in 2008. At Wakarusa, I got a few shirts that I knew I’d always want to hang on to. I especially loved the “Rock and Roll can save the world.. if you are nice to people” shirt. Of course, in high school or college, it’s tough to collect a lot because you don’t have any extra money lying around, but once I started working a real job after college, it became a little easier to save up for things I wanted. They have put out so many things through the years, it’s quite difficult to keep up – especially with the super limited stuff. I know there will be items I will never get, like the real human skull with the 24-hour song. It’s super fun to dive in and look at all the cool art Wayne and co have created through the years; it nearly feels endless!

Fetus soap.

Rare stuff!!!

TO: What was it about the band that drew you in?

KS: After seeing them for the first time in 2008, I knew I’d continue seeing them as often as possible. They really showed me how much humanity was capable of. It seemed like they were creating for the good of the world. There was so much love in the audience, and the music was incredible. I then went home and listened to The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and At War with the Mystics. I have always loved The Soft Bulletin the most, but all three records have had a significant amount of play time on my cd players, turn tables, and streaming platforms. 

TO: Do you have a favorite song, lyric or piece of music?

KS: Oh jeez. “Do You Realize??” was a song my wife and I played and sang at our wedding with family and friends, so that has a special place in my heart. “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” has continuously hit me in the heart while listening, especially when Steven extends the guitar solo live. I also remember “Vein of Stars” being significant the first time I heard it (with the fireworks I mentioned from earlier!)

“Maybe there isn’t a vein of stars calling out my name,

No glow from above our heads,

Nothing there to see you down on your knees…

Off in the future maybe there ain’t no heaven

It’s just you and me and maybe it’s just as well

And if there ain’t no heaven maybe there ain’t no hell?”

Fetus Christmas ornament.

TO: Has their music influenced you? And if so, how?

KS: Wayne’s lyrics have always touched me, especially from those three albums I mentioned above. Simple and potent. Coming from the Midwest, I have felt like I could relate to the simplicity and honesty, but also the excitement for the weirder ideas. Musically, I was very excited about the sounds and textures in their music from the moment I first heard it. I remember feeling very confused about why the cymbals were so loud in “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2.”

The confusion turned to excitement as I got to know the eccentricities of their music and the way it was mixed by the band and Dave Fridmann.

The sounds they create are often more about the effect than sounding pleasing. Harsh and brittle sounds along with lust landscapes create distinct and moving pieces of music. I have since fallen in love with these ideas and like to think they have found their way into my own musical projects. I have my own band and write my own music, and I often think of The Flaming Lips for inspiration. Their music is like a symphony, but the instruments that are used for effect are being featured.

December 31, 2010.

TO: Do you have a favorite album or period of the Lips’ history? If so, what and why?

KS: 2011-2013 was an exciting time for me as a fan. They were putting out so much music at the time and doing it in absurd and interesting ways. The songs they were putting out at the time were more experimental in nature but still seemed so earnest and true to themselves. This period was another instance of The Flaming Lips breaking expectations and pushing boundaries of what a rock band was capable of. The gummy skull, gummy fetus, Strobo Trip, and collaborations are up there with my absolute favorite of their material.

TO: Do you have a favorite piece of memorabilia, art or music from your time as a collector? If so what and why?

KS: When Kliph was kicked out of the band, he began getting rid of most of his possessions, as he decided to move to Wales. He was a resident of Lawrence, KS, where I lived at the time, and he gave a couple of boxes of things to Love Garden, the local record store. Because the owner of the shop knew I was a huge Lips fan, he called me up and asked if I wanted to go through the boxes. I, of course, said yes and headed over immediately. In the boxes were many CD’s, shirts, and records.

Some of the CD’s are now sadly gone forever due to errors at the USPS (see my @flaminglipscollection Instagram post if you want to know more about that).

But most of the other things are still around. I’ve always especially loved having these things because they used to belong to Kliph – some when he was a fan of the band, and some after he was in the band. The flaming skull shirt has survived some frequent use – nice to think of Kliph wearing that often in his youth. Not the coolest looking photo, but some of the most prized things I have from him are the acetates from the Heady Fwends and Yoko Ono collaborations, and also the test pressings from the Neon Indian collaboration. Included are a bunch of pics of other things I love that the Lips have put out. I’m always looking for more.

TO: What was it about music, that prompted you to pursue a career as a music therapist?

KS: There was a point near the end of high school that I realized I wanted to do music for the rest of my life but wasn’t exactly sure how. Of course, I would have loved to play bass for the Lips, but I digress… I began going to a community college, majoring in general music. During that time, I recognized that I wasn’t probably good enough to major in music performance but also didn’t want to teach music. One of my teachers told me about music therapy. He said he had tried to major in it, but that he had to visit a children’s hospital during a rotation and that the career was reserved for “saints.” I didn’t know if I was much of a saint, but it sounded like the way forward for me. Helping people through music? Count me in! Nearly everyone I knew had been helped through music! The schooling and career turned out to be a lot more scientific and psychologically based than I thought but it has definitely been the right path for me.  

King’s Mouth soap dish.

TO: How do you use music in your therapy? Do you use any Lips music? If so, what music and how?

KS: Music Therapy is basically where you use music as a tool to help someone reach a goal that is unrelated to music. I work at a Veterans Home where I work with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Often, music groups can provide distraction or a fun alternative to worrying about something else. Dementia can look many different ways. Sometimes 90-year-olds are looking for their parents or a bus stop that doesn’t exist. Doing something they love can be a healthy, non-medical alternative to some of the negatives that come with a dementia diagnosis. A music group can provide social interaction, memory recall, mood improvement, and decrease agitation. It sounds like very basic stuff because it is! If this sounds interesting to you, I highly suggest you look into it, or contact me and I’ll give you some resources. 😊 I wrote an article on it not too long ago.

I’ve only used a Lips song once to my recollection. During one of my practicum sessions in college, I used the song “Be My Head” with a 4-year-old boy with speech and language delays. I changed the lyrics to “Be My Friend,” and it was the opening song to each session. I can’t remember any of the lyrics except for “you can be my friend…”

Strobo Trip

Fuck you frog.

TO: Do you have a favorite memory from all the years of being a fan? If so, what memory stands out?

KS: Many of my favorite memories have been listed above, but man, I gotta say, any time I’ve met a member of the band or even another fan of the band, its been a positive experience. When Wayne did his record store tour in 2013 where he sold the Chocolate Skulls, he was super nice and took a lot of time to talk to me and sign a bunch of stuff for me. I took my Strobo Trip for him to sign and he said it was the first time he had seen one in the wild. I had been super careful with it up to that point. In his excitement, he tore it open, which was funny to both of us. He told me stories about some of the artwork and how some of the artwork was cool but didn’t work as they had hoped. The picture I included is of Michelle peeing; an example of one of the pieces of art that didn’t work as well as they hoped with the strobe light.

Meeting fellow fans has been great too. So many kind and passionate people who love the band for lots of different reasons; we all seem to be united in many ways. Everyone has always been incredibly generous and sweet. Since starting my Instagram page, I’ve been able to keep in touch with so many folks, hear so many stories, and see so many people’s collections. I’m sure this page has had the same experience. I want to shout all of the people I’ve met and friends I’ve made, but I know that I’ll forget some, so instead, I’ll just say “you know who you are.” Thanks for making the world a better place by being so kind and sharing so much love.

TO: Is there anything else you would like to add?

KS: If you’d like to follow my Instagram, go to @flaminglipscollection

It’s being updated whenever I feel like with various Flaming Lips items I get as I move through life. I’d really like to start some kind of database so that I can organize this stuff chronologically. If you want to collaborate on that kind of a project, hit me up! It could be like a discogs but just for Lips items.

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