Artifice Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Stereogum via Pitchfork I'm a fan of them on one level' date=' but on another level I get really tired of their pompousness. We've played some shows with them and they really treat people like shit. Whenever I've been around them, I've found that they not only treated their crew like shit, they treated the audience like shit. They treated everybody in their vicinity like shit. I thought, "Who do they think they are?" I don't know why people put up with it. I wouldn't put up with it. I don't care if it's Arcade Fire or Brian Eno. If either of them walked into a room and treated people like shit I'd be like, "Fuck you, get outta here." People treat Arcade Fire like they're the greatest thing ever and they get away with it. Those sort of opinions change my view of their music. They have good tunes, but they're pricks, so fuck 'em. Who does Arcade Fire think they are? I've been around groups. I've been around the Edge from U2 and he's the fucking sweetest guy ever. I was around Justin Timberlake when he was young and he was just a normal, nice, kind person. Anyone can be polite and kind and people who have the privilege and money and attention should understand that. If they don't, then fuck 'em.[/quote'] UPDATE: Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett has entered the fray! He Tweeted (is that a word?): "Win might not be all hugs and rainbows and kittens, but neither is he drug culture, confetti, pot paraphernalia and bullshit." Ooohhhh! (...Aaand now he's removed that Tweet.) So, are all these bands really pricks or does Wayne just need to chill? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mystik Spiral Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 ^^probably a little bit of both... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 my reply: http://stereogum.com/archives/wheres-the-b...comment-3035571 WTF Wayne? i'm sorry... but i've had the great pleasure of meeting and hanging out with the members of Arcade Fire on various occasions over the last 5 years, and I will tell you straight up they are some of the nicest people i've ever met, "famous musicians" or not, they are just truly good people, every single one of them. I won't name names, but some of the members have reached out to me way more than I would have ever expected given my position, and for that, despite that I love their music, will always mean a lot to me. Win might just be fairly misunderstood and people maybe don't get his dry sarcastic sense of humor, but that doesn't mean he's an asshole (takes one to know one anyway) either. maybe i'm oversharing, but I've witnessed first hand how well they treat their crew at an end of tour celebration in Berkeley in '07. I can't say that i've experienced anything else like that with other bands in the past (gifts, accolades, huge cheers, great speeches about how much they truly mean to the band, etc.) Now i've also had the pleasure of meeting Wayne on two different occasions, and yes he was SUPER super nice... but to the point that it almost seemed like a put on too. Just ask Beck about Wayne, you might get a different perspective than he puts forth to his fans publicly... Posted by: solace at 03/04/09 2:57 PM Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 From reading DeRogatis bio on the Flaming Lips, I picked up the sense that Wayne has a very specific vision for what he expects out of people and when he doesn't get that he's not always the easiest guy to really get along with. I wouldn't be too worried if I was the Arcade Fire, they're in pretty good company: Brian Wilson, Robyn Hitchcock, Ronald Jones, Beck, etc, amongst people Wayne Coyne has bitched about. --Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Huh. That makes me wonder what Wayne Coyne expects out of me. If it's buying his records, so far he's SOL. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 He had me until Justin Timberlake. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I've never seen the Arcade Fire live, so cannot speak to them. But I've seen the Lips live, and have read many interviews and heard interviews with Wayne. I don't doubt at all that what Wayne said about Arcade Fire is based on what he saw or encountered or how he was recieved by them. I can't imagine that Wayne is WAY off base. I find Wayne very refreshing and true and real. So I'm not bothered by what he said. If Win has a problem with it, I'm sure Wayne or the media will hear about it. I'm more offended by Owen Pallet's (who is he?) response? "drug culture, confetti, pot paraphernalia and bullshit." ? The Lips' act is fun, uplifiting, loving, and just really inspiring. That seems to be Wayne's view of the world. The Arcade Fire seem more serious and worldy in their songs and views. Maybe Wayne's calling their bluff. Maybe they're really not like that. It's all silly. But damned entertaining. Go Wayne Go. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I'm more offended by Owen Pallet's (who is he?) response? "drug culture, confetti, pot paraphernalia and bullshit." ? As it noted, he's primarily responsible for the act of Final Fantasy, but he has also done strings for Arcade Fire records. Wayne is the man. I have never been able to get into Arcade Fire, but regardless of whether or not what Wayne is speaking is really true, at least he has the balls to do so. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 like i said, i don't care if you hate Arcade Fire's music big time, i can just assure you they are all VERY nice and insanely humble folks. maybe Wayne had a bad experience, but in the nearly dozen or so times i've met/talked with them, they've always been very welcoming and made me feel at ease. edit: Win responds with class: www.arcadefire.com they've only met once before, so Wayne was exaggerating right out of the gate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wayne's gone off about quite a few people, maybe he's just not the fairest judge of character. Maybe he is, but let's face it, anyone can be caught in a bad moment and look like a jerk, or be misinterpreted that way. You really have to spend some time with a person and get to know them before you start making character assassinations. Anyhow, both bands have put out some really great music. End of story as far as I'm concerned. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nettles Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wayne coyne would def. Hate me after my post on the graham nash thread Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Smokestack Joe Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 whenever i think of Wayne Coyne i see bright loud pink colors in my head. must be the Yoshimi cover and psyhodelia music of his. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Wayne Coyne's quote about Beck putting his pants on is still probably my favorite rock-guy interview quote ever. Dude cracks me up. I don't even care that the Lips themselves haven't really interested me since the mid-90s, as long as that dude keeps spitting out quality soundbites, I'm down with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mastershake Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 wayne's just a little crazy, that's all Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jakobnicholas Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I think this could all be nicely resolved if Wayne gave Win his fiber-optic Jesus that Jack White gave him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I think this could all be nicely resolved if Wayne gave Win his fiber-optic Jesus that Jack White gave him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Battle of the gimmicky bands. Is Wayne still running around in a ball while santas and aliens dance on stage? Is the Arcade Fire guy still playinng drums on the other guy's helmeted head? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Battle of the gimmicky bands. Is Wayne still running around in a ball while santas and aliens dance on stage? Is the Arcade Fire guy still playinng drums on the other guy's helmeted head?re: Wayne, yes, he still is as of last summer re: Arcade Fire, no actually! they only did that on the Funeral tour Quote Link to post Share on other sites
embiggen Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I like both bands, but I've never seen Arcade Fire live. I'm sure they're a fine bunch of folks. Wayne Coyne could be batshit crazy but I'll always love him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OOO Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Hmm... I've seen the Arcade Fire a few times and I can't really say I thought they were being pretentious or anything. They were super, super, energetic and got all the fans into it. Actually, one of the only bands I think I've seen that puts more energy into their show than Arcade Fire is...The Flaming Lips. Of all the rock personalities out there, I think Wayne Coyne is my second favorite (beaten out only by David Byrne). Every interview/documentary/show I've been to just confirm how cool he is, while being pretty down to earth. So if he says some pretentiousness stuff went on, I believe him. That being said, based on my own empirical evidence and solace's good word, I assume Wayne is exaggerating a bit. These are two cool bands that don't need to be feuding. But if we're taking sides, let it be known that... I stood up and I said "yeah!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
solace Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 i guess i'd just really be curious how accurate the quotes from the Rolling Stone writer's blog are... not saying he didn't maybe talk shit, but what was the overall context is what i'd be curious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scribex6 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I love both bands but Wayne Coyne strikes me as the kind of guy who likes to stir up shit for its own sake. He admitted in interviews that he made the comments about Beck so he could create a mock feud in the press. There seems to be a little bit of ego from him too, trying to prove how he's some kind of "man of the people." If anything, it's not a very classy thing to make generalizations about somebody based on one brief meeting and then talk shit about them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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