''Fearless Freaks'' is a 2005 documentary directed by

Bradley Beesley Bradley Beesley is an American Independent film and Music video, video film director, director, Film producer, producer and cinematographer. Born in Oklahoma and based in Austin, Texas, he "has made a cinematic career documenting oddball Americana ...

and edited by JoLynn Garnes, chronicling the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (k ...

. While the film features

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

s by such actors as

Adam Goldberg Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', '' Saving ...

and Christina Ricci, most of the screen time is taken up by interviews with the band members and their families interspersed with clips of the band's recording sessions and live performances.

Wayne Coyne Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the lead singer, guitarist, keyboardist, theremin player and songwriter for the band the Flaming Lips. Early life Coyne was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United Stat ...

's mother and several of his brothers are prominently featured, as are members of

Steven Drozd Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969) is an American musician and actor. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Flaming Lips, Electric Würms, and other projects. Early life Drozd was born in Houston, Texas, and gre ...

's family, while

Michael Ivins Michael Lee Ivins (born March 17, 1963, in Omaha, Nebraska) is the former bassist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and founding member of The Flaming Lips. Along with Mark Coyne and Wayne Coyne, he formed The Flaming Lips in 1983 in Oklahoma Ci ...

' family receives comparatively little screen time. The film traces the band from their roots as a local psychedelic

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band to an internationally renowned band that draws celebrities to its performances. Many of the interviews were filmed in the band's hometown of

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

, although Wayne Coyne is the only band member still living there. In addition to the development of the Lips' music and performance, another theme running through the movie is the effect that drugs have had on the band and their families. A notable scene in the film depicts Steven Drozd preparing to inject himself with heroin, and it is stated that paranoia over Drozd's addiction caused guitarist Ronald Jones to leave the band. Drugs have also affected the lives of members of both Drozd's and Coyne's families.

Cast

– Himself *

– Narrator * Beck – Himself *Niels Rasmussen – Poul Power *

Steve Burns ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

– Himself *

Jonathan Donahue Jonathan Daniel Donahue (born May 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the frontman and a founding member of Mercury Rev, with whom he has released nine studio albums since 1991. He is also a former member of The Flaming Lips ...

– Himself *

Gibby Haynes Gibson Jerome Haynes (born September 30, 1957) is an American musician, radio personality, painter, author and the lead singer of the band Butthole Surfers. Early life and career Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Gibby Haynes is the son of actor ...

of the Butthole Surfers – Himself * Juliette Lewis – Herself * Tyson Meade & Trent Bell of The Chainsaw Kittens * Kelly Peterson – Fan with camera at Coachella *

Liz Phair Elizabeth Clark Phair (born April 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Phair was raised primarily in the Chicago area. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1990, she attempted to start a musical career ...

– Herself *"Chan" Marshall ( Cat Power) – Herself * Christina Ricci – Herself *

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

– Himself *

Meg White Megan Martha White (born December 10, 1974) is an American former musician and singer who was the drummer of Detroit rock duo The White Stripes. Her music career began when, on a whim, she played on her future White Stripes bandmate Jack White' ...

– Herself

External links

Official movie website
* 2005 television films 2005 films American documentary films 2005 documentary films Rockumentaries The Flaming Lips video albums 2005 video albums 2000s American films {{music-documentary-stub