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♪ There's something Animal in me ♪
♪ What I am Looking for ♪
♪ I live behind a shadow ♪
♪ Nobody is to blame For giving up ♪
♪ Going on away ♪
♪ Letting go ♪
♪ Is this what life is all about ♪
♪ Find out What is inside ♪
♪ Underneath the skin I wear now ♪
♪ We are a denoted in space ♪
♪ I am not lonely ♪
Ana.
♪ Hey, flamingo ♪
♪ Standing in the dawn ♪
♪ Hey, flamingo ♪
♪ Standing on my lawn ♪
Yes, yes. Oh, yes.
Claude, I've been travelling searching for answers
because this bird, the flamingo,
it's been quite like a nightmare.
Do you know the story
behind the first flamingo that got produced here, then?
Well, the company was making plastic products
and they hired an artist
to develop new products for them.
He saw in the National Geographic,
a picture of the pink flamingo
and he was intrigued by it.
So he decided to draw one
and then carve one out of wood.
And do you know the name of the artist?
Yes. His name was Don Featherstone.
I'm the guy.
His name is actually molded
right on all of the plastic birds that we produce
People often asked him,
why did you make this stuff?
And he just says,
"Because it brings joy to a lot of people."
When you made that flamingo
what inspired you as an artist?
Money.
He was kind of...
different I should say.
He was very devoted to his wife.
Everywhere they went, they went together.
And dressed alike
with flamingos on their clothes.
Both wore the same...
- Same clothes. - Pattern.
Same pattern.
- Same colors. - Everyday.
Everyday.
And she makes all of the clothes.
Everything.
From swimsuits to pajamas,
to dress outfits, to play outfits.
365 days a year, you name the occasion, we're ready.
They're just two people that are different.
They love one another very, very much.
This is the product we probably sell the most of.
And it's been very, very popular.
It always seems to increase in sales.
People do love them.
The reason why? I have no idea.
Yeah. You know they have their knees, like...
They work the other side, right?
- Yes, that's right. - That's weird.
- They bend opposite of what we bend. - Yeah.
Do you have flamingos in your house?
I do not.
- Hmm
I'm here because I heard that...
in the '70s you did a prank, a huge prank.
Can you tell me something about it?
Sure! There was a student on campus
who had just been elected to lead student government.
Leon the Barbarian!
In 1979,
this student named Leon Varjian
and his colleagues
planted 1,008 flamingos on Bascom Hill.
So it was like a celebration then?
It was. They had these 1,008 flamingos planted there
to be a little bit irreverent
and humorous as a way to start the school year.
It was a way to show the administration
that the students were in charge
and that they could do things the way they wanted to.
They used, um, some funds
to construct a model of the Statue of Liberty
and put it out on the frozen Lake Mendota
- and was underwater. - Underwater, yeah.
Except for her head.
♪ Feel like I'm a shy, enormous ♪
♪ Pink flamingo man ♪
♪ Flamingo ♪
♪ Time is passing by ♪
♪ So don't leave me alone ♪
♪ One leg in the sky One stuck on the ground ♪
♪ Floating down a sea of breeze is ♪
♪ Stepping out my sound ♪
♪ Flamingo ♪
- Hi, Cindy! - Hello, Rigo.
I didn't expect it to be like so, uh...
overwhelming.
Do you have, how many items of flamingos?
I have been keeping a tally of what I have now
and it's 1,069.
And growing.
So you're the biggest collector in the world, right?
Yeah. According to Guinness, I am.
I don't remember the first flamingo,
but one of the oldest that I have
is up on the shelf up there
and it's got a coconut head body.
And it was very popular in the '60s,
as souvenirs for tourists.
So I have about 60 of those at the house.
- But I don't think enough for Guinness to...
Oh!
Flamingo time.
It moves? Wow.
Believe it or not, I have never been with a flamingo.
Like physically?
I love flamingos, but
I can't have any in my backyard.
- You know, 'cause you need... - They're wild. Yeah.
Yeah. You need a permit to raise them.
Yeah, and also they fly away, right?
Yeah, but you can, um, clip their wings.
And it doesn't hurt.
Is it legal to clip their wings?
Yeah. All the zoos do it.
You know, that have them in captivity.
- So they don't fly away. - Hmm.
- Yeah. - Yeah, that's true.
Yeah.
So are you planning to like...
Oh, and just, er, if you're wondering,
my tiara here is all real feathers.
Oh, those are amazing.
It's incredible how like,
so many people come to you and exchange this object.
It's like, for energy, in a way
and do this pilgrimage...
Why do you think that this happens?
Some of them don't have anybody to talk to.
So they start telling me things
and they say, "I don't know why I'm telling you this."
But it's because of all this in here.
The energy or whatever, pulls out of people.
But they wanna talk to me about,
you know, their spouse dying
or something that's been bad in their life.
But it's usually a death.
That has helped them
and it's like you call it a village and it is.
Yeah. This is the place where everything kind of
becomes a bit more relaxing
and a bit more Zen like you are.
Well, thank you.
Yeah. You have this...
So I'm just really peculiar that
you're really driven into this energy
and how do you describe your energy with the flamingos?
I really never thought about it.
It just comes natural
and, um, I just enjoy them so much.
So, Patricia, I've heard that you have, uh,
a major in Art History.
So, I wonder what do you think about the flamingo?
Do you think it's been like,
the influence for artists?
Well, actually I was a professor of Art History
at a university.
And would I say that the flamingo
is a great universal emblem of high art...
I would say, no.
I think it's a symbol of something much more fun.
I'm coming out of this black-wearing phase.
I was really comfortable with wearing black everyday.
And now I'm starting, as you can see,
to evolve into this colorful and...
I'm starting to be aware of the energy
and the things you can communicate with
your own wardrobe.
So life has changed, but you know what?
It's fun.
Years ago, I saw the movie Pink Flamingos.
And, um, I thought it was brave
and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
And I guess I just have that streak
of wanting to be
a little wild, over-the-top.
Yeah, that's actually like a really human thing to do also, right?
To spurt energy without no sense at all.
Just kind of like, live in the moment, right?
I couldn't agree more.
I'm starting to look forward for this moment,
the big moment, you know?
As you were saying,
it makes me a bit nervous though.
Well, you're involved in a project now.
Delving into the mysteries of the Pink Flamingo.
Probably you never thought you were going to be doing this.
So, I think the secret to life
is to adopt change
and welcome it, and go with it.
♪ Who put the smile on your face ♪
Would you say that, um,
have you made or pursued your own dreams here?
Yeah, I ended up here by accident.
I was living between the Bahamas and New York
and my flight was cancelled.
So I just took a cab.
Then I stopped off at the first hotel
and it was this very strange hotel.
Because the rooms they gave me
was dedicated to AIDS.
And on the wall over the beds,
there was a number of people that had died at that point.
And then I said,
I gotta figure out what's going on in this place.
And so, I just started walking.
I got seduced by the architecture.
It was all crumbling.
A mixture like I'd never seen before.
Sort of, like a modern Pompeii.
And I saw the potential and I saw the beauty
and never left.
These flamingos, where did you find them?
- I mean, what's the story? - This one I found in church.
- 'Cause he's the good flamingo. - Okay.
Or she, I guess.
- 'Cause she has her Bible. Which... - Bible person.
It serves as two functions.
So this one's me basically,
'cause I'm a good boy.
And here's the bad flamingo.
He is a cocaine cowboy flamingo.
He's from the '70s, Miami Vice.
You definitely need the hat and the glasses.
Oh, this is cool.
'Cause since you're gonna be converted. There you go.
Okay! Can I use this?
Ask... Ask the flamingo?
- Wow! -That's what you need to finish the outfit.
Wow! This is amazing.
Now, you're totally Miami.
This is me. This is me, man.
- They're ready for you. - Wow!
Florida's a land of dreams.
And I think that, um, it's a place where
people come to remake themselves.
People come to find themselves.
And I think there's like a kind of continental tilt
where everyone, loose marbles in their head,
kind of, rolls down here.
Other people say, it's like the penis of the country.
Everyone that's you know, caught and looking for something.
Just like, flows down. Gets ejaculated,
and we're the tip here at Miami.
You think there's a relationship
between the flamingo energy and the South Beach energy?
I think our early South Beach probably used it.
Like the Miami Vice South Beach would use it,
because that was the transition.
Certainly, Christo used the Pink Flamingo color.
He actually used the language of the Flamingo
by taking the color and wrapping the islands.
Though, in a way,
the Pink Flamingo probably made South Beach.
Via Christo.
I think kitsch makes people happy.
I think... Kitsch is a vacation.
It's a vacation in an object,
and... that's why it continues on and on and on.
Because it can change the way you feel.
A good object is better than a psychiatrist.
And a Pink Flamingo can make you smile, you know? And that's all.
That's what we live for.
I basically feel like I live in a three dimensional art work
that's constantly changing and evolving
and sort of a fantasy dream that I can manipulate.
And you would say the same in your books?
My books are certainly, um, eccentric, and my characters are totally eccentric.
So, that's what I try to do, you know, with objects, I guess.
You were always like this? Kind of like, really being comfortable in your own zone?
I'm a member of the Florida bar.
- Yeah. - That means I'm a lawyer.
- A lawyer. - So...
So, yes. I also worked at the EC in Brussels,
and I have about 100 degrees from different universities.
From Georgetown from... So, yeah...
I totally changed what I wanted to do.
Um... How do you feel being a bit like outlawed?
- Good. - Yeah?
Yeah. I don't wanna be a part of the mainstream at all.
Sometimes I feel like, in between this worlds,
I still don't create anything
but it's been a journey to kind of, like, discover things.
Just don't worry. Don't worry.
Don't let people tell you what to do.
Just do what you want to do.
You know? Find your passion.
It's just, you know, people just wanna put you in a box,
you know, just open the box and jump out.
It took me a long time to learn that. I'm only now learning it. Just don't worry.
And don't think you have to do one thing. That was my basic problem.
Everyone thinks you have to do one thing.
You could do a million things. You could do a different thing every day.
Um, I'm getting emotional here.
Wait, wait, wait. Eek!
Yeah, so I was wondering now that I'm here with all your stuff...
could you say, maybe in words what is that, that makes you happy?
Um... freedom.
Having the most interesting day I could possibly have, taking care of my parents
who are elderly.
Um... Just... just the freedom to do that.
I've got to a point in my life where I realized that
I can do what...
I want to do as opposed to what people want me to do.
What you did...
with the flamingos you kicked, I mean...
No offense, but what... what was the idea behind that?
I don't get what's the big deal.
- I mean... - They're just...
It's plastic. I just kicked plastic.
Yeah, but it was like a display of...
violence. I mean...
Now, I'm a cool guy in general, but...
I don't know. Something about the flamingo just...
like I said, it just drives me nuts, and...
I was actually... last summer... uh, in Italy,
and all of a sudden I see a bunch of...
floaties of flamingos,
and I'm like, "Well, what's going on?"
and then I actually go to Vegas and at a pool party...
bunch of flamingo floaties and everyone's wearing
flamingo shorts and flamingo shirts.
And then here in L.A.,
like people started wearing more flamingo stuff.
And then I see Justin Bieber on Instagram...
posting with flamingos. It's just, and...
It's all of a sudden like,
I don't know, It's just... It's a fad.
It's just people are trying to be cool,
and then, you know, it's all fake, and...
So maybe what you're saying is that...
you're against people expressing...
fake emotions with... through fake animal. I mean...
The reason why I started, like a Facebook page is
because there's a lot of people just like me.
They need a platform to actually express themselves...
how annoyed they are with this fucking phenomenon.
Flamingo!
Yeah...
Ah!
And that's why I actually came up with this shirt myself.
And so... you can go on my Facebook page.
If you wanna buy one, you know, 19.99.
Don't you get the vibe? The flamingo vibe? Maybe...
Who cares? I mean, you're not listening to me.
I'm telling you that people that support flamingos are fake.
So I don't care how elegant, how beautiful the animal is.
It represents people who are fake.
I just can't take it anymore, so...
♪ Hold me close And hold me fast ♪
♪ The magic spell you cast ♪
♪ This is la vie en rose ♪
How should I call you?
- Kitten... - Kitten.
- Kitten Kay Sera. - Okay.
You're The Pink Lady, right?
Yes, The Pink Lady of Hollywood.
♪ I see la vie en rose ♪
I've only worn pink since 1980.
So you've been wearing it since 1980?
Yes, exclusively. No other color.
I'm obsessed with pink.
It's my favorite color in the whole world.
And I wouldn't be caught dead in any other color.
I'll die in pink.
There's just something about pink.
It just brings joy, light, love,
and I get emotional talking about it...
because it is...
just the most beautiful color.
And it means so much to so many people.
It's passion, it's love, it's...
It's everything. It's everything.
Okay.
Um, I'm in this kind of trip following...
uh, people that have a relationship with the flamingo
- and um...
Ow!
The pink flamingo is my favorite... animal of all.
They are very glamorous and very exquisite.
- It's flam-azing.
- And their leg... - like here they are...
Their leg goes up...
and it's just like, "Hello. I'm sexy."
You know? I'm fun. I'm fabulous. I'm a flamingo.
They're fashion models of the birds.
But I am a flamingo. Hello, Flamingo!
Oh, I even have pink flamingo shoes.
- I have to show you. - Oh, yeah, please.
Yes.
Wow!
Isn't that cute?
Wow!
You like-y?
- Of all your places...
- It has an impact on me, like... - Oh, good!
Well, the color is like, just... massive.
- What do you think people...
think about you when they see you?
Hopefully they think, you know, I'm just doing my own thing
and just being myself.
But in the end, it doesn't really matter what they think.
It only matters what I think.
- Okay. - 'Cause if you worry about
what everybody else thinks, you won't do your own thing.
You know what I mean? So here's the thing.
I have a passion, and why not use it?
People are like, you know,
"Are you just doing it for the money?"
No. I'm doing it first of all, because I love it.
Second of all...
if people wanna interview me and pay me, why not?
So you're saying that
you can make a living out of doing interviews?
I'm making a living off of my brand
and my music, and my book, and my acting.
♪ P-I-N-K Queen ♪
♪ I'm the queen of pink ♪
♪ I don't give a damn What you think ♪
♪ I roll up and down The street ♪
♪ Wearing pink from my head To my feet ♪
♪ I love the way I feel ♪
♪ I don't need to Take no pill ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm gonna find Like a rose wine ♪
♪ In this big pink Life of mine ♪
♪ Living la vie en rose ♪
♪ I'm the pink lady Everybody knows ♪
♪ Sittin' up in my throne ♪
Why not? Like, if you're loving your...
and you're living your passion and your dream...
if someone wants to pay you, "Yes."
Um, I'm wondering, too. Like I met...
There's this club that's called, "I hate flamingos."
Oh, my gosh! Are they serious?
- Do they really hate 'em? - Um... Yeah.
They say that it might be a bit fake that people get happy
for some animal that they haven't even met.
That's ridiculous.
I gotta find out if there's a club like that.
That'd be terrible.
You like those?
- These are really nice. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, right?
This is really funky. I mean, like,
I would go everywhere with all of this.
- Right? - Yes.
God! I mean, of course.
That hat is like, one of my favorites.
- This is really funky. - Yeah.
Yeah... - I'm real picky about my stuff.
I'm real pinky about my stuff. I don't like people...
No, I mean, you could try it on, but I don't want anybody,
- wearing my stuff. - Okay, I know that it's...
Yeah, yeah. I know, it's my aesthetic in my brand
and people come in and they... start grabbing my stuff.
I'm like, "No, no, no. Honey, it's not for you."
Anything that I have, I used to let...
One girl borrowed one of my dresses and she stained it.
It was my favorite and I said, in my heart,
I pinky promised myself
that I would never let anybody use my stuff again.
Hm.
♪ I'm pinker than anyone ♪
♪ Queen of pink Hey! ♪
♪ Queen of pink ♪
♪ You're out of line ♪
♪ You're color blind ♪
♪ Queen of pink Hey! ♪
♪ I'm the queen of pink ♪
♪ You're out of line ♪
People that don't love pink...
I can't... Do they don't...
We don't click,
because the people that love pink understand
and the people that don't get it are not enlightened.
It's something... I don't know how to explain it, but...
it's true.
What you're wearing is
pretty much representing of who you are.
And it doesn't matter what they say about me.
It's only what I care about myself
and what I think about myself, and I think I'm fabulous.
Yeah.
But if you don't, nobody's gonna believe that you are.
- Yeah. - If you don't believe it,
who else is gonna believe it? Nobody.
'Cause you're like, "I'm nothing."
Well, guess what? Everybody else is gonna think you're nothing,
if you think you're nothing.
So you have to believe in yourself.
And I think that's the Flamingo, right there...
very comfortable,
very comfortable with themselves.
It's like... floating around.
♪ When the time comes to Document what we did here ♪
♪ The transcription won't Really be that hard ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm a woman Needing monster ♪
♪ With a suitcase full of fire And pink flamingos ♪
♪ Decorate my yard ♪
♪ And pink flamingos Decorate my yard ♪
Hey.
Good morning.
Can I help you?
Yeah, I'm hungry.
- Can I recommend you something? - Uh... Yeah, please.
Flamingo breakfast is really good.
- A what? - Flamingo Breakfast.
A flamingo breakfast.
Yes, sir.
A Flamingo Breakfast. Yeah. How much is that?
Five bucks.
Yeah, can I have one, please?
- Okay. - Thanks.
Charge me here.
Thank you.
♪ Can't believe I have to Wrap on tracks ♪
♪ So you get it ♪
♪ Wanna talk about So much stuff ♪
♪ Then you just give me hush ♪
♪ We can't sort that out For now ♪
♪ The place is packing ♪
♪ Spending cash on A new dance floor ♪
♪ And everyone's come through ♪
Your name is?
- Gus. - Gus.
Your name is?
Sarah, Sarah Bonito.
Your name is?
But you're part of Kero Kero Bonito, right?
- Yeah. - It's a band, right?
It is. Yeah.
I found out about this track of yours called Flamingo.
- Yeah. - And I was wondering,
how did you guys got inspired... to make it?
Uh... we were just asked to do a song
uh, with the theme of 'Pink'.
And Flamingo... popped into our minds.
I just kind of looked up like, "Oh, why are they pink?"
And it's just because of what they eat.
But I found out that...
zoo keepers feed flamingos... um, pink food.
Because we... like the visitors expect flamingos to be pink.
♪ Black white green or blue ♪
♪ Show off your natural hue ♪
♪ Flamingo, oh oh oh-woah ♪
♪ If you're multicolored That's cool too ♪
And did you expect...
to have, like, 30 million views and...
No, not at all.
♪ Flamingo ♪
But the question is,
how many of those plays are from flamingos?
They're trippy birds, you know.
They're quite symbolic birds.
How they look...
how they eat...
how they... love.
They look a bit alien.
They look like birds,
but then they... don't look like birds.
This. I don't know. I don't have a word.
Yeah, like a ritual, right? Like a...
Yeah, and this kind of like,
I think it's back to that kind of alien thing.
They're standing on one leg and that.
They have this flow.
Right? And that's very musical, actually.
What's happened? What's happened there?
Well, they say that birds come from reptiles, right?
Maybe they could be close to dinosaur.
Maybe they kind of...
Yeah. Diplodocus, long neck.
It's kind of the same as a flamingo.
Yeah.
I mean, if you cross an Archaeopteryx
and a Diplodocus, you get a flamingo, pretty much.
That massive pink...
It might be in, like a...
an icon of, like, the unknown or something.
He's also a bit aggressive, I would say.
- Right? - Yeah, that eye...
- Looking into you and... - Yeah.
I love to...
hang out with them...
and fly with them.
Some words, especially numbers
and days of the week have colors to me.
Um, I think it's called like syn... thesia.
Synesthesia.
Yes. When I write a song, I can kind of see the color.
There's many ways of using it, negative and positive.
It's like translates as chaotic or like...
manic but like... or some colors are like calming.
I guess I related to flamingo
with how the zookeepers are trying to keep them pink.
My mom's Japanese, my dad's English.
I grew up in like, England and Japan.
- Hm. - So for me, like...
I can relate to this flamingo story
because I'm kinda...
in between.
I always struggled with like...
"Oh...", like who I am.
Maybe they wanna fly out.
The bird is a symbol of escape, tragic escape, tragedy.
Maybe that's what a flamingo is.
Hey, you can be whatever you want.
You don't have to just be pink.
And being different is cool too.
♪ It's all lip slap ♪
♪ Get down ♪
♪ Thinking caps ♪
♪ What? ♪
♪ Just lip slap ♪
♪ Be proud ♪
♪ That is that ♪
♪ It's all lip slap ♪
I saw the movie Pink Flamingos,
and I guess I just have that streak of wanting to be
a little wild over the top,
and it amuses me.
Hi, John. - Hi.
Welcome to Baltimore.
Thank you. Thanks for having me here in your house.
- Sure. - Um...
What's on your brain?
What's on my brain every day?
I have to get up every morning
and think up fucked up things. That's my job.
The same way people go to a factory to work,
to go to a store.
That's my job, is to think up weird things.
♪ You got what I want ♪
♪ You got what I need ♪
♪ Shoot your shot ♪
♪ You know how I feel ♪
♪ Come on make it real ♪
♪ Shoot your shot ♪
When I was young, I was a puppeteer
at children's birthday parties.
And the parents stopped hiring me
because I had the puppets, I put fake blood in it and stuff
and the children would freak out.
I never really went to school. I got thrown out of every school
because they wouldn't let me be what I wanted to be.
You go to school to find out what you wanna be.
I knew what I wanted to be... the filthiest person alive.
Yes. Let's do it again. Don't look at me, though.
Ready?
All right, Good. Okay.
Okay. One shot that we can't have anybody seeing.
- All right? - Why?
Well, I don't wanna explain it to you,
but it's just, you know...
So if everybody could just walk over there
for just this one shot. Alright?
Alright.
And I was raised to have very good taste.
My parents were sticklers on that.
So that's why I started a career of bad taste
because without knowing the rules of good taste,
you can't make fun of them.
Did you ever have this dilemma, in a way?
It was always a dilemma. Are you kidding?
Growing up, everything I was interested in,
nobody else was. My parents were horrified,
the teachers were horrified,
the other students were horrified,
but I had to look and find people
that I can get along with
that might believe... That were against everything else too.
That we're trying to find Bohemia, in a way.
Yeah. - Big influence on me was drugs.
You know, I loved LSD and pot,
and so I didn't make the movies on drugs,
but I thought them up on drugs.
Fire, fire! To the ground!
Give it time. It will.
I called the film Pink Flamingos because I knew
there was so much shock value in the movie
- that I thought the title should downplay it a little. - Yeah.
I wanted to celebrate bad taste,
which my whole movie was doing at the same time.
So the pink flamingo at that time in history
purposely represented the world
that intellectuals did not wanna have.
They might feel uncomfortable with,
but if they're with me, they feel safe
and they can investigate.
And they don't have to agree with the world I like.
But at least maybe to see things in a different way,
and you only get people to change their opinions,
if you can make them laugh.
You know, Cookie, Mr. David doesn't really like you.
Oh, I don't like him much either.
I'm not preaching to 'em.
I'm just showing 'em always the other side.
And I've always been interested in behavior
that I can't understand really.
Did you ever have a moment
where you saw yourself in the mirror
and couldn't, like, recognize yourself?
When I looked in the mirror when I was young,
as how my parents wanted me to look,
I didn't like it. I didn't wanna be preppy.
I didn't wanna... They wanted me
to look like everybody else.
I thought, what's the point, you know,
I mean, the point of a style is that
you don't look like everybody else.
And then people wanna look like you.
You just have to invent for yourself
a signature look.
If you wear it with no confidence,
you look like an idiot.
But if you wear it with confidence
and everybody else hates it,
eventually, if you keep doing it,
you'll start a style.
Nobody said I was good for 10 years.
They all hated it. I got all bad reviews.
I built a career on bad reviews.
If you have to say, how can I get a movie made
or how can... It won't happen.
You just have to believe in yourself.
It's not how, it's when.
Okay, say it. Go ahead. Crouch down.
Well, what if he doesn't shit right here?
Well, where ever he does
crouch down on that side of him facing here.
- Like if he's here... - Yeah.
Okay. Go ahead, pick it up.
Oh, God. I have to get on my knee like that.
Yeah, but all the way, when he does it,
then go all the way in. All right?
As soon as he starts chewing, puts it in his mouth?
- As soon as it gets to his mouth. - All right.
Did you eat it?
Okay. Go ahead. Now do it like, up.
Remember? Like, like that?
Yeah.
I'm a sound engineer, and I normally
do this recordings in the field,
and I really love to be away from everything,
and then hear what I've recorded
and maybe, kind of, like edit it and just,
but I don't know what to do with it.
I don't know what's the purpose of it.
Take those sounds
and make something new out of it.
Get people to listen to it
in a different way than they would have
if you hadn't edited or you hadn't changed it
or made them think of it in a different way.
Put some sex in, put some violence in, that always helps.
Are you looking for a partner
that you can't get near?
Maybe that's it. Do you wanna fly away?
Flying is always sexual in every dream.
Rigo!
Well, welcome to L.A.
This is my studio.
Just a few. They're Earth, Wind and Fire.
Uh, September, Boogie Wonderland,
- Pet Shop Boys. - Yeah, of course,
Pointer Sisters.
First of all, I should say
I write both music and lyrics.
I do not know how to play.
You could say to me, "G."
Well, there's 88 keys.
It could be one of them, you know?
I don't know.
Ideally, I'm working with a collaborator
who really does know
because between their precision
and my just wanting it to feel good
somewhere in there there's gonna be an interesting mix.
It's been a journey for me to actually,
put all this sounds,
I'm trying to make a connection with it.
- Yeah. - Maybe a bit.
So you wanna hear what I'm doing?
Okay, as long as I can be very honest.
- Okay. -Find sounds that make you happy.
- A coffee cup falls...
- The helicopters are going...
I'm hearing a beat.
That's a great drum sound.
Like I've actually thrown microphones in the pool
- just to get the initial...
And to me, arranging sounds
is exactly the same
as arranging things on the table.
They're just objects in space
like September.
This is not how a normal musician thinks.
They would say she's nuts,
but, ha ha. I've sold 60 million records.
Okay, this is a Black Power
do it yourself coloring kit,
which is insane anyway, Black Power.
- However... -MARTIN LUTHER KING: I have a dream...
- It starts off as a white man.
This is what makes it kitsch,
like one more minute of thinking
they would have gone, "Let's at least make him tan."
Yeah, I know what you mean.
So love this.
Horrible looking, cheap,
Michael Jackson holding blanket
and you can push them over the balcony.
All these things I showed you,
something is so wrong.
But also the person making all these items
thought they were doing something brilliant.
And so, it's authentic.
They worked on it really hard,
and it's completely wrong.
These things make me smile.
And that's a huge element of kitsch.
Not because they made mistakes,
because they... felt it in their heart,
but they were wrong.
And so I can look at that and laugh.
But I don't think...
I'll tell you what doesn't work in kitsch
if you are purposely trying to be bad,
doesn't work.
Kitsch has to be authentic.
We do have fun here at Willis Wonderland.
It's an unbelievable party house.
People say that that the house literally smiles
like it's got this tilt up when it's filled with people,
and I get three, four hundred people back here.
This you're gonna like.
My pink flamingos. The real deal.
Concrete, concrete. No plastic, no plastic.
- Sturdy. - Really strong.
They're strong.
I love these. These are from the '30s, Miami Beach.
Real deal.
What do you think about the bird?
- I mean... - I think they're fascinating.
It's such an imaginative shape.
It symbolizes to me a kind of lifestyle,
a setting where time is lost.
When you're proud of yourself,
when you believe in yourself, it's all about expression.
For me, throwing parties are...
It's the best way that I can combine my music,
my art, my lifestyle, my friends.
Because just as you have, people arrive here
dressed for the house, so it's just swirls of,
like, colors and shapes and sounds.
♪ Ah! Whip it good ♪
People are throwing themselves into the pool naked.
- Okay. - I don't have a beat.
Go, I'm gonna do a, maybe a beat here.
Or you can do your own stuff. Okay.
It's good. It's good. It's a great start,
but I think you need to develop it more.
You have a good basis for it, but just build on top of it.
You have to just keep going.
I would like to go back to my normal life,
but I... It's just, kind of, like
I don't find myself like that anymore.
- And no... - It's not your life.
- Yeah, so... - This pursuit is your life.
And this is yours.
A certificate of authenkitschity.
It's all in the journey.
If you really knew where you were going,
the sounds that you make would probably be boring.
You wanna be the one that creates the new sound.
♪ When you think that you don't know ♪
♪ What you know when you know ♪
♪ That you really do know ♪
♪ It's a dirty ol' shame in a dirty ol' game ♪
♪ That you let your power go ♪
There always has to be some mystery.
That surprise element is what
turns you on as a person anyway.
Don't ever let fear
or how are people gonna judge me.
You gotta shut that stuff out.
♪ Give a woman what she want ♪
♪ Give a woman what she need ♪
The answer is not to say
"I'm great and I don't care what you think,"
but the answer is to say, I have a vision inside.
This feels right to me,
and here is what I do.
You want people to have an emotional response
to what you do,
especially if it involves sound,
if it involves an aesthetic.
A flamingo is an aesthetic.
No one's ever gonna get bored looking at a flamingo.
So be a flamingo.
Be a flamingo.
Kitsch is a vacation.
♪ Do you wanna fly away? ♪
♪ Flying is always sexual in every dream ♪
♪ Find sounds that make you happy ♪
♪ It's all in the journey ♪
♪ Do you wanna fly away ♪