Flipp is the bizarre brainchild borne of schizo singer Bryan Arens and drummer
Kilo Bale when the pair made an impromptu video of
the Who's perennial "My Generation" that accidentally received a huge reaction. Brother and multi-instrumentalist Chia Karaoke Arens and bassist Freaky Useless joined the resulting ride, and the quartet honed their riotous stage act which consisted of (but not limited to) dumping
Flipp cereal on the audience and pulling unsuspecting onlookers onstage to perform. In 1997,
Flipp released their eponymous debut on tax day, April 15, and celebrated by performing in front of the Minneapolis Post Office until the police arrived. The quartet escaped and went on to become Minnesota celebrities. Then
Flipp crossed America with
Cheap Trick: allegedly, after one show,
Trick guitarist
Rick Nielsen asked Arens, "Did I get onstage with you?" Arens replied, "Yeah. We were playing 'Magical Mystery Tour' and you played 'Day Tripper.'"
Flipp began Teenage Rampage, a contest for Minnesota high school bands. They played Woodstock 99 and performed in the exploitation eye-sore Terror Firmer. Now under the auspices of Bill Aucoin, who managed
Kiss and
Billy Idol,
Flipp dropped their second recording,
Blow It Out Your Ass, in 2000. The official
Flipp website is www.flippcentral.com.
–
Doug Stone, Rovi