Flipp

Flipp emerged as the outlandish creation of schizo singer Bryan Arens and drummer Kilo Bale after the pair filmed a spontaneous clip covering The Who's perennial "My Generation," an effort that drew an outsized response by chance. Multi-instrumentalist Chia Karaoke Arens, brother to the frontman, and bassist Freaky Useless soon entered the fold, enabling the quartet to sharpen its riotous stage act that featured, among other antics, dumping Flipp cereal onto spectators and hauling random onlookers up to perform. On tax day, April 15, 1997, Flipp issued its self-titled debut and marked the occasion by playing outside the Minneapolis Post Office until police showed up; the group then slipped away and rose to prominence as Minnesota celebrities. Flipp later toured the United States with Cheap Trick, and after one concert guitarist Rick Nielsen allegedly asked Arens, "Did I get onstage with you?" Arens answered, "Yeah. We were playing 'Magical Mystery Tour' and you played 'Day Tripper.'" The band launched Teenage Rampage, a contest open to Minnesota high school groups, appeared at Woodstock 99, and performed in the exploitation eye-sore Terror Firmer. Under the guidance of Bill Aucoin, who managed Kiss and Billy Idol, Flipp released its second album, Blow It Out Your Ass, in 2000. The official Flipp website is www.flippcentral.com.