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Monday, July 06, 2009

Dan Deacon on "Drinking Out Of Cups"

Dan Deacon sets the record straight. Stupid internet. Stupid dresses.

"the video for 'drinking out of cups' (2003 meetle mice) seems to be going viral again, this time in the comedy world. sara silverman posted it on her twitter and 'opie and anthony' discussed it on their radio show. there is an amazing amount of disinformation and completely wrong information about this piece and i just want to clear some things up.

in 2002 i recorded myself watching television with the sound off doing a character that was meant to embody long island culture (where i grew up). i was NOT on acid when i made this piece. i have NEVER DONE ACID.

while i have no problem with psychedelics and think that they are important to human culture, i do want it to be known that i was not on any psychedelics or any drugs while making this piece. it was all stream of conscience, reacting to watching the tv, changing the channels, with the sound of, talking to it as if it were a person communicating back to me.

the track was on my 2003 album meetle mice. in 2005 or 2006 liam lynch came across the track as it was getting passed around on message boards and file sharing sites. he contacted me about making a video for it and about using my song 'big big big big big' as the theme song to his podcast show. i love liams work and of course said yes. the video has grown in popularity to the point where i get fan mail from soliders in iraq, blog about my celebrity comedians and its gotten 2.8 million views on youtube.

this is all great and whatever but i want people to know this video was created without drugs or acid. i'm glad that people like the video but lets just make this perfectly clear:

1. I WAS NOT ON ACID WHILE MAKING THIS VIDEO

2. I WAS NOT LOCKED IN THE CLOSED AND BEING RECORDED

3. I RECORDED THE TRACK 100% SOBER

4. I USED THE TRACK A SCHOOL PROJECT AS A SOLO VOICE/TAPE PIECE

5. I HAVE NEVER DONE ACID, AND LIKE JEFF LEWIS, NO I DON'T WANT ANY ACID, THANK YOU

6. YES, THAT IS ME TALKING AND I WROTE THE PIECE

7. ITS A CHARACTER SATIRIZING LONG ISLAND STEREOTYPES

8. THE SONG CAME OUT IN 2003

9. THE VIDEO CAME OUT IN 2006

its really insane to me that i have been the subject of two separate viral videos that exist simultaneously inside and outside of my music career. the internet is a strange place. i don't really know how i feel about this kind of stuff. while my work is weird and some what 'experimental' its not that weird or that 'experimental' where it should cause so much confusion and bewilderment among the mainstream audiences that it comes across. but i guess thats what happens when anything is out of the immediate ordinary.

anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. please stick up for me if you see on message boards or youtube comment sections or anywhere if you see it being stated that i am on acid while making that piece. i made the piece to be funny and a piece of absurd humor. it was edited down and crafted with care. while it seems like a mindless ramble, some time and effort went into making it. if that ads or distracts from the piece so be it, it wasn't meant to be a process piece and i never thought i'd be explaining it or that it would be seen by nearly 3 million people.

i guess i should just be glad so many people enjoy it. however, to have it be stated that i was on acid time and time again takes away from any of the creative process i put into the piece. i'm not sure i'm getting my point across but i am tired of writing this and need to get back to work on whartscape. love you all.

dan deacon"

website / hisspace

Let's see: (again)


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE you Dan!
I am glad you posted this to clear things up. I have heard on numerous occasions the rumors of "drinking out of cups." I thought it was hilarious either way.
-Mia

Roberto C. Madruga said...

I agree.

Truth Be Told said...

The premise that you're intoxicated or on drugs is what makes the piece so popular.... Is this thing on?

Jer said...

Dan,
Its art man and you are an artist correct? The great thing about art is that each individuals take on it is solely based on their experience with that art.
Either way its funny. You should never explain your art by the way. It takes away from it. You remove the "Personal Experience".
Peace

Derek said...

Thanks for clearing it up. I figured the "closet on acid" story was bullshit (BULL-SHIT ;>) when I sent it out and said as much to friends, but could not find anything to confirm/deny. I will be sure to let people know. As I said at the time, it is hysterical either way.

Anonymous said...

Are you High now? Or was it just when you made the recording?

Anonymous said...

You totally ruined the video for me now. Thanks bitch.

Anonymous said...

LSD FOREVER

Jill said...

No way, no way

Anonymous said...

The thing that i dont understand...when i saw the video when a friend of mine at Bard College in upstate new york showed me this video she told me that its a recording of " a guy in a closet on acid" and i was really high at the time and believed it and found it HILARIOUS. because it is HILARIOUS. When i went to look at it again by myself i started to think. "It is nothing like this when youre on acid" People spread around this idea of what "tripping" is. its not seeing crazy shit like mr balloon hands or sea horse sea hell its more of the vibe with some crazy visuals that come with it. yoU ONLY SEe crazy shit like that if youre tripping really hard and delve deep enough into your mind to actually see crazy shit...you see what you truly believe and acid helps with that. I wish tripping was as hilariously crazy as this video hahahaha.

d_Verge said...

Yeah right!

Eric said...

I heard it for the first time in Jan of 2010. I think it is Genius! I believe the simple fact that so many people believe you have to be intoxicated in some way shows the worlds lack of creativity and you simple genius

Cheers Brother!
Your New fan!

:) said...

it is funnier believing that you were on drugs...im the kind of person that has the imagination to visualize:
some guy,
locked in a closet,
standing there talking to himself...

the chair is my favorite part...it comes in so randomly...

and if you weren't on SOMETHING...what made you think to talk about seahorses?! lol

anyway...thank you for the entertaining video, even though i know the truth behind it, i will ALWAYS picture it as some guy, trippin out

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. I had to know the truth haha because I know gossip can get out of hand and people were having too much fun with the LSD rumor, but it just didn't exactly make sense

Anonymous said...

your denial of ever doing acid just ruined this video for me, dan deacon. this is almost as lame as michael phelps apologizing for ripping a bong.

Randy said...

Dan, you should just let it go. Let people wonder because it's funny that way. Did Roger Waters clear up the mystery behind Dark Side of the Rainbow? This stuff is fun for people. You made something that makes people laugh till their faces hurt. You should be proud of that. Part of why it was funny was the mystery of it.

By the way, I also saw an interview of you attributing this to a strong dose of Nyquil. Maybe you regret that now because you sound like this is actually starting to bug you. I'd say, let it go, let people wonder. And thank you for the laughs. Peace.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't tell people that, and I think you're a faggot indian if you made the video sober. If you put in the video discription that the recordings from a sober loser watching tv nobody would watch it.

derek_ said...

I nominate Anonymous for best blog comment of 2010. I know it's early but it's already showing to be a classic.

Anonymous said...

So how many times had you tried acid before you decided to record yourself?

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