Wayne Coyne and Philip Glass join forces for Tibet

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/26/wayne-coyne-philip-glass-tibet-new-york

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Twenty-eight years ago, the Dalai Lama asked composer Philip Glass to inaugurate a cultural centre in New York. The result was the Tibet House, dedicated to preserving the country’s unique culture. It also subsequently kicked off a series of annual benefit concerts; the latest, the 25th, takes place on 5 March at Carnegie Hall.

“Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson are there, and the house band is Patti Smith’s backing band. That’s pretty overwhelming and pretty exciting,” said Wayne Coyne, whose band the Flaming Lips will be playing. “Just those three elements alone were enough for us to get excited.”

Glass has curated the show from its inaugural night in 1980: “We began very simply with Spalding Gray, Laurie Anderson, Allen Ginsberg and myself.” Since then, it has evolved into a must-see event with artists of all stripes teaming up. Last year’s show brought together Iggy Pop and New Order to perform Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart.

This year’s line-up promises equally jaw-dropping moments with the Flaming Lips on a roster that includes New York legends Debbie Harry, Patti Smith and Anderson. Also on the roster are celebrated Tibetan musician Tenzin Choegyal, country hotshot Sturgill Simpson, and Canadian roots musician Ashley MacIsaac. “Of course, I’ll be there playing, too,” said Glass.

Chuck Close, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman and Arden Wohl are the evening’s honorary chairs, tasked with bringing in talent and money. “It’s an impressive list,” notes Glass. “This is a benefit concert, so no one gets paid, not even the organisers. But we have a great list of alumni and a lot of them want to come back.”

“We did it in 2011,” said Coyne, “and once we did we sort of fell in love with Philip Glass and his charming, loving way. We loved being in the presence of the sort of family of people that do those events.” So when Glass called about this year’s concert, the Flaming Lips were in. Coyne is putting out feelers to artists like Phantogram’s Juliana Barwick to perform with them. “We might want to do She’s Leaving Home, a song by the Beatles that came out on this Sgt. Pepper’s remix last year.” Coyne might even see if his occasional collaborator Miley Cyrus is around. “She might come. I wouldn’t want to say yes or no,” said Coyne. “She has three or four charities that she’s the head of and she has events she has to do for them. She’s already recording music and doing a thousand things, but if she’s in New York, yeah, maybe.”

If Cyrus does make an appearance, she will join alumni including Lou Reed, Michael Stipe, the National, Vampire Weekend and many more artists who have played the concert to help raise awareness for the plight of Tibetans whose culture has been at risk of extinction. “When I was in India in 1966, there were 200,000 Tibetans living in tents, scattered around,” said Glass. “That was the beginning. Those of us who knew about it took up the cause. Frankly a lot of people didn’t know what Tibet was. No one knew there was a military invasion. Tibet House was one of the ways that we could raise awareness of the independent Tibetan people and culture. Now, it serves as a cultural base for Tibetans living abroad.”

As the Tibetan community in the United States, and around the world, has become more established, the concert has evolved. “We’ve done so many concerts, that it’s become a kind of annual event for people to get together and make music. It’s become part of the annual events that make up New York,” said Glass.

“Part of what’s fun and appealing about it – and also stressful – is that it’s a performance and you get nervous when you get around these big artists,” said Coyne. “Laurie Anderson is someone you’ve known about your whole life and I’ve never been in the room the same time she’s been in the room. Playing with Philip last time, well, he’s just a unique musician. You’ve only practised a few times together, so it’s nerve-racking! As a musician, you want it to be good, but you never know until you’re in it.”