Interview by Paul Salfen
Hailing from Oklahoma City’s vibrant music scene, Brainwasher—the brainchild of Matthew Duckworth Kirksey (vocals, drums, keyboards, sampler) and Tommy McKenzie (guitar, bass, keyboards, sampler)—is set to release their debut album, 39 Lightyears from Heaven, on October 24, 2025, via Mothland. Known for their work with The Flaming Lips, Miley Cyrus, Brothers Griiin, Beachy Head, and Net, the duo has spent the better part of 15 years touring the world with acts like Tame Impala, Devo, Dinosaur Jr., Modest Mouse, and Echo & the Bunnymen, performing at prestigious festivals such as Glastonbury, Osheaga, and Bonnaroo. They’ve also contributed to records like Miley Cyrus’ Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, The Flaming Lips’ American Head, Oczy Mlody, and Live At Red Rocks, as well as Stardeath and White Dwarfs’ Wastoid and The Birth. Yet, Brainwasher has been the project they kept returning to, with songs from their forthcoming album bubbling up through the cracks of their psyche. Currently two-thirds through a co-headlining tour with Modest Mouse, Kirksey and McKenzie sat down with AMFM Magazine in Madison, Wisconsin, to share the story behind their long-awaited debut.
“We’ve known each other, played with each other for 14 years,” Kirksey explains, reflecting on their roots in Oklahoma’s tight-knit music community. “Everybody kind of knows everybody. We were both just playing with every band we could, trying to find something that would work.” What began as a side project over a decade ago, recorded sporadically between other gigs, found its stride during the pandemic. “Covid in a way helped us a lot to get a lot of work done,” Kirksey says. “All of a sudden we were home for a long time, and we finally got our shit together and got it done.”
39 Lightyears from Heaven is a sprawling 10-piece sonic essay where offbeat rock meets distorted electronica, drawing inspiration from David Lynch’s surreal universe, Nick Cave’s elegant punk moxie, and Portishead’s balance of sonic experimentation and heartfelt songwriting. It’s an ode to the unique art of Portishead and The Bad Seeds, with a nod to songwriters like Willie Nelson and Neil Young, rooted deeply in the duo’s red dirt Oklahoma home. “It’s funny,” McKenzie notes. “A lot of these things were written so distant from one another… you’re like, is this cohesive? And then you’re able to have enough time apart from it and like, it really is.” The album feels immediate and contemporary, blending genres with intuitive songwriting that tackles thorny themes with heart-wrenching sincerity, offering their purest interpretation of a life in music.
The lead single, “At Least It Beats an Actor,” released July 18, 2025, via Mothland, introduces Brainwasher’s modern take on trip-hop with a neo-noir pop twist. Anchored by a driving bassline, hi-hat-heavy drum machines, revving synths, and an Ennio Morricone-inspired guitar melody, the track probes the nature of art, the artist, and the tensions of collaboration. Sonically, it’s edgy, psychedelic, and dangerous—think MGMT meets Sonic Youth meets Massive Attack. The accompanying video, directed by Flaming Lips collaborators Wayne Coyne and Blake Studdard, amplifies the chaos. The duo describes it vividly: “It’s freakier than a Diddy party, louder and wetter than a thunderstorm, more suspenseful than the Golden Gate Bridge, scarier than an El Salvadorian prison, more influential than religion.”
For Kirksey, the album’s standout is “Home,” recorded in Savannah, Georgia. “It just tells a couple of stories in the lyrics that I feel connected to,” he shares. “I just like the vibe of the song.” Their journey to this point has been marked by serendipity and hustle, like Kirksey’s “Hail Mary” moment when Coyne texted him on a Wednesday night to play drums for The Flaming Lips in New Orleans by Friday. “We got together Thursday, figured out the setlist, flew to New Orleans on Friday, and did a show that night,” he recalls. McKenzie had a similar leap: “I was going to go back to college full-time… then Wayne contacted me right before we were going to Savannah to finish our record. It was just like, ‘Okay, this is happening right now. Let’s do it.’”
Despite 35 years of combined touring experience, Brainwasher has yet to unveil their project live, but Kirksey and McKenzie promise a captivating show featuring bleak hypnotic soundscapes, ethereal vocals, and driving percussion, designed to both disorient and entertain audiences. They’ll be joined by artist Zac Cox, who will provide live visuals to further stimulate the listener’s reptilian grey matter. Tour dates are expected to be announced alongside the release of “At Least It Beats an Actor,” with exclusive early LPs available this summer on The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse’s The Good Times Are Killing Me tour.
Their advice to aspiring musicians is clear and grounded. “There’s no rules necessarily,” McKenzie says. “Just start doing something at all, kind of follow your own taste. Don’t worry about perfection.” Kirksey adds, “Drop the ego and say yes to everything… play in every band you can, be as busy as you can.” This ethos has carried them from playing on the patio of a Mexican restaurant to co-headlining with Modest Mouse.
Looking ahead, Brainwasher is planning a warehouse show with custom lights crafted by Coyne, a Montreal gig in October or November, and a potential tour with labelmates Space Face. “As a two-piece, it really works,” Kirksey says. “There’s just a lot of potential and ways to present it—as an art house thing with this crazy installation, or just dirt in and out.” With 39 Lightyears from Heaven, Brainwasher delivers a bold, genre-bending debut that’s as intoxicating as it is innovative, ready to pull listeners into its surreal, sonic orbit. Follow Brainwasher on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram for updates.
