Professional musicians face a conflict between being completely reliant on their brain for success, and at the same time living a lifestyle that’s dedicated to abusing those brains as much as possible. What better way to get a glimpse of how all that touring, partying, and pressure really affects their psyche, than to administer a good old-fashioned ink blot Rorschach test?

Fallopian tubes, Alaskan pride, and a well-dressed turkey – these are just some of the things that members of festival mainstays Portugal, The Man, indie-supergroup The Divine Fits, and rising Canadian-punks White Lung saw when I tested them at the Bonnaroo music festival. Do you see what they see? *

*For best results, turn heat to 90 degrees and imbibe a liberal amount of bloody marys.

Portugal. The Man
Kyle O’Quin (Keyboards, Synth): Panda Bear.
Kane Ritchotte (Drums, percussion): No it’s like a Coolio hairdo and a beard.
Kyle: It looks like a Chihuahua from the top point of view… there’s it’s eyes, it’s ears…
Kane: He does a lot of drugs.

Divine Fits
Dan Boeckner (Guitar, Vocals, Formerly of Wolf Parade): Fallopian Tubes.
Sam Brown (Drums): Crab.
Alex Fischel (Keyboards): Bikini.
 
White Lung
Mish Way (Vocals): I see a dream catcher.
Grady Mackintosh (Bass): I see a lion.
Kenny William (Guitar): A clown face?
Anne-Marie Vassiliou (Drums): Diapers.

Portugal. The Man
Kyle: That looks like two Y’s crossed, makes me wonder why.
Kane: Those are clearly two X’s
Kyle: like a backwards one
Kane: No no no, you’re all wrong about that.

Divine Fits
Dan: Demon Bat.
Alex: Communism.
Sam: Um… Pearl Bat.

White Lung
Mish: A Stonehenge man.
Grady: Alien.
Kenny: A spider with all its legs pulled off.
Anne-Marie: A crab.

Portugal. The Man
Kyle: Ooh, I like these.
Kane: That looks like a little Eskimo, represent Alaska. Represent Alaska!
Kyle: Yeah.

Divine Fits
Dan: Low self-esteem… wait Bjork! Can I Change to Bjork?
Alex: Spaceship.
Sam: That’s an angel with its head there and arms over its head.

White Lung
Mish: Butterfly.
Grady: Morphine.
Kenny: The Mothman Prophecies.
Anne-Marie: A butterfly and two rabbits.

Portugal. The Man
Kane: That’s a turkey in a tuxedo.
Kyle: That is a turkey in a tuxedo! That’s all I’m gonna be able to see now.

Divine Fits
Dan: Butterfly.
Alex: Two platypuses fighting over a butterfly that fell in the water.
Sam: That looks like a sick coyote.

Portugal. The Man
Kyle: That looks like a bear, and like a unicorn?

Divine Fits
Dan: Is that something Ed Droste drew?
Alex: That just looks like a bear shooting rainbows out of its hands
Sam: That is what it is.

White Lung
Mish: A horse with rainbows coming out of its hands
Grady: Uh, It’s a bear.
Kenny: A bear?  Yeah.