David Liebe Hart Talks Muppets, Aliens & Ghostly Frogs

Raised in the Christian Science church, David Liebe Hart's Sunday School lessons were led by none other than Jim Henson, legendary creator of The Muppet Show. "He'd teach us about the bible stories and how to love our neighbour with the help of Kermit the Frog," Hart reveals. "He had all these incredible puppets and he was a great, kind man."

Other mentors on the Christian Science circuit included Burr Tillstrom, the brains behind 1940s American TV puppet show Kukla, Fran And Ollie and Howdy Doody Time's Buffalo Bob. The church also put him in the same orbit as musical queen Ginger Rogers, but Hart insists his first dalliance with the stars was when aliens abducted him as a young boy. They were called the Korendians, as detailed in his song Salame from Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.

"The Korendians are my favourite alien race and they use the word Salame to mean both hello and goodbye, and also to offer protection to each other as they travel in space."

"The Korendians are my favourite alien race and they use the word Salame to mean both hello and goodbye, and also to offer protection to each other as they travel in space," Hart translates. "They're into meditation and they're also vegan."

Hart's new music has taken a turn for electro, in collaboration with keyboard whizz kid Th' Mole, aka Jonah Mociun. Having touched down in Australia this week they'll be touring the country and neighbouring New Zealand showcasing tracks from their new album Astronaut. In keeping with Hart's passions, their surreal flights of musical fancy will be accompanied by a bevy of handmade puppets as well as eye-opening video projections and the off-kilter comedy Adult Swim fans have come to expect.

It wasn't just extra-terrestrials who showed an early interest in Hart. Apparently supernatural forces have also visited him, including one very pissed off frog. "I went to summer camp one year and told my sister to feed my tadpoles," he says. "My dad and I had a 30-gallon tank and we kept them and fish, but she didn't look after them and they all died. For about six years afterwards a frog kept appearing at the end of my bed and haunted the hell out of me."

His love of music was sparked at church, though Hart has never been one to stick to tradition. "They were boring, bland, classical hymns and I brought them alive by adding gospel music, rock and roll, and folk, but unfortunately the Christian Science Publishing Society has refused all my new arrangements," Hart says.

He's also faced racism from other church members over the years, Hart claims. "Boy did I face persecution from the Republican, conservative people in the church. They didn't want a black man representing them."

A hard grafter, Hart often busked at La Brea Tar Pits where he would also sell his vibrant artworks. It was during this time that he says the Korendians got back in touch via a beautiful woman who looked like Betty Page. "She predicted back in 1983 that there was going to be a black president who was going to be very liberal, a Democrat, and that he would have two terms and would do a lot to help people out."

She also revealed that his successor would be a white Republican who would undo much of that good work. Whatever the nature of these otherworldly influences Hart claims to be informed by, one very earthly obsession of his is his love of trains. "It would mean so much to me if I could meet a lovely Australian girl while on tour and we could drive out to a hobby shop together," he says. "I need a kind young lady in my life that's a musician and artist like I am."