My name is Dean Estes I met Snakefinger Mr Lithman in 1981 when he and his band played on the front lawn of our high school One of his band members a former Dead Kennedy had attended the school and made this cool event possible I don t know why Steve Crabtree claims that Lithman was American and was not of European descent Technically it may be true that the UK is not part of Europe despite being a charter member of the EU but Mr Crabtree s claims risk giving an false impression Phil Snakefinger Lithman was English as is easily verified and as was clearly obvious when the man spoke Perhaps Steve meant that Snakefinger was living in America Specifically San Francisco Two years later I was fortunate enough to befriend one of The Residents While I was savvy enough not to ask certain questions until enough trust had been earned I do recall during a discussion of the The Residents remarkably unique sense of harmonization asking if N Senada had actually existed My Resident acquaintance simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders which I knew was a nice way of saying we aren t going there so I didn t pursue it I believe it s pretty obvious that the mysterious N Senada never actually existed when you review the various things that have been said about him Isn t the amusing play on the name of the Baja Mexican town Ensenada clue enough However this is another case where the question of whether or not such aspects of the Residents mythos matter is perfectly valid Of course it doesn t really matter As one of the people who actually does know the answers to some of the speculation here it s so strange seeing how some people post misinformation with conviction intentionally while others deny facts For the most part to quote an old Eno lyric those who know they don t let it show Mystery and myth are more fun and I think it s safe to say that s part of the point of the Residents myriad mysteries Nevertheless while Snakefinger protected The Residents secrets he wasn t secretive about his own real identity or history at all My apologies to Steve if I ve misunderstood him