Devo

ROCK AND ROLL #DEVOTE

It’s a Beautiful World as Akron joins together to Elect Devo into the Hall of Fame

BY LEE VALENTINE SMITH

my test. And it turned out that I had it. But I never went into LAST MONTH - ON APRIL 1 OF ALL DAYS - THE Mayor of Akron, Ohio issued an official proclamation in honor of Devo. While music fans wondered if it might be some sort of April Fool’s Day joke, Devo Day really did respiratory, you know, ventilator time. All I had was the total loss of smell and taste and fatigue and just a general kind of creepy feeling that was undefined. Then it went away. That was it and I was back. christen an entire month of homegrown promotions. The civic-minded goal was to encourage an increase of Fan Votes for the group’s potential Rock & Roll Hall of Fam induction. The groundbreaking and influential band, best-known for their ‘80s hits “Whip It” and “Freedom Of Choice,” Congrats on making it through. How’s Mark now? Well, he’s fine now, it just took him a long time to recover from having to go into the hospital and on a ventilator. That’s some serious business. was formed in Ohio in 1973 with a fluctuating line-up of like-minded art visionaries, eventually settling on two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with drummer Alan Myers. The month-long promotion included the installation of fifty Energy Dome sculptures, constructed from recycled Goodyear tires, stacked into the shape of the band’s iconic red hats. The monuments featured special QR codes to link to the Hall’s website, so fans could easily vote for their I keep thinking things are becoming crazier and crazier and the world never lets me down. And every time, I think about your project: ‘Maybe Devo covered this thirty or forty years ago.’ But there’s always fodder for new material and concepts, right? You got that right. I mean, ‘cause it’s real, right? It’s everything we talked about - but somehow it’s surpassed us. De-evolution got even uglier than even we thought it would. favorite spud rockers. Downtown Akron bristled with life-size cutouts of the band as well as an interactive experience housed in a storefront window. WE’D HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY Unfortunately, we’re not done yet. No, no. There is no end, my friend. Except ‘the end.’ Mayor Dan Horrigan was also included in a “DEVOtional” video with devoted testimonies from fans including Jack Black, Fred Armisen and Tony Hawk. Even the iconic Goodyear Blimp was along for the ride, flashing support for the revolutionary group. Likewise, fans around the world were using the hashtag #DEVOTE on their favorite social media platforms to drum up interest. Back in the running after an unsuccessful bid last year, Devo is one of 16 nominees on the official HOF ballot. The winners will be announced this month. Will Devo Whip It out this time? Stay tuned! In anticipation, INsite spoke with band co-founder, singer-songwriter-filmmaker Gerald Casale from his studio in California. Well, hopefully we’re a few years away from the series finale. But for you, as a filmmaker and musician, is it easier or harder for you to make a music video for someone besides your own projects? Obviously you’re shot many Devo films, but when an act like Foo Fighters, for example, enlists your services - is that more of a challenge for you at this point? Well, it’s a much bigger challenge because I mean, Devo had this situation where we had a production deal with the record company. We had creative control of the use of our funds and what we were doing. Since they didn’t even understand what we were doing, they didn’t come around and put, you know, their foot on it like a big dog in the park. We had the freedom to do what we wanted. So if we had an idea it wasn’t like we had TO USE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A PRETTY DEFINITIVE STATEMENT. I THINK THAT’S EXPECTED OF US AND WE’LL HAVE TO LIVE UP TO IT. How is Devo handling the pandemic? I heard Mark had a rough time with Covid-19. Well, he went almost all the way; he was on a ventilator. a manager saying one thing and a publicist saying another thing or the lead singer’s girlfriend saying a third thing. There were no politics. I got it before anybody. I got it before they even knew what it was. My wife got it and then I got it a week later. That was over a year ago, in the beginning of March. And then when we already had it, they started publishing these symptoms and we’re going, ‘Well, wait a minute, we have those symptoms.’ She found me a place to go get tested when there were only two places in all of L.A County to get tested back then. I drove down to some kind of gospel church for It was an art project. Exactly. We were an art collective. There was the idea we wanted to run with and nobody was there to stop us. The only limitation was the budget. We knew what we wanted to do and how to do it, so that was actually easy. But when you get into being the director for other bands - well, the first thing you do is write a concept. You’re in a competition with at least six other directors. Then they pick you and you go, ‘They like your idea, Gerry.’ Now you think you’re going to get to do your idea. But that isn’t what usually happens. Then the other cooks step into the kitchen. Unfortunately, yes. The video commissioner weighs in. He starts creating fear and doubt saying, ‘Well, you can’t do this and this and this, but maybe you can do the rest of it.’ Then the management, depending on how much power the manager has over the band creatively, they’ll say, ‘Well, I know the band liked this idea, but you can’t really do it like that. You gotta do it like this. And you have to show the lead singer in a closeup, in at least 50% of the cuts.’ Right? Pretty soon you don’t even recognize your own idea.

But as an artistic entity, Devo never compromised. Yeah. I mean, AC/DC never changed. It it’s like, if that’s what you do, you don’t try to do something you can’t - you just stay in your wheelhouse.

Devo’s most recent album was released in 2010. Before that, there was one in 1990. So are we nine years away from a new album at this point? Well, you know, we may have literally devolved. I don’t know. I don’t know where we are, really. We’re dead in the water. But maybe getting into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will change Mark’s mind, I don’t know. When Devo is finally welcomed into the Hall of Fame, it could very well be the most ironic thing ever the band ever accomplished. Finally, there would be a real punk band in the hallowed Hall. (Laughs) Although the punks didn’t think we were punk, which was funny. I thought we really were punk in the truest sense of the word. But not formulate punk, right? Because punk to me meant disrespect for illegitimate authority. It meant doing whatever came to your mind and not caring about what’s right or what’s cool and just being original. And that’s what we did. That’s exactly what we did and so yeah, we were the punkiest!

It will be interesting to see what happens. Not if - but when - you do get in the Hall of Fame, it’s going to be your most elaborate art project ever. Well, yeah. I know what you mean. We’d have a responsibility to use the opportunity to make a pretty definitive statement. I think that’s expected of us and we’ll have to live up to it. You know, it can’t be the typical artist pose like, ‘We’re not going, we don’t want to be part of any club that would have us.’ You know, like the Groucho Marx thing. Or like Radiohead did and even like Johnny Rotten did. I think that’s just too easy. I really think that’s kind of a wanky artist pose. For us, it’s more like, hey they’re giving you this opportunity. Whether you think they put you in there for the right reasons or not, you owe this to all the people who ever thought anything about you or that thought they should take you seriously at all. You owe this to them. That’s the way I would look at it.

Have you given any thought as to what you might do in the moment of acceptance? (Laughs) You mean besides sing and play good? Um…

Yeah - besides that, of course. Well first of all, I think [Mark Mothersbaugh’s beloved character] Booji Boy has to show up. Secondly, I can promise you if I get to talk my speech will not disappoint.

I have no doubt about it. We’ve all seen plenty of embarrassing speeches. I know Devo won’t suffer that fate. Oh my God, no. I will not bore people. It will be short and sweet - but every word will count.