The Netflix documentary, Devo, takes us down memory lane, to a period when a bunch of misfits from Akron, Ohio, sought to channel their emotions and express themselves in a manner that was entirely unprecedented. It would be wrong to say that Devo was just a music band: I felt that they were more of a performance art collective. After watching the documentary, I can totally imagine why they were one of the most misunderstood bands of all time. The band, at the beginning, consisted of Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, Gerald, Bob Casale, and Alan Myers. That said, the band has a pretty fluid lineup where people kept getting added and removed constantly. There was a very strong reason behind why labels never really stuck with them for a long time, and they couldn’t even find an audience for the kind of art they were creating. This bunch of rebels had problems with each and every aspect of life. They had problems with traditions, with societal norms, and with culture, and they wanted to question everything that didn’t make sense to them. They resonated with the ideologies of brutalism and nihilism, but still it cannot be said that they adhered to those ideals throughout their careers. It was an era when Nixon expanded the Vietnam War into Cambodia without an act of Congress. Gerald Casale was studying at Kent University at the time, and together with a bunch of other students, he protested against the arbitrary policies of Nixon. The National Guard was called in to disperse the protestors, and I believe it was that moment when Gerald decided to find a medium to express himself.
As stated in the documentary, the band wanted to explore the philosophical underpinning of devolution. They had a theory in mind: a philosophy that they believed in, and they wanted the world to know about it. They felt that our society, instead of making progress, was going back to a more primitive form. In layman’s terms, they saw the civility of society fading away and chaos taking over gradually. Also, they didn’t see any sense in a lot of events that were unfolding around them. They didn’t seem to understand the logic behind public policy, and they questioned the credibility as well as the judiciousness of the law makers. This notion of backward evolution, or devolution, became the core of their ideal, and in many songs they reiterated the same concept. However, because of their bizarre and absurd philosophies, one can imagine why the band had trouble finding an audience. They wanted to drive people crazy so they would start asking the necessary questions about the established norms, but for that they first needed an audience. Devo’s music wasn’t instantly appealing; they were more of an acquired taste that people grew to appreciate over time. They knew that they wouldn’t make it into the mainstream with that kind of music, but they stuck to their instincts, and that was why they survived the test of time too. So let’s try to understand how they rose to fame and the kind of obstacles they had to face on that journey.
How did Devo come into the spotlight?
Devo had a hard time getting signed by any major music label, majorly because of their absurdist style of music. They wanted to talk about the regressive society; they felt strongly about the political environment in their country, and they were not ready to compromise on it, even if it meant scraping by on bare minimum resources. I believe recommendations from David Bowie and Iggy Pop really helped their cause. David Bowie seemed rather impressed, and he felt that he wanted to be associated with the American new wave in music. It was because of David Bowie that Devo secured a contract with Warner Brothers, and that was a huge step for them. But then later, Brian Eno, a songwriter and music producer, gave them a better deal, and he assured the band members that he would negotiate terms with Warner Bros. and reach some sort of settlement.
Apart from being recognized by the people of the music industry, I believe that Devo really became popular when they went on Saturday Night Live. The entire nation watched them on their televisions, and in a way it gave them more freedom to experiment with the kind of music they wanted to make. They composed multiple songs for an album titled Freedom of Choice, and that too helped them attain much-needed visibility. There were so many artists and bands composing music at the time that it was really important and even challenging to stand apart from the crowd. Their song Whip It also became a hit, and it was featured on the Billboard charts. Their visual aesthetic, the music video, was also quite amusing and quirky. They wore plastic wigs that were designed to mimic John F. Kennedy’s hairstyle. Everything about Devo, from their music to how they presented themselves, was unlike anything people had witnessed before.
Where Are The Band Members Now?
The band took a hiatus around 1991, and there was no specific reason behind them doing so. Music labels were not really signing them, a problem that I felt they encountered throughout their career, and the band members slowly started to drift apart and take independent projects. Mark opened a commercial music production studio. Bob Mothersbaugh composed music for various projects, and in fact, he also worked alongside Wes Anderson at one point. In 1996 the band had a reunion, and they performed at a concert in Park City, Utah. With the advent of the internet, they’d somewhat achieved a cult status. They became a part of pop culture, and in fact, a Devo fan convention was also held in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2005. They created a new version of Whip It for a television commercial, and soon after that they did a project with Disney too, which really helped them strike a chord with the mainstream audience. The band also released a new single in 2007 after a gap of about 17 years.
In 2014, Bob Casale passed away due to a heart attack, after which the band did a tour where they performed songs composed by the founding members that had remained unreleased until then. Alan Meyers also passed away in 2013 due to stomach cancer. Devo is pretty active even now, and they keep touring and performing at different places. The current band members are Gerald Casale, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, Josh Freese, who joined the band in 1996, and Josh Hager, who was the newest joinee in 2014. There were a bunch of artists who aligned themselves with the philosophy and vision of Devo’s founding members, and even today they continue to carry those ideals forward.
As I mentioned earlier, labelling Devo a band doesn’t feel accurate, as they never truly fit into that mold. I don’t think they even had a clear roadmap of where they wanted to go and what exactly they aimed to accomplish. What they did was question things that they couldn’t comprehend or ironically found absurd, voice their dissent against actions of the government in their own unique story, and embrace, even unapologetically, the tag of “fascist clowns.”
