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DEVO’s story has finally been distilled into a new documentary, and it’s landed on Netflix thanks to director Chris Smith. Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale joined Kyle Meredith to talk about the film, which charts the band’s path from Kent State to post-punk pioneers to MTV oddities to cultural prophets who survived long enough to tour with The B-52’s (get tickets here!). It’s been a long time coming, but in true DEVO fashion, the doc doesn’t offer an “ultimate truth” — just one version of their truth filtered through another outsider’s lens. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mothersbaugh and Casale admit they never really chased a DEVO doc until it kind of landed on them. “We were always just moving forward,” Mothersbaugh says, noting that years of trying to explain themselves only seemed to fall on deaf ears. Casale adds, “Rock ‘n’ roll has two or three very basic dumb ideas, and people default to that. They didn’t want to hear about de-evolution.” Still, the doc captures the band’s half-century of art, noise, and theory better than most ever tried.
The pair also reflect on the path from their hippie-era influences to creating a soundtrack for the paranoia of the 1970s. Mothersbaugh remembers wanting to be “a pioneer” with sound the way Hendrix was for the ’60s, while Casale points out that DEVO’s obsession with futurist art and media helped them break rock’s formula. Along the way, they found themselves jamming with Neil Young — years after his song “Ohio” haunted them as Kent State survivors — an unlikely crossover that redefined Young in their eyes. And now, as they gear up for the Cosmic Devolution tour with The B-52’s, they joke that their “farewell” might last long enough to include Mars colonies.
Listen to DEVO talk about their new Netflix documentary, their tour with the B-52s, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.
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