Q: Are they not men?
Andrew P Street dons his energy dome to speak with Devo's co-founder Gerald V. Casale.
Rejoice, spuds - the Smart Patrol are returning to Australia.
Casale is in an exuberant mood, having just caught one of the last shows by The Police. "Yeah, they're the only Police that I can stand," he laughs. "What came, quite honestly, was just how unique they were. It's more obvious now maybe than it was then, because they were lumped into the new-wave scene, but the way each of them play their instruments is entirely unique: nobody plays like that. And in case you forgot, they just played hit after hit all night! They did something original when nothing like that was going on."
As it happens, he could be describing his own band. "Well, they were much more successful at writing hits," he counters. "Then again, were weren't really trying."
Also, The Police weren't building their music around a sophisticated philosophy. "That's true. There was no conceptual framework around The Police: just great musicianship."
Casale started Devo with fellow Kent State students Mark Mothersbaugh and Bob Lewis in 1972, initially as an all-encompassing art project based around the concept of de-evolution (the idea that humans were getting dumber and more violent rather than smarter and more sophisticated), but for most people they were characterised as the "quirky", "zany" band with the odd costumes. Even as they climbed the charts around the world, the fierce wit in songs about the dangers of dog-eat-dog capitalism (‘Whip It', ‘Freedom Of Choice'), social roles (‘Through Being Cool', ‘Mongoloid') and de-evolution itself (‘Jocko Homo', ‘Beautiful World') was often overlooked.
"We were definitely a conceptual band: our aesthetic and our stage shows and our visuals were all seamlessly intertwined with the music - and consciously so!" Casale declares. "What we really wanted to do was to make music-driven films, with each one featuring a new record but folded into a narrative and tied into a complete storyline with characters and points of view, and it just got whittled down to being in the music business. But at least there was a business - now it's very frightening what's happened. It's kinda like what's happened to the culture in general: de-evolution seems to be real, it wasn't a joke at all. The world went downhill and everyone got a little dumber and now we're all in a big mess."
Then again, it's hardly a surprise that people didn't understand de-evolution back then: there are people who don't understand evolution today. "That's true! There are still people even contesting that!"
Concepts aside, Devo have aged better than most of their contemporaries. "Well, the thing about what we did is that it sounds contemporary: it didn't date the same way as most music from the era. And because the songs are still relevant - and, given what's happened, in some ways more relevant - now Devo's comin' around to say ‘hate to say I told you so...'" Casale laughs darkly. "There's definitely an end-game in Western culture and we all feel it, that things are reaching critical mass. We're the party band as the Titanic goes down."
What's particularly interesting is the way that Devo's prime movers have approached things since Devo split in the early 90s: Mothersbaugh formed the production company Musico Mutato, responsible for soundtracks and commercials, while Casale formed the defiantly provocative Johad Jerry & The Evildoers. So while one Spud became part of the mainstream to subvert from within, the other seemingly went head-to-head with it.
"Gee, I don't know about that," Casale laughs when I ask whether it was as cut-and-dried as that. "He's the one who accused me of being commercial in the past. When I did that solo thing I was just so unnerved by the situation in this country and its administration I did go for it on purpose, thinking that seeing an old white guy dressed almost like [Johnny Carson's fake turbaned psychic] Carnac the Magnificent, almost like a sideshow routine, was going to be met with laughter. Except that there's no sense of humour irony left in this culture and people got upset. I was getting hate mail from all the supporters of Bush, and the Muslin community - it was completely misconstrued."
Then again, if there's been one constant in Casale's creative life, it's been people not getting what he's doing. "Yeah, we were definitely never politically correct. And because we were subversive and ironic, people didn't feel altogether comfortable. There was a crowd that really got it and were really in on it, and the others were like ‘um, I'm gonna kill these guys.'"
It's practical matters rather than aesthetic concerns that will govern their set for their Splendour appearance and sideshows: as with their 1997 visit, they'll be focussing on their 1978-1981 golden era. "That's because that stuff is more guitar-oriented and there are no sequencer lines or need for a lot of techno gear, and with the expenses of things, you can't afford to ratchet [the production] up for something like that unless you're doing a full-on 40, 50 city tour with a new CD," Casale shrugs. "And those songs travel well. They're already reduced down to an essence that's hard to destroy even under the worst sound and equipment circumstances. And also, people would get mad at us if we didn't play those songs. But we are writing new songs, by the way. We're up to 17 demos and we'll shortly be reaching out to producers and exploring current ways of doing things that aren't record-company dependent."
This is surprising news, since it was rumoured that Mothersbaugh had pulled the pin on a new Devo album last year. "He did, for a while, and unfortunately it queered the timeline for us a bit, but we're going to finish what we started."
Devo play at the Hordern Pavilion on Fri 1 and Splendour In The Grass in Bryon Bay on Sat 2 Aug.
Gerald V Casale on Sydney
"Man, I remember our first trip to Sydney. Because of your [union] laws there we came a couple of weeks before our first show: the way things worked we had to hire an Australian crew - we couldn't bring our crew - and we were freaking out about that, and it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened because we got to hang out in Sydney and make friends and experience the nightlife and we practically had a nervous breakdown having to go back to the US. We didn't wanna leave! It was the best time we'd ever had in our lives.
"I remember the insane all-nighters at the Sebel Townhouse, whether it was carousing with the local females or ordering oysters at any time of day or night for $4 a dozen, right outta Watsons Bay and delivered to your room. And we saw INXS when they were a club band - I think Michael Hutchence was maybe 18 or 19 and they were playing this little club in Kings Cross. It was quite a time - just the freedom and the hedonism and everybody liked to have fun - and the women! They were incredibly wild. They couldn't believe guys paid so much attention to ‘em. I guess their experience was that Australian guys would rather get bombed in a pub than go out on a date!"
When a problem comes along... a quick guide to Devo
Who are they? While members have come and gone, the core of the band has always been Mark Mothersbaugh (vocals, keys) and Gerald V Casale (vocals, bass, keys), with their brothers Bob Mothersbaugh (guitars, keys) and Bob Casale (guitars, kyes), who are generally referred to as Bob 1 and Bob 2. Their current drummer is Neil Taylor.
Why do I know them? Their jerky deconstruction of ‘(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' was an early hit, but they've enjoyed great chart success, especially in Australia (where the Dev-O Live' EP topped the singles chart in 1981), with songs like ‘Girl U Want' (1980), ‘Beautiful World' (1981), ‘Here To Go' (1985) and ‘Post-Post-Modern Man' (1990) - and, of course, the iconic ‘Whip It' (1980)
Didn't they split up? Yes, after the Smooth Noodle Maps album flopped in 1991. They reactivated for sporadic tours in the 90s, including an Australian visit to headline the Livid festival in 1997.
Have they done anything recently? They're working on a new album, and released the well-received ‘Watch Us Work It' single last year as a tie-in with Dell Computers.