Some things never change. That`s the title of a song from Devo`s latest album, ”Total Devo,” but it could be the motto for the band itself.
After a four-year layoff, the five Los Angeles-based musicians-conceptual artists have regrouped to spread their philosophy of de-evolution and electro- dance music.
But then some things do change after all. Once one of the most popular bands to emerge in the wake of the late 1970s` L.A. new wave and a group capable of selling out arenas, Devo is making its return to the stage with a stripped-down club show. And instead of having ”Total Devo” released through some mega-corporation such as Warner Bros., the group`s last label, it is being distributed through the feisty independent, Enigma.
”It really feels like we`re starting over,” said vocalist-guitarist-keybo ardist Mark Mothersbaugh at a tour stop in Dallas. ”We haven`t been awarded any tenured position. We`re staying in Motel 6s, and we have the smallest crew we`ve ever had. We would have done a big show, but we just couldn`t work out a sponsorship. We have no money. It`s not like in the past when we had records on the radio.”
”Total Devo” peaked at 189 on Billboard`s Top 200 album chart last summer, a far cry from the chart-topping gold and platinum albums Devo enjoyed while on Warner Bros. from 1978 to 1984.
”We`re making the best of it,” Mothersbaugh said. ”
The band went into temporary retirement because of what Mothersbaugh called a ”deteriorating relationship” with Warner Bros. and the desire to do outside projects.
Mothersbaugh released an album in Japan, ”Music for Insomniacs,” while guitarist-vocalist-keyboardist Bob Casale produced a group called Martini Ranch. Mothersbaugh and Casale scored episodes of ”Pee-wee`s Playhouse,” a Saturday-morning TV favorite.
Though the size of Devo`s musical canvas may have changed, the band`s approach hasn`t. Casale and Mothersbaugh, and vocalist-keyboardist Gerald Casale, guitarist-vocalist Bob Mothersbaugh and drummer David Kendrick are still smirking in the face of mainstream society.
They point to every cultural glitch as another sign of mankind`s de-evolution, the concept that the human race is rapidly moving backward.
”What we were talking about in 1978 is more relevant than it`s ever been,” Mothersbaugh said. ”Ten or 12 years ago, when we talked about de-evolution, people said that sounds like sour grapes or pessimism. But after eight years of Reaganomics and exploding space shuttles, I think now there are very few people who would disagree that de-evolution is rampant on the planet.”
Devo began in the mid-`70s in Akron as a high-concept art-media unit dedicated to subverting the pop music preconceptions of the day. With their matching jumpsuits, short hair and use of electronic instruments, Devo produced a visually striking image and giddy pop music that gained the group a large following.
Devo made short musical films even before a record deal, and its Warner Bros. videos for such songs as ”Freedom of Choice” and ”Beautiful World”
manipulated images handsomely. Yet Mothersbaugh is not a fan of current videos.
”When they became record company baby pictures, that was the end of it,” he said. ”Even we didn`t think it would happen this fast. We couldn`t believe MTV got so bad so fast.”
Mothersbaugh often exercises his visual side through drawings and paintings. He`s had showings in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo.
”I do a lot of it on the road. It gives me something to do late at night,” he said. ”I probably could make a living at it, but luckily I don`t have to. I do it when I can and when I want to. I was doing visual arts before we started Devo. I took a break from gallery shows and put all my energies into Devo.”
Of course, Devo itself straddles the line between performance art and pop. For example, the specialty Rykodisc label is releasing a CD of Devo
”muzak” (previously released on cassette), and the band once even posed as its own opening act, Dove, singing quasi-religious songs.
”Dove is just waiting for someone to request they come out of retirement,” Mothersbaugh laughed. ”They`ve just been hanging out at Heritage House with Jim and Tammy.”
Mothersbaugh says Devo`s politics are in line with `60s philosopher/guru Buckminster Fuller`s ideas of one-world humanism: ”We all are interdependent upon each other, and one of the big problems is the whole `Me Generation.`
People are obsessed with conspicuous consumption and mindless waste. We just try to encourage people to take responsibility for their actions and to choose their mutations carefully.”
