Devo is a band that has always spoken to everybody and every subculture from punk, emo, homo, core, straight, gay, club heads and everyone in between. Made up of Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh,Bob Casale and Josh Freese, their roots have always been eccentric and eclectic. As a result it has always been difficult to classify Devo or pigeonhole them to just one style of music. Nor could you really pin down what a Devo show will consist of. From costumes, to light and sound they always deliver an over the top show. They are a band that has created a sound that even in their early years attracted the likes of David Bowie, Patti Smith and The Stones, among others. They are one of the original CBGB bands of that era, mixing new wave, punk, electro, pop and synthesizers way before anyone else knew how to use them. With songs like “Whip it” and a personal favorite “Girl U Want,” how can you go wrong? They have inspired a lot of younger musicians and singers like Lady Gaga, Rage Against the Machine and the late great Kurt Cobain. Devo has also been known for their videos which were some of the first to run in mainstream media, at a time when music videos were almost unheard of. Devo never seems to run out of creativity and has a futuristic knack for knowing what will make sense musically, for the times. One of the best things about Devo is their ability to morph through time and continue to give us something awe inspiring. With a current album release titled Something For Everybody they truly are one of the best bands around and have the ability to transcend generations. They will be playing at the Pride Festival on Sunday, July 18th, at 6:15 p.m. This is another not to miss performance.

GLT: How long has Devo been Devo and how did you guys start off?

DEVO: Um...well, we started in 1970 at Ken State. We were doing a lot of protesting against the Vietnam war. Well, something went wrong and they closed down the school. So we decided to start observing evolution. It took a couple of years to get to a place to try to perform. My brothers joined the band. I mean, this was about 72,74,75,76. We would play with rubber masks, a lot of the time, like smart ass kids for entertainment. We ended up incorporating that into our shows using characters like Booji Boy and The Chinaman. Our shows were known for things other bands at the time were not doing. Even around that time we pressed about a thousand records and would take them into the record stores. We would go back in and ask, “Hey do you guys need any more records?” They would be like nope; I still got the one you left last time you were here! Around 77 we played at CBGB in weird outfits that looked like space suits. We would play ourselves in the background while we were playing and people thought we were different, they didn’t know what to make of us. Then it was crazy, because we would look at the guest list and Patti Smith, Suicide, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and Frank Zappa would all be on it! It would be a packed house; however they charged us six bucks for every person on the guest list. What were we going to do - not let The Stones in to see us!? So, even though we were playing to packed houses with big bands watching, we would walk out at the end of the night with nothing (Laugh)!

GLT: How has the band progressed over the years?

DEVO: Central to being Devo is that we are the same in a lot of ways. We talk about love in a different way than other bands. We do our own thing and we really always have. We have always been socially aware, I think, so that is the same. We stick to techy pop culture with drum machine samplers. However, no one CD sounds the same as the other, and no one really sounds like us. We have done remixes, demos and updated them and matched them to the radio of today.

GLT: It is almost unheard of for a band to be together for as long as you guys have. Do you fight a lot?

DEVO: (Mark) Well, with two sets of brothers it is like family. There’s always a period of joy. It is like this - at one point my daughter will say, “I hate you Dad.” and while I dread that happening I know that she doesn’t really hate me and that it will not last forever. Being in a band is tough; there are bad habits and egos. Luckily we are all vital as artists, so I feel fortunate that we do not have a lot of those types of problems anymore.

GLT: Do you guys have a favorite out of all your songs?

DEVO: We like all the live music and songs, but we also like all of the songs and music that have not been played a lot. I am going to have to go with “Jocko Homo,” though.

GLT: How do you guys feel about headlining Pride this year?

DEVO: Pride is an honor and we are really excited about playing it this year. We live in West Hollywood and on paper we are probably totally gay. It just didn’t work out that way for me though.

GLT: What is Devo’s take on gay rights and marriage?

DEVO: A lot of our friends are gay. We think it is an important time to support things like gay marriage. We have a friend that moved from England to L.A. about six months ago with her partner, right before the elections. It was such a bummer because of the turn of events with prop 8. Not only for them, but for everyone.

GLT: Have any of the guys in the band kissed or messed around with other guys?

DEVO: (Mark) I am sure that we all have. We were young kids in a rock band and we lived pretty crazy lives. We got involved in or did a lot of crazy stuff.

GLT: Are any of you married?

DEVO: (Mark) I am married and we have adopted kids. I am in a really nice part of my life. My wife is the smartest person I have ever met and we have kids. I know when they get older I will hear, “Dad, you’re an idiot, you’re stupid and you don’t know shit!” (Laugh). But that will come later. In the mean time I am enjoying them being kids.

GLT: Can you recall three different things that were a lot of fun?

DEVO: Having a crush on a toaster, once. Signing with a record company and going to Sears and buying five matching janitor outfits.

GLT: What are some of your favorite bands?

DEVO: Our favorite bands, hmm… LCD Soundsystem, Polysics, (they are from Japan, half girl and guy!) Crazy, they play Devo songs! Also, Muse and Lady Gaga. We may collaborate with her, she is smart and someone to watch. As she grows up I see her being more of a Bowie for this generation. But our all time favorite is Bowie.

GLT: Why, beyond your amazing music, do you believe Devo as a band is still so relevant?

DEVO: Not because of our great looks, but because of our politics (laugh). As our new album title says, it’s because we have “Something For Everyone”.

GLT: Are there any words that Devo lives by?

DEVO: Anti-stupidity, pro-information and we think people should choose their mutations carefully.

We thank you for your time and letting us all get to know you guys better. Good luck with all your future projects and we can’t wait to see you play at San Diego Pride. The Gay & Lesbian Times wishes you all the best for the future.