Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh on his LA art gallery, new Netflix doc

After more than 50 years and countless performances in cities around the world, the pioneering new wave band Devo is about to perform at one Los Angeles venue they have yet to play — the Hollywood Bowl.

It’s part of a 12-date co-headlining tour with the B-52’s, a band Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh said he’s loved for years, and whose sounds compliment one another.

“Ever since Rock Lobster I was hooked,” he said in an interview with LAist. “They started out as an art band… kind of similar to us in a way.”

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Devo gained a cult following during the New Wave movement, and were among the first to embrace music videos as an art medium in the 1970s. The band regularly appeared on the early days of MTV with hits like “Whip It” and “Uncontrollable Urge.”

Now, Devo is back in the spotlight. They’re performing at Coachella next summer for the first time since 2010, and they’re the subject of a new documentary on Netflix titled, DEVO, from director Chris Smith. The film explores the band’s roots in Akron, Ohio, and their experience navigating fame and the music industry.

Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh.

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Courtesy of Netflix

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The original lineup included Mothersbaugh and his brother Bob, drummer Alan Myers, and brothers Gerald and Bob Casale.

Mothersbaugh said the name Devo is a nod to the concept of de-evolution — the idea that society is regressing. Their music and art was heavily influenced by the 1970 Kent State shootings, which Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale witnessed firsthand.

“ We were there [at] Kent State when the shootings happened, and it made us think… What is going on in the world? And we kind of came to the conclusion that things weren't evolving,” Mothersbaugh said.  ”Maybe things were devolving. So we talked about that in our music.”

Mothersbaugh has been based in Los Angeles for about five decades. He built a career in the city composing music for film and TV, from animated projects like Rugrats and Pee-wee's Playhouse to films including The Royal Tenenbaums, and Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. And he recently opened an art gallery in Chinatown called MutMuz.

When it comes to the band’s upcoming performances, Mothersbaugh said he’s looking forward to being onstage at the Hollywood Bowl for the first time, and “ counting how many red energy domes there are in the audience.”

“ I love L.A. because it doesn't matter what kind of music I'm going to be writing, if it's gonna be Indian raga music… Ukrainian folk music… they're some of the best [musicians] in the world,” he said.

Devo is performing at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are still available here.

LAist producer Gillian Moran Perez contributed to this story.