{"id":24463,"date":"2023-01-23T05:30:27","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T10:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=24463"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:51:24","slug":"devos-gerald-casale-is-still-not-through-being-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/23\/devos-gerald-casale-is-still-not-through-being-cool\/","title":{"rendered":"Devo\u2019s Gerald Casale is Still Not Through Being Cool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Gerald V. Casale is a founding member of conceptual rock band Devo. In addition to writing and\/or co-writing a great deal of that band\u2019s music with fellow founding member Mark Mothersbaugh, Casale is the group\u2019s primary lyricist. And now Casale has made the latest of his comparatively rare forays beyond the Devo framework to release a solo EP, The Invisible Man<\/i>. A video for the title track was released in mid-November, and a vinyl EP (a clear \u201cinvisible\u201d pressing) was released on Black Friday.<\/p>\n

Featuring instrumental support from Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, Guns N\u2019 Roses) and Oingo Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek, The Invisible Man<\/i> displays the twin characteristics that form the core of Casale\u2019s work with Devo: tunefulness and weirdness. And Casale\u2019s status as a pioneering video director is reinforced by the video for the EP\u2019s title track. It\u2019s a heady, mindwarping trip through Casale\u2019s playful subconscious. And you can dance to it, too.<\/p>\n

Some artists think of video as a supplement to the music. Casale \u2013 who has directed music videos for The Cars, Foo Fighters, Rush, Soundgarden and many others \u2013 takes a more creatively unified view. And he always has. \u201cI can\u2019t<\/i> think about [music and video] separately,\u201d he explains. \u201cDevo was a conscious multimedia concept; I was thinking about it as a hybrid form from the beginning, before there was MTV, and before we had done our first film.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old Casale is a straightforward and engaging interview subject, but he often speaks in metaphors. So it was when asked how the music on The Invisible Man<\/i> differs in character from Devo, the group with which he wrote and recorded hits like \u201cWhip It.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be like 6 cylinders out of 12 in a Ferrari V12,\u201d the left-handed bassist suggests. \u201cI can only be me and do what I do.\u201d He points out that while Mark Mothersbaugh is a formally trained musician, he\u2019s largely self-taught. \u201cI couldn’t play jazz keyboards,\u201d Casale admits with a chuckle. \u201cBut I [am] very interested in song structure, composition and arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n

And those interests are in full flower on \u201cThe Invisible Man.\u201d With a lyric that exists in the space between weirdly impressionistic, nonsensical and astutely observational, the tune has a deep and inviting groove that should resonate with Devo fans raised on \u201cThrough Being Cool,\u201d \u201cBeautiful World\u201d and other classics from the pride of Akron, Ohio.<\/p>\n

Working with Freese and Bartek, Casale creates music that has that off-kilter Devo feel, but with its own personality. Freese has worked in a wide variety of styles, and has been a member of Devo since 1996 when the group ended a five-year hiatus. \u201cHe\u2019s the Zelig of drummers.\u201d Casale says, referring to the fictional cinematic character who excels at blending in with whatever surrounding he encounters. \u201cOne week he\u2019s with the Vandals, then he\u2019s doing Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle. He morphs into \u2018that guy,\u2019\u201d Casale says. \u201cY\u2019know, \u2018Here\u2019s Mr. Prog Rock!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Guitarist Bartek came \u201clate to this collaboration,\u201d Casale says. But Bartek made his presence known, adding his distinctive and somewhat unconventional instrumental flavors to the recordings. \u201cHe\u2019s got a warehouse of guitars and effects,\u201d Casale says. \u201cHe\u2019s a scientist!\u201d<\/p>\n

Owing to the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic, the EP\u2019s versions of \u201cI\u2019m Gonna Pay You Back\u201d were recorded the new-fashioned way: the musicians emailed audio files back and forth, creating the finished track by combining performances recorded at their various home studios. Casale describes the disembodied process as \u201ccreepy. But for \u2018The Invisible Man,\u2019 we were all in the same room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Restlessly creative, Casale nonetheless combines his artistic vision with what might even be called a commercial sensibility. (How else to explain the mainstream success of something as weird as Devo\u2019s cover of the Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201c(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction\u201d?) When he\u2019s writing songs or creating music videos, Casale believes that he\u2019s effectively \u201csolving problems.\u201d<\/p>\n