Devo

Gerald V. Casale, 72: bassist and songwriter for Devo; music video director for Devo, Rush, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters among others; wine producer. And provocateur: try searching for news about his solo project (Jihad Jerry And The Evildoers) or his recent wedding with a September 11, 2001-themed party. In short, calling him multifaceted is an understatement, but what struck me is the calm with which a figure of this stature conducted this interview. Then again, someone who survived the Kent State massacre in May 1970 either becomes a criminal or decides – as is the case with Jerry – to use his own intelligence to spark a revolution from within the system itself: Devo. Enjoy the read.

So, dear Gerald: how do you think the process of involution (Devo-lution, ed.) is going? Isn't it moving much faster than it did in the Seventies? Or is that just an impression?

Yes, I think the level has grown exponentially and has surpassed our worst fears and our most horrific visions: we had them, but we didn't want them to actually come true. We didn't want to predict all this! (laughs)

Do you think technology has something to do with all this? I mean, the explosion of social networks and so on…

Yes… because since human nature is Jekyll & Hyde, since there's a dark side to human nature, technology has given people the tools to do what they used to do, but at a much higher and more intense level. So all the negative things people do suddenly gain more energy, more of a voice on the market, and you witness disinformation, garbage, lies, ridiculous conspiracies spreading. So if people aren't strong and can't think logically, they're unable to separate truth from lies, and the most vulnerable ones collapse. It's like a disease: their minds get contaminated and destroyed, and that's exactly what we're seeing. Everyone is stupid, everyone is crazy, everyone is evil, and those people are winning. There are good people, but they're not enough.

We might need some help, then, so let me ask: any news about good old Jihad Jerry?

(laughs) I do! Jihad Jerry… yes, Jihad Jerry is still here to raise his prophetically ugly head and proclaim an important call to clean up this culture! My debut album as Jihad Jerry & The Evildoers, released in 2005 under the title “Mine Is Not A Holy War”, will be reissued for Record Store Day – in June 2021 – with bonus tracks and a brand new single, “I Am Gonna Pay You Back”.

Fantastic, so we can definitely expect a comeback. Will you also be performing live?

I really hope to pull it off this time, last time I tried to put things together but I couldn't make it work with the staff. But now I think the timing is better than ever! (laughs)

How's your adventure with producing Pinot 50 by 50 wine going?

You know, I'm a small producer: I make a Pinot Noir and a Pinot Rosé Noir and now I'm producing a white wine. Everything was starting to grow, the brand was working, I was managing to get my wine to more people, restaurants and shops, and then Covid-19 hit. All my clients, the restaurants and bars, were forced to close. So they stopped buying wine and tried to get rid of what they had, these are really terrible times and it's rough: people are giving wine away. You know what I mean? There's overproduction because of everything that's happened.

Devo are always very active on social media to stay in touch with fans. Despite (or in spite of) this bizarre pandemic era, are you also working on new music?

Well, I certainly am, and that's how the new Jihad Jerry song came about. I've never lost the spirit, I worked with Josh Freese, the famous drummer who's played with Devo, Nine Inch Nails forever, Sting... a really creative guy, I worked with him and with the guy who used to be the guitarist for Oingo Boingo, who then went on to work with Danny Elfman on film scores. His name is Steve Bartek: he, Josh and I got together in the studio to experiment and write, and that's how a new Jihad Jerry song came about.

And on the Devo front?

Well, you know... I don't know what to say. You should ask Mr. Mark Mothersbaugh, you know, he doesn't seem interested in collaborating on new Devo material.

Ah, okay... Here comes the tough question: the best and the worst thing about being Devo in the Eighties?

(laughs) Well... I mean... the best thing was suddenly being accepted by mainstream culture, overnight, for what we were doing, which was very different and original. We went from being hated and mocked by people to being celebrated and put on TV, booked at every major festival and tour. It all exploded once David Bowie and Brian Eno "adopted" us, and that's when the world started turning in Devo's favor. Of course the horrible part of all this is that then the record labels and the business expect you to simply stay as you are, with no artistic development, no change, no experimentation: you just have to do what they want, because at that point they think they understand you. But it was better when they didn't understand us (laughs)... success really is a double-edged sword.

They don't want your EVOlution!

No! They didn't want Devo to evolve! (laughs)

Can you share a memory of your brother Bob with us?

You know, every year that passes since he's been gone I miss him more and more, it gets more painful because we were two teams of brothers: the Mothersbaughs and the Casales, a beautiful collaboration. My brother and I worked together, sometimes just the two of us, we had a really great relationship and he was able to do what I didn't know how to do: the tedious studio production work, working with electronics and effects. I had the ideas, but he was the one who made them real. So we had this beautiful relationship, this communication, and I miss it so much... My memories are of us in the early days, and Bob had a great sense of humor. We were driving to New York to play these small clubs, Max's Kansas City or CBGB's, we were all crammed into this old van since we were driving from Ohio to New York, and we'd stop along the highway looking for these diners that sold something cheap to eat. We were at one of these diners, in a truck stop, all they had was horrible junk, and I ordered a soup that arrived, I took a spoonful of it - all five of us were crammed into this booth, shoulder to shoulder - I tasted it and said: "My God, this soup tastes like shit!"... My brother looked up and said: "Maybe it's your mouth!"... (laughs) saying it like it was just a plain fact, then went back to eating his sandwich! That was Bob: a very noble asshole, a fair and calm person, the last person to get angry.

What music do you like to listen to when you're free from your musical duties?

Mmh… you know, it's hard! Really hard, I don't think today's music is really good. My wife can play me some really great stuff, but they're bands nobody's ever heard of. There's so much good music out there that never gets picked up commercially, it's not on the radio and people don't know about it. I should ask her again who these people are because I don't know them, but what I like is that there's a movement made up of twenty-year-olds who are picking up that beautiful Eighties sound. You know, Depeche Mode, Devo, Kraftwerk: all these influences recombined and transformed with cheap effects and distortion… But they're off the radar, it's not commercial music that everybody buys. But I wish they'd blow up, become commercial (laughs) because that's the most interesting stuff. Mainstream music is horrible, it all sounds the same, like it was made by a computer: the voices and everything else are all identical: the same tired, stale, stupid crap! I listen to all that and then decide to go back to good old David Bowie, that's what I like to do, he's my hero!

Are you working on anything in the way of video directing?

You know, I'd like to but it's so strange… I mean, there's no money left for music videos except for Taylor Swift, in that case you can make a half-million-dollar video, or Katy… what's that pop singer's name? Or Dua Lipa. People like that, who go to the same six directors. There are very few directors who get to work and they're all really young, tattooed, pierced. People like me get overlooked, discriminated against because of age, they don't respect me.

Do you have any special memories tied to Italy, either with Devo or from your own personal experience?

I still remember everything about Italy, I love Italy and I've tried to put money aside to buy a house there. It all started with Devo's first tour in Italy, which was unforgettable, I remember so many things! I've been back to Italy, since 1980, probably a dozen times: I come to Italy every chance I get. The last time I was there was the day Donald Trump won the election: my wife and I flew out from Los Angeles to come spend time in Italy in Sicily, where I'd never been before. I've been everywhere in the center-north, all the most obvious places: Portofino, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, but Sicily was a real revelation, we spent a week in Ortigia, on the coast at Siracusa. I love Italy, I could live there, get used to it and never go back to America. The first time we played there I remember Rai took us to the square at the Vatican, the big circle where the Pope comes out to bless everyone: we were there in our uniforms and red hats and Rai filmed us while the Pope blessed us. That night we played on the steps in front of Castel Sant'Angelo and Italy was playing in the final: they'd set up a big screen and we had to wait for the match to end… Italy won! And the crowd was so wild with the win that the concert turned into a post-match party, something surreal for us, incredible: we were outdoors in summer, outside the castle with the lights on behind us, it was fantastic!

Any final message and greeting for your Italian fans?

Yes, of course. On behalf of Devo I want to tell you, who appreciated Devo in Italy: we're suffering here just like you suffered there. I hope this all ends soon and that we'll get back to pre-Covid times, all together, to meet in person again!

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