Devo’s First Official Documentary Movie in the Works
BMG announced that production was underway on the first official documentary about Devo.
Titled simply Devo, the film is being directed by Chris Smith and will follow the band’s story “from their formation in the aftermath of the Kent State massacre, through their years as politically driven outsiders, into their surprising turn to the top of the charts with their breakout hit, ‘Whip It’,” a BMG statement said.
“Forming in 1973, Devo banded together initially as performance artists, disillusioned and radicalized by the shooting at Kent State where they were students,” the statement continued. “Their artistry was a commentary on corruption in the United States, the perceived ‘dumbing down’ of an entire generation by mass media and the commodification of a poisoned society.
“With a mixture of archival footage, interviews from other characters in their orbit and a range of storytelling techniques, the film’s inventive narrative will parallel the revolutionary creativity the band is known for. Ultimately, Devo explores Devo’s evolution from hippie artistes to art-rockers with a message, to their unexpected mainstream success as a hit rock band and the pioneers of the MTV age.”
"Devo was a huge influence on me," director Smith said. "Their approach to music, film, video and art was something I had never seen before and was one of the truly formative artistic influences that showed me there were entirely new ways to look at things.”
Full details will be revealed soon. Devo is currently on the road with live dates booked until the fall. Mark Mothersbaugh recently told Rolling Stone that he expected they’d bow out eventually.
"It’s like putting on your high school cheerleading outfit and going out and doing the songs again," he explained. "On one hand, when I’m out there onstage, I love playing them. But on the other hand, the whole thing seems like, ‘Well, yes, that’s what I did when I was 20. I’m 70. Let’s move on.’ But I’m sure there will be more shows somewhere down the line."