Devo is dead—or is it? The rule-breaking electronic band—whose famous catchphrase was, "Are We Not Men?"—is alive and well and living in the rule-breaking spirit of Mutato Muzika, a Los Angeles-based music and sound design house founded by former members of the band. Devo doing commercials? Why not? The quintet, which revolutionized electronic music, was also a pioneer in music videos—creating clips even before there was an MTV.
"We created short films as promotions," recalls Mark Mothersbaugh, Devo’s lead guitarist, and founder/composer at Mutato Muzika. "We’d hang a sheet up and project 16mm films on that screen before we played. We were scientists. We were more into fleshing out ideas than into the posturing."
The band Devo was started in 1973 by two sets of brothers: Mark, Bob and Jim Mothersbaugh (Jim left in ’77 and was replaced by Alan Myers), and Gerald and Bob Casale. Art student Mark, a self-admitted prankster, met Gerald Casale, a fellow art student, when the two were students at Ohio’s Kent State University, in the early ’70s. They started writing music together following the Kent State shootings in which four students died during an anti-Vietnam War protest. Devo was very much a reflection of what many saw as a dehumanizing time. In its video "The Truth About Devolution," the members of Devo attacked the soulless Orwellian age by portraying corporate robots who sang, "Are We Not Men?" The short film won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in Michigan.
Although they didn’t know it at the time, "The Truth About Devolution" was the beginning of the evolution of Devo into Mutato, which today scores commercials for clients such as Procter & Gamble, Sears, Nike, Toyota, BMW and the U.S. Postal Service. The company also writes music for features and episodic television, including shows like Dawson’s Creek and Rugrats, the movie The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, and two of director Wes Anderson’s films: Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums.
In ’91, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh and Bob Casale founded Mutato Muzika—which means "presenting music" in Hungarian, though Mark Mothersbaugh says it also means "mutated potato music." (Gerald Casale has ties to the ad world, too; he is a commercial director with Picture Park, Boston and Santa Monica.) "At the time, Devo was in retrograde status," explains Mark Mothersbaugh. "We were starting to lose interest in the band full-time." He notes that prior to opening shop, he had done some sound design work in Hawaii, and he and the other Devo members had sporadically worked on commercials since ’83.
"Ten years ago we decided we wanted to devote our time to work outside of Devo," continues Mothersbaugh. "Part of it had to do with enjoying the work we had done for commercials. It’s more interesting than working on the same ten songs all year and then going on tour to sing those same ten songs over and over again."
Mark Mothersbaugh is the main composer for commercials and films at the shop; his brother Bob typically devotes most of his time to scoring Rugrats and other longform projects; while Bob Casale, the producer/ engineer, occasionally does some composing. Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh recently produced an CD called Heroes & Villains: Music Inspired by The Powerpuff Girls. Mark Mothersbaugh says that he enjoys commercials because of their diversity—"I wrote a jazz score, acid scores, and we’re doing sound design projects"—and because of the compression of time that creates an atmosphere conducive to creativity. "We had our time on stage, but this is more intense," he observes. "You work from a day to a month to six weeks on one project; it’s a different kind of adrenalin rush. You’re trying to take a concept that’s given to you and make it as strong as possible. A lot of energy is directed into a commercial because of the concentration of people, interests and money. That makes it an exciting medium to work in."
The Right Sound
As a recent example the former electronika music wizard cites a Nike project he scored. The spot package, which promotes Nike’s new golf products, involved big-band musicians recreating a ’40s movie music sound. Four of the ads—"Long Drive," "More Yards," "More Forgiving" and "Sweet Spot"—have already broken. Director Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Hollywood, helmed the quartet. "We were looking for a vintage sound," he explains of the Nike ads. Rather than using contemporary session players, he sought out old-time musicians, who are now in their 70s and 80s. "Younger guys couldn’t capture the same feeling," he notes. "We wanted it to sound like a needle drop on an old record, not like commercial guys coming in and doing just another session."
Mark Mothersbaugh also enjoys the collaborative hurdle inherent in commercial work: the idea that you have to read another person’s mind. "The challenging part of advertising is when people come to you and they’re asking for a musical style," he says. "They have a concept for what they want to portray. You have to interpret what they want. One reason that our company has been successful is because working with two sets of brothers has made us empathetic. I’ve worked with other pop artists who have tried to go into commercials, and they have difficulty understanding that ultimately your job is to help others fulfill their vision. A lot of pop artists are more interested in their own ideas than in learning about someone else’s ideas. You have to be sensitive." Other recent projects out of the company include "Dylan" and "Treehouse" for Oscar Mayer Lunchables. Both ads were directed by Penny Foster of Loose Moose, London, out of J. Walter Thompson, Chicago.
Mark Mothersbaugh notes that his company is brought into the creative process at various stages, depending on the client. "We are bought in at different points, depending on the job, to talk about the music," he explains. "It’s always an exploratory process; even if you think you’ve got something on the first pass, it’s always better to look at something an hour later or a day later to try different things."
He is happy with the size the company (which numbers 12 employees, mostly support staff) and doesn’t see Mutato mutating into something bigger. "We’re at a place I’m comfortable with," he says.
Mothersbaugh also doesn’t see any contradiction in Devo doing deodorant ads. "It’s about being eclectic," he points out, noting that he recently worked on four spots for an undisclosed client, using a variety of musical genres. "We were all over the map with the music. One used a harp, cello and a twelve-piece small orchestra. Another spot used an electronic rock band, and another was a jazz trio. It’s so eclectic. Commercial composers have to be; you have to be very flexible in this marketplace."
