Devo Documentary Film Announced
Devo have announced their first fully-authorised documentary film. Simply titled Devo, the movie will be directed by Chris Smith (American Movie, Fyre, Tiger King).
“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,” said a statement. “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.” The film is currently in production.
Smith explained why he was compelled to direct the documentary, saying, “Devo was a huge influence on me. 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.”
In 2022, Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh spoke to Stereogum about the way the band saw themselves, “We loved making music, and we were making music, but I was looking for sounds that I thought represented our culture. Gerry at the time was writing these bluesy bass riffs. I was looking for stuff like V-2 rockets and mortar blasts and ray guns and melting sounds and explosions. Things you could only get on a synthesizer. I was playing against these rhythms and we were coming up with really interesting stuff and we were putting lyrics over it that talked about perception of life on planet Earth. I felt like we had enough of a manifesto that we could become an art movement like we could back then.
The news comes after the recent announcement of the first dates of a new Devo world tour, which has been billed as the group’s final stint on the road. The dates include a single headline show in the UK so far. The new wave pioneers will perform at London’s Eventim Apollo on 19 August to celebrate 50 years in music.
Devo live dates 2023
August
11-13 – Flow Festival, Helsinki, Finland
11-13 – Øyafestivalen 2023, Oslo, Norway
17-20 – Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons, Wales
19 – Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith, London, England