Revisited: Steve Albini with Jerry Casale (Devo)

Hey Talkhouse listeners, this week, I'm throwing you a rerun from a while back, but whose wisdom hasn't dimmed since 2018 when it was recorded. It's a great conversation between Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale that was captured backstage at the Desert Days Festival. I grabbed this one from the archive because we recently passed the 2nd anniversary of Albini's untimely death, and there was a great Rolling Stone piece about his legacy that got me thinking. He was a very smart, sometimes controversial guy, always opinionated, but always thoughtful. Check it out and we'll see you with a new episode next week.
—Josh Modell, Host of the Talkhouse Podcast

The Talkhouse Podcast recently headed out to the fantastic Desert Daze festival at Moreno Beach at Lake Perris in Southern California. When we weren't catching sets by Tame Impala, King Gizzard, and My Bloody Valentine, we recorded a trio of great talks; this week, we present the first.

When I saw that both Steve Albini and Devo's Jerry Casale were going to be at Desert Daze giving talks, I knew we had to pair these two icons of alternative music. They're big fans of each other's work, and halfway through their conversation, Steve said, “This is the sort of stuff no one ever talks about. These are the questions I’ve had for 30 years.”

Their fascinating talk takes in the beginning years of Devo’s existence; their complex relationship with Neil Young; Brian Eno’s proclivity for ménage à trois; the differences between poker and making records; and how the name Devo became a category alongside jocks, squares and nerds.

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—Elia Einhorn, Talkhouse Podcast host and producer

0:00 — Intro 1:01 — Start of the chat 1:14 — Introductions, names, and local sports 3:50 — On Devo straddling genres, their connection to Neil Young, and punk rock 8:14 — On the orthodoxy of punk rock culture, and reactions to politics and power structures 15:17 — On Devo’s connection to the experimental and underground scene 17:58 — On lying to club owners to book shows in the '70s 19:13 — On promoting Devo’s first albums, and Stiff Records 22:44 — On working with Brian Eno, their first major record deal, and meeting David Bowie 27:41 — On Devo controlling and developing their own sound 29:04 — On making “non-functional” experimental music versus dance music, and the role of taste in producing and creating 31:58 — On studio musicians working across genres 35:56 — On being compelled to create original art, regrets, and the paradox of the mainstream record industry 39:17 — On playing poker, and the psychological relationship between poker and creative personas 45:55 — On being an outsider, and Devo becoming “a badge of courage”

This episode was recorded by Keenan Kush at Desert Daze. It was co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.

Big thanks to Desert Daze for hosting the Talkhouse Podcast.

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