Mark Mothersbaugh

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Mark Mothersbaugh

Mothersbaugh in concert, 2006
Background information
Birth name Mark Allen Mothersbaugh
Born May 18, 1950 (1950-05-18) (age 61)
Origin Akron, Ohio, U.S.
Occupations Musician, Singer, Composer, Painter
Instruments Vocals, Synthesizer, Guitar, Keyboards, Minimoog, Mellotron, Omnichord
Years active 1972–present
Associated acts Devo

Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (pronounced /ˈmʌðərzbɔː/; born May 18, 1950) is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games.

Contents

[edit] Career

Mothersbaugh attended Kent State as an art student, where he met Devo co-founders Jerry Casale and Bob Lewis. In early 1970, Lewis and Casale formed the idea of the "devolution" of the human race; Mothersbaugh, intrigued by the concept, joined them, building upon it with elements of early poststructuralist ideas and oddball arcana, most notably unearthing the infamous Jocko-Homo Heavenbound pamphlet (the basis for the song). This culminated in 1973, when the trio started to play music as Devo.

Since Devo, Mothersbaugh developed a successful career writing musical scores for film and television. In film, Mothersbaugh has worked frequently with filmmaker Wes Anderson, and scored most of his feature films (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou).[1]

His music has been a staple of the children's television shows Rugrats, Beakman's World, Santo Bugito and Clifford the Big Red Dog. He also wrote the new theme song for the original Felix the Cat show when it was sold to Broadway Video, some music for Pee-Wee's Playhouse in 1990 and the theme song for the Super Mario World TV series for DiC Entertainment in 1991.

Mothersbaugh and Casale have also produced much of Toni Basil's music.

Mothersbaugh is also known for his music in video games including Sony's Crash Bandicoot series, the Jak and Daxter series, and EA Games's The Sims 2. This work is often performed with Mutato Muzika, the music production company he formed with several other former members of Devo including his brother, Bob Mothersbaugh.

Mothersbaugh composed "Having Trouble Sneezing", the distinctive music heard in the award-winning "Get a Mac" commercials for Apple Inc.[2]

Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score for the first season of the television series Big Love. Mark Mothersbaugh was replaced after one season by David Byrne of Talking Heads. Mark Mothersbaugh also composed the theme music for the American television show Eureka broadcast on the SyFy channel.

He currently hosts a drawing segment on Nick Jr's television series, Yo Gabba Gabba! called Mark's Magic Pictures, teaching children how to draw simple pictures that often come alive at the end of the segment. He also currently composes the score of the Cartoon Network TV series Regular Show, whose style and attitude is partly an homage to the Wes Anderson films Mark has worked on.

[edit] Personal life

At the age of seven, he was taken to the optometrist, where he obtained his first pair of glasses and saw the world properly for the first time. He designs his own distinctive eyewear and they are made for him by a Los Angeles, California shop called LA Eyeworks.[3]

After truly "experiencing" the world for the first time when his vision was corrected, Mothersbaugh started to draw, and his second grade teacher praised his work. That same night he had dreamed of being a famous artist. In addition to music, Mothersbaugh still paints – in a style influenced by surrealism and Andy Warhol.

He graduated from Woodridge High School of Peninsula, Ohio.

Mothersbaugh has been married to his wife Anita since the early '90s and they have two adopted daughters, Hope and Margaret. They all share three pugs.

Mark Mothersbaugh was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2004 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.[4]

On May 10, 2008, Mothersbaugh was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Kent State University.[5]

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Solo Discography

  • Muzik for Insomniacs (Cassette, 1987)
    • Later released on CD as Muzik for Insomniacs, Vol. 1 and Muzik for Insomniacs, Vol. 2 in 1988 by Rykodisc
  • Muzik for the Gallery (LP, 1987)
  • Joyeux Mutato (CD 1999)
  • The Most Powerful Healing Muzik in the Entire World (6-CD Set, 2005)

[edit] References

  1. ^ "IMDB". http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006205/. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 
  2. ^ Roberts, Randall (2007-12-07). "Are You Not Devo? You Are Mutato". LA Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2007-12-06/music/are-you-not-devo-you-are-mutato/. Retrieved 2008-10-31. 
  3. ^ Peskowitz, Josh (2010-06-11). "Eye Glasses of the Day: Mark Mothersbaugh's". Esquire. http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/eye-glasses-of-the-day-061110. Retrieved 2010-06-20. 
  4. ^ "BMI Hands Out Over 100 Awards at Annual Film/TV Gala". bmi.com. http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/234057. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
  5. ^ "Muzika Mutato". http://www.mutato.com/.  Mothersbaugh's professional website

[edit] External links

Devo
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilation albums
EPs
Singles
Home video releases
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