June 22, 2015
In The Mix

The Mood Dude

No flower-pot hats required in Mark Mothersbaugh's new gig.

Jon Matsumoto

As the frontman for Devo, the new-wave band that scored a hit in 1980 with the synthesizer-heavy single “Whip It,” Mark Mothersbaugh urged on fans to whip it/whip it good.

Devo continues to perform and record sporadically as a legacy band, but in his current musical career, Mothersbaugh is focused on composing for the screen. He regularly writes scores for television, film and video games; some of his current TV work includes Showtime’s House of Lies, Cartoon Network’s Regular Show and the new Fox comedy The Last Man on Earth.

Mothersbaugh finds soundtrack work artistically invigorating, particularly compared to toiling in a touring rock band.

“Just turn on the radio and skim through what’s popular,” he says. “All that music sounds much more similar than it does dissimilar. In film music — and especially television music — you can take even wider steps out of what is considered the norm and nobody blinks an eye. The music isn’t overly scrutinized, but it’s very influential on the end product.”

Working with producers and directors with whom he shares a worldview can facilitate his job, Mothersbaugh adds, because grappling with music on purely a verbal level can be difficult. Such is the working relationship with Last Man executive producers Chris Miller and Phil Lord, with whom he previously teamed on such projects as The Lego Movie.

The composer — who is also a visual artist with work currently on tour of various U.S. museums — believes his role is to enhance coherency and mood in film and television projects.

“You’re at the very end [of the creative process],” he explains. “So you’re applying all the details and tying scenes together either thematically or dramatically through music. I really like that part of my job.”

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