Mark Mothersbaugh

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.

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, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. He also wrote the theme song for the new Felix the Cat show for Film Roman, some music for Pee-Wee's Playhouse in 1990 and the theme song for The New Super Mario World 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, which stars Bill Paxton. 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.

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 3 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]

Soundtracks

Human Highway (1982) Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986) (TV) Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987) Slaughterhouse Rock (1988) Rugrats (1991) (TV) Liquid Television (1991) (TV) Davis Rules (1991) (TV) Sewer Shark (1992) (VG) Great Scott (1992) (TV) Frosty Returns (1992) (TV) Mann & Machine (1992) (TV) Beakman's World (1993) (TV) (theme) Bakersfield, P.D. (1993) (TV) South Beach (1993) (TV) Street Match (1993) (TV) Down on the Waterfront (1993) The New Age (1994) It's Pat (1994) Hotel Malibu (1994) TV Series Edith Ann: A Few Pieces of the Puzzle (1994) (TV) Santo Bugito (1995) (TV) Too Something (1995) (TV) If Not for You (1995) (TV) Strange Luck (1995) (TV) The Last Supper (1995) Sliders (1995) (TV) The Courtyard (1995) (TV) Dumb and Dumber (1995) (TV) Flesh Suitcase (1995) The Big Squeeze (1996) Class Reunion (1996) (TV) Bottle Rocket (1996) Happy Gilmore (1996) Crash Bandicoot (1996) (VG) Quicksilver Highway (1997) (TV) Fired Up (1997) (TV) Bongwater (1997)

Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (1997) Men (1997) Best Men (1997) Breaking Up (1997) Unwed Father (1997) (TV) Working (1997) (TV) (theme) Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (1997) (VG) The Rugrats Movie (1998) Halloweentown (1998) (TV) Rushmore (1998) Dead Man on Campus (1998) Principal Takes a Holiday (1998) (TV) Last Rites (1998) (TV) The Mr. Potato Head Show (1998) (TV) Stories from My Childhood (1998) (TV) Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (1998) (VG) All the Rage (1999) Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) Can of Worms (1999) (TV) 200 Cigarettes (1999) Interstate '82 (1999) (VG) Crash Team Racing (1999) (VG) Rocket Power (1999) (TV) (theme music) The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: The Visitors from Outer Space (1999) (V) Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) Tucker (2000) (TV) Grosse Pointe (2000) (TV) The Other Me (2000) (TV) Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000) (TV) The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000) Rugrats: All Growed Up! (2001) (TV) Sugar & Spice (2001) Camouflage (2001/I) Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex (2001) (VG) Glass, Necktie (2001) Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001) (VG) The Best of Nicktoons (2001) (TV)

Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge (2001) (TV) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) Rugrats: Still Babies After All These Years (2001) (TV) (for Mutato Muzika) Second String (2002) (TV) Cheats (2002) MDs (2002) (TV) Hidden Hills (2002) (TV) Welcome to Collinwood (2002) Sorority Boys (2002) Jak II (2003) (VG) Good Boy! (2003) All Grown Up (2003) (TV) The Even Stevens Movie (2003) (TV) Thirteen (2003) A Guy Thing (2003) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Jak 3 (2004) (VG) Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy (2004) (V) The Sims 2 (2004) (VG) Envy (2004) Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) The Complete Truth About De-Evolution (2004) (V) Music for Edward Gorey (?) The Ringer (2005) First Descent (2005) Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) Lords of Dogtown (2005) The Big White (2005) The Dog Problem (2006) Feed Me (2006) Eureka (2006) (TV) (Theme) How to Eat Fried Worms (2006) Big Love (2006) (TV) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales (2008-present) Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) Skate 3 (2010) Ramona and Beezus (2010) Regular Show (2010-) (TV) Catfish (2010) Glory Daze (2010–2011) (TV) Hawaiian Vacation (2011) Shameless (2011) (TV) Saving Private Perez (2011) Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)

Bibliography

• My Struggle (as Booji Boy)
• What I Know, Vol. 1
• Beautiful Mutants
• Rugrats (season 2-4 with Denis M. Hannigan) (Season 5-9 with Bob Mothersbaugh)

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)

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

External links

• Mark Mothersbaugh at the Internet Movie Database
• Video Interview with Mark
• Fecal Face Interview Jan 2008. Very in depth interview
• Video Podcast Interview by Weird America Podcast
• Interview, April 25, 2001 at liveDaily.com Retrieved September 5, 2007
• Professional Website
• "Devo Live Guide" – Comprehensive guide to Devo's live performances
• Extensive interview from 1998
• Visual art website and gallery
• Home Front Invasion-Wartime Interview with Mark Mothersbaugh by Orhan Ayyüce for Archinect, Dec.2007
• Mark Mothersbaugh at Allmusic

Persondata
Name	Mothersbaugh, Mark
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Date of birth	1950-05-18
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