Our Story

So what’s the story about these Spudboys?...

In short, the Spudboys are five guys who happen to be musicians that are separated by geography, disparate in age group, yet united in their respect and admiration for Devo. Now, of course there’s much more to the story than that, so here is the longer version which is decidedly devoid of plastic reality:

The story of the Spudboys is related to the creation of the DEVOtionals, which is also related the formation of Spud Talk...

On the heels of the DEVO performances at the Lollapalooza festivals in 1997, the seed was planted in Scott Orsi to help further the de-evolutionary cause by bringing likeminded Devo fans together in an Internet group with a sense of purpose. A community where Spuds could converse and congregate, without the SPAM and otherwise impersonal bantering of a newsgroup. Thus, Spud Talk was born on April 21, 1999. Now this was a good first step, but where to go from there?

As time passed, the list membership steadily grew, and members became more acquainted with each other, even if only via e-mail. The idea of a fan gathering was posted in the fall of 1999, and proposed again in early 2000, but serious discussion of acting on this idea didn’t happen until May of 2000. Step number one was to determine how many Spuds were serious and brave enough to actually commit to attending. Once interest from the list members and other fans was confirmed, there was plenty more to consider, and the basic where, when, what, who, and how of this idea was belabored for many weeks. One thing that was decided early on was the event, if it was to have any foundation or longevity, had to deliver guests, entertainment, information, in person or video presentations from the beloved, interesting eye candy of Devolved artifacts, and seemingly most important… could not be called a “Devo Convention”. Day one Spud Talker, and uber Devo collector Michael Pilmer stepped up to the plate to volunteer as the main organizer for this first gathering.

The location chosen was Cleveland, OH in August of that year. The honorable SubGenius Reverend Toth Wilder offered local guidance with selecting a venue, while conversing with Michael and Scott frequently as the particulars were brainstormed. The name of the event had still yet to be determined, but many names were being tossed around (“Devo Fest” & “Devovention” to name a couple), when Michael had a conversation with Gerald V. Casale in late June. He offered “Friends of Devo – Day of Atonement”. Hearing this and contemplating, on July 5th Scott had a suggestion for a name, which Michael and Toth agreed would serve as a good prefix title to the theme of this years’ and years to come gatherings…DEVOtional. Thus, DEVOtional 2000 – Day of Atonement was decided as the moniker for the inaugural event. Michael went about securing guests, Devo artifacts and paraphernalia, giveaways, tickets, etc, while Toth worked on securing the venue, and local bands to perform. Scott kept track of attendees and communication thereto, and determined one vital thing was still missing… a Devo tribute performance. Thus began the search for such a band.

As it turns out, there were members of Spud Talk who were former members of a Boston, MA based tribute band, Duty Now For The Future. Kelly Bray, Mark Fields, and Peter DeVincent. However, the band was short a lead guitarist, and keyboardist, which meant new members had to be recruited. Spud Talker Will Irvine volunteered for the guitarist’s role, and Scott Orsi joined as the keyboardist. Duty Now For The Future – Mach II was born.

We had a rehearsal of sorts in the basement of the venue just prior to our performance. None of us were even sure how we’d sound, as before this night only three members had actually played in a band together. A set list was hammered out, and we took the stage. Amazingly enough, we were pretty tight and our renditions were on the mark. The dedicated attendees who stayed through to our performance end seemed genuinely pleased.

Forward to DEVOtional 2001- We Must Repeat, which was organized by Scott Orsi. The plan was for a repeat performance by Duty Now For The Future – Mach II. However, as Kelly and Peter could not attend, a musician mutation in the lineup was called for, as was a new band name. Thus, the initial performance and birth of the Spudboys. The quintet became a quartet, and Scott took over front man duties, while fellow Spud Talker Rick Harris was called upon for drums.

Once again we were forced to utilize the basement for same day rehearsal purposes. This presented a particular challenge as the set list called for a few sequenced songs, and the dynamics of playing live to those tracks had not been run through. This resulted in some glitches in our set, but we pulled off the vast majority of the songs successfully. It was also at this DEVOtional that the DEV-O-ke songs were introduced. Basically, this was an idea proposed by Scott to allow attending spuds to sing/perform their chosen Devo song with our musical accompaniment. (There’s nothing like a little audience participation in a show to make it more enjoyable for all) This also had the effect of allowing us to play songs as a foursome that were otherwise designed for a five member performance.
 

Onward to DEVOtional 2002 – Dare to Declare, which was organized by Joe Machos. The Spudboys were granted a return engagement. At this point, we’d pretty much earned DEVOtional house band status. As you might guess by now, some issue would surface to challenge the arrangement. This year it was the inability of Rick to return as drummer. Fortunately, a more than suitable replacement was found amongst the Spud Talk ranks, Nick Ciasullo. We forged ahead, and this time we even had a formal rehearsal the day prior to the event! As a result we delivered a tighter, more energetic, and even longer set at the DEVOtional which was well received.



That brings us to DEVOtional 2003 – The Super Thing. The event location changed to Akron, O-Hi-O, and the main organizer was Rev. Toth Wilder. As the venue also changed, there was no day before access, and we were resigned to having an early morning rehearsal after set up on the same day as the DEVOtional. The stakes went up for our gig dramatically this time, as none other than Mr. Gerald V. Casale would be joining us for a song or two! We also decided to change our look for the performance. Taking a cue from the Devo performance at Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam in Anaheim, CA in 2002, Nick found a vendor to put a “chrome” coating on the Energy Domes. This gave them a distinctive metallic look, and a more uniform finish than the Mylar draped versions the beloved had introduced at the 10/26/02 show. To accompany the Chrome Domes, Scott designed our official logo and shirt, which was embossed with silver metallic lettering. Our set was shortened due to the lateness of the hour when we finally took the stage. No matter, this was our best performance yet; and coupled with the honor of performing on stage with the Chief Strategist, and co-founding father of the De-evolution band made this a night none of us will ever forget!
 

At the official launching of this site, we stood poised for another performance at DEVOtional 2005- Time Out For Fun. In fact, that year we had a performance the previous day at the ECC, which was directly across from the Mark Mothersbaugh Gallery exhibition that evening in Kent, OH. We also added a fifth member of the band, Booji Boy’s Basement co-founder and fellow Spud Talker Alex Brunelle, who served as a much needed rhythm guitarist and part-time keyboardist. It was at the DEVOtional 2005 performance that we introduced the black Tyvek suits with metal tape, which Scott painstakingly designed. Modeled after the 1980 Freedom of Choice tour suits, it turns out that painting white Tyvek black is no easy task, even with special plastic paint. Most importantly, both performances went off very well, and were equally as well received.

We’ve been asked, and would love to get together and perform more often, but as stated earlier we are separated by where we reside, and the economics of touring are also prohibitive. However, rest assured the Spudboys never have, and never will be about commerce. We are first and foremost true Devo fans whose genetic imperative is to carry out their message as best as we can. “We we’re picked in a random way to be singin’, dancin’ fools, and we’re Agitated!" So long as the DEVOtionals continue, we're most certainly Here To Go! Here’s hoping you’ll come along for the ride.

Now it has been told.

Spudboys