442 - Devo - Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! - Josh Freese
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EPISODE SUMMARY:
Never meet you heroes or you'll just end up disappointed. That's what people say, or at least what some people say. Clearly no one ever shared that particular aphorism with Josh Freese, otherwise he wouldn't have been so obviously eager in one notorious photo taken backstage at at DEVO concert one fateful night in 1996. Surely, coming face-to-face with a band whose songs you practiced your instrument to as a child in your parents' basement is an exhilarating experience. But Josh wasn't just meeting the art punk pioneers he had been adoring since hearing their debut album Q: Are We Men Not Men? A: We Are DEVO! nearly twenty years earlier. He had already established himself as one of the most talented and in-demand drummers in the world, having worked with other acts such as The Vandals, A Perfect Circle and Sting. Josh was being invited to join DEVO as their permanent drummer, an incomparable pleasure he has enjoyed ever since.
SHOW NOTES:
00:30 – Intro
11:44 – Only your own taste to go off
15:30 – Pop culture iconography
20:45 – When the fan becomes the expert
28:00 – On tour, but not a tourist
32:00 – Learning about your own success in a magazine
37:45 – Twelve-year-old waterbed owner
42:00 – The apple sometimes does fall far from the tree
46:15 – Two houses and one pair of pants
54:15 – Never play drums for people you hate
59:30 – Facts!
1:02:00 – The greatest crowdfunding campaign in history
1:07:15 – Outro