Earlier today, I chatted with Devo’s Jerry Casale. Here’s our full exchange:

1. Devo’s about to tour North America. What can we expect?

Well, for each set of dates we’re hoping to faithfully recreate Are We Not Men? & Freedom Of Choice, respectively. It’s basically the opposite of coming out with a new show. Next year, we’ll have a new look. That’ll be a new show. This is the wrap-up. We’re putting the past to bed. We’re literally playing every track in order. It’s very strange. Sort of like a re-birthing!

2. What’s your favorite city to perform in?

Los Angeles has always been incredible. It feels like home. San Francisco is right up there as well. Outside of the US: London & Barcelona.

Read the remainder of this interview AFTER THE JUMP…

3. What are your top few songs to play live?

Luckily, we were never a band that was trying to be trendy or write hits. We don’t ever resent playing our singles over & over because they’re fun. Of those songs, I’d choose: ‘Uncontrollable Urge’, ‘Gates Of Steel’, ‘Freedom Of Choice’, ‘Girl You Want’ & ‘Peek A Boo’.

4. How do you feel about Ohio’s musical landscape?

I think that in general, the music scene is not as cutting edge as it used to be because everybody is trying way too hard to fit into commercial models. I’m a little out of touch with the current local scene but the last band I enjoyed was Black Keys. I appreciate what they’re doing. It takes me back to back to what motivated us in first place. Devo was influenced by rural blues as well as R&B. You wouldn’t know it but that’s the truth!

5. What can you share about Devo’s forthcoming LP, Fresh?

We’re picking up where we left off. We re-listened to all of our stuff and thought about all of the things we liked best about what we did. We know that we can’t suddenly become someone else. We can only be Devo. And we want to be the best Devo that we can be! We wrote from that point of view. We took it back down to basic core things. We think it’s the best record that we’ve ever done although we’re not certain that Fresh will be the title. There are more good songs on this album than any other record that we’ve made. We’re aiming for a spring release. Our new tour will begin at Coachella (2010). Twenty five years ago, we started the concept of rear projection in sync with our live playing. It’s so much easier now with Pro Tools. We’ll do that again. Bold neo-pop collages. Both live action & stills. It’s a visual backdrop for us. A lot of people now use that, such as U2 & Nine Inch Nails. We don’t have their kind of dough but we can still outshine them.

6. What are your current musical obsessions?

I’m a little out of the loop but I like MSTRKRFT, The Ting Tings, The Kills & Datarock. I’m friends with the guys in Datarock. I also like the new remastered Kraftwerk album and some of MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular.

7. What’s the most over-asked question that you receive?

Ha! None really. Oh yes: ARE YOU NOT MEN? That is so silly.

8. Are there any misconceptions that you’d like to clear up?

We were never Nazis. We were never clowns. We weren’t making fun of anyone without making fun of ourselves. Now the devolution is real!

Vist Devo at their official site.

MP3: Devo – Satisfaction