"It was like I was writing music on a riding lawnmower, and then stepped into a luxury car. It cleared the pathway between my brain and the speakers," says the former Devo frontman.

In the late 70s, Mothersbaugh and Devo began creating rhythmically spastic, intellectually stimulating electronic pop that would help define the sound of new wave music. At the time, however, Mothersbaugh didnt appreciate the musics impact.

"I always felt a little disappointed because I think we worked things over too much in the studio. The albums were slicker than our demos, but something got lost in the translation. I like our studio sound now because we didnt sound like anyone else."

It's been more than a decade since Devo's last studio album, but Mothersbaugh didn't stop making music. In 1990 he founded Mutato Muzika, a recording studio and music production company where fellow Devo expatriates Bob Mothersbaugh (Mark's brother) and Bob Casale also work.

Over the years, Mutato Muzika has been involved in several high profile projects. Its musical fingerprints are all over the music in the Pee Wee's Playhouse and Rugrats television series; Rushmore and Happy Gilmore films; numerous television commercials and a growing number of video games.

Working together led to playing together for Mark and the two Bobs. The trio reformed the Wipeouters, a pre-Devo surf-rock group they formed while growing up in Akron, Ohio. This spring, the Wipeouters released "P Twaaang," a giddy combination of surf and garage rock. "After working all day on separate projects, we would all work on these tunes together. It was nice to be doing music for the fun of it again. I think that comes across in the record1s sound."