| Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers | |
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"Jihad Jerry" (Gerald Casale) performing with Devo in San Francisco 2006 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | U.S.A. |
| Genres | Alternative |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Cordless Recordings |
| Website | [1] |
| Members | |
| Gerald Casale Bob Mothersbaugh Mark Mothersbaugh Bob Casale Geri Lynn Alex Brown Josh Freese |
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Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers is the solo project of Devo bassist and "chief strategist" Gerald Casale. It also includes contributions from Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob "1" Mothersbaugh, and his brother Bob "2" Casale. It also adds drummer Josh Freese, who had previously only worked with them when DEVO was on tour.
The band released a three song EP through the iTunes Music Store and other music download services titled Army Girls Gone Wild. A full-length album, Mine Is Not A Holy War was released in stores by Cordless Recordings on 12 September 2006. The album was released on iTunes on 22 August 2006. Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers play in a hard, blues-influenced style. Their debut album includes versions of several songs from the Hardcore Devo-era of Devo's recordings.
The project received little promotion, beyond a music video for the song "Army Girls Gone Wild." Jihad Jerry performed at several shows near the end of Devo's 2006 tour, performing the song "Beautiful World," and occasionally with other bands. Casale is quoted as saying "People are kind of freaked out by the Jihad Jerry stuff. I thought they’d all think it was really funny and get off on it but people are really offended and scared...I think that’s it. I don’t want them to have Jihad Jerry to kick around anymore!".[1] This would seem to indicate that the project is on indefinite hiatus.
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Jihad Jerry was born in Tehran, Iran while the Shah of Iran was still in power. His father was an Iranian barber and his mother was an Irish-American midwife. He attended a private co-ed school in the region where he earned good grades. Even foreigners took attention to young Jihad and he received an academic scholarship to the University of North Pittsburgh. However, he was not able to leave Iran to attend due to the recent revolution in 1979 lead by the Ayatollah Khomeini. He then found work as a rug salesman.
Unable to finish his education and trapped in a theocracy which he thought of as narrow-minded and sexually segregated, Jihad declared war on the prejudice and ignorance that had so wronged him. Music became his weapon. Eventually, he earned enough money to flee from Iran and settle in Yonkers, New York. There he had little success putting together a band. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, Jihad Jerry found new meaning to his message; "the enemy is not the Muslim, the Christian, or the Jew, but stupidity itself". His band "Jihad Jerry and the Evildoers" was soon formed.
First released November 8, 2005, the album and its content was available only by download. It contained early mixes of three songs that would later be put in the final full album (Mine is Not a Holy War). After the full album's release in 2006, Army Girls Gone Wild was discontinued.
First released on August 22, 2006 via download through iTunes. On September 12, 2006 it was released by Cordless Recordings on CD. Featuring remixed version of the original three songs, the album also included four reworked Devo songs: "Beehive," "I Been Refused," "Find Out" and "I Need a Chick." The album also featured a cover of The Yardbirds "He's Always There." "If the Shoe Fits" was previously heard that year on the CD by Devo 2.0 under the title "The Winner," featuring significantly different lyrics.