Growing up, 55-year-old Josh Hager was more of a shred-head than a New Wave fanatic. But he’s diverse as a player, having recorded with former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp and with his own band, the Elevator Drops, neither of which involves heavy metal or shred.
This, along with the fact that his brother was the soundman for Devo, and that Hager had worked with Devo bassist Gerald Casale, made him the right man to replace Bob Casale in Devo when the rhythm maestro passed in 2014.
“Bob was a really great player,” Hager tells Guitar World. “He was also a great musician. A lot of the parts he came up with have me needing to pinch myself some nights. Even now, I’ll be doing a show, and I’ll be like, ‘I’m playing with Devo. I never would have imagined this.’” [Laughs]
Devo’s lead guitarist, Bob Mothersbaugh, will be the first to tell you that Casale’s parts in, say, the band’s cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” are murder on one’s hands.
Hager nods in agreement, saying, “I’m a tighter player now. I’m better, and I think more outside the box.”
And while Casale, a song-based rhythm player first and foremost, might have seemed primitive, Hager counters that his style was anything but.
“Those parts aren’t as easy as you’d think,” he says. “With his downstrokes, they’re mechanical, right, fast and have one Fender sound. You need to have that be as accurate as they can be – and you need to be respectful.”
Speaking of “respect,” in true Devo tradition, Hager has adopted a host of weird 6-string creations.
“First, I had a Gibson L6-S,” he says. “And then Fender made me my J2V2, the yellow guitar. And it’s cool because it has copies of the pickups Bob used for ‘Whip It,’ which was a Les Paul Custom from the ’70s.”
With Netflix’s Devo documentary bringing newfound notoriety to the band, Hager is preparing to hit the road with Devo in the spring of 2026 for the Mutate, Don’t Stagnate tour. Beyond that, it’s wait and see.
“We’ve got a lot of touring to do,” he says. “It’s back on the road, and maybe I’ll have time for some solo stuff, too.”
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![When I found myself in the middle of the action ending in the murder of 4 unarmed students by the National Guard on May 4th 1970 at Kent State University, I thought I had survived the absolute worst time in US history. Today, in 2026, I can honestly admit that I was wrong:_____________________________We were trapped. I turned around and looked back up the hill and here they are. They’ve come up the hill and they amassed there. They stopped and they lowered their rifles. We think, “OK, this is where they march at you with their bayonets horizontal and scare the fuck out of you so that they’re going to herd you across this parking lot and arrest us over there.” We thought it was a power game.But they weren’t moving. I remember thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what they’re doing.” They all have gas masks on and you can’t hear anything clearly, but I saw somebody in charge yelling at these 2 lines of National Guardsmen, and then he made a hand gesture.That is when they started shooting.For a moment, time stood still. It was like a Scorsese film, like Raging Bull, where suddenly Jake LaMotta is getting hit in the face and it goes into slow motion. And then it snaps back just like a Hollywood movie, and, bang! Back to real time. Here’s the blood, the screaming, the crying, the chaos …I turn around and I see a guy on his belly on the road. People are starting to gather around, and there’s blood running out of his head and neck area. The blood is glistening in the noon sun.I realize it’s Jeff Miller.About 30 seconds later, I realize there are people screaming, “Allison! Allison!”4 dead. 9 wounded. One paralyzed for life._____________________________[written by Gerald V. Casale, excerpted from: @rollingstone]](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6739694847465329401938_0_92ab304a8727a3e2443b863c4754bf08.jpg?o=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&h=3771603e3d5b6ddcf8c8be0eece71f90)
![Growing up, 55-year-old Josh Hager was more of a shred-head than a New Wave fanatic. But he’s diverse as a player, having recorded with former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp and with his own band, the Elevator Drops, neither of which involves heavy metal or shred.This, along with the fact that his brother was the soundman for Devo, and that Hager had worked with Devo bassist Gerald Casale, made him the right man to replace Bob Casale in Devo when the rhythm maestro passed in 2014.“Bob was a really great player,” Hager tells Guitar World. “He was also a great musician. A lot of the parts he came up with have me needing to pinch myself some nights. Even now, I’ll be doing a show, and I’ll be like, ‘I’m playing with Devo. I never would have imagined this.’” [Laughs]Devo’s lead guitarist, Bob Mothersbaugh, will be the first to tell you that Casale’s parts in, say, the band’s cover of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” are murder on one’s hands.Hager nods in agreement, saying, “I’m a tighter player now. I’m better, and I think more outside the box.”And while Casale, a song-based rhythm player first and foremost, might have seemed primitive, Hager counters that his style was anything but.“Those parts aren’t as easy as you’d think,” he says. “With his downstrokes, they’re mechanical, right, fast and have one Fender sound. You need to have that be as accurate as they can be – and you need to be respectful.”Speaking of “respect,” in true Devo tradition, Hager has adopted a host of weird 6-string creations.“First, I had a Gibson L6-S,” he says. “And then Fender made me my J2V2, the yellow guitar. And it’s cool because it has copies of the pickups Bob used for ‘Whip It,’ which was a Les Paul Custom from the ’70s.”With Netflix’s Devo documentary bringing newfound notoriety to the band, Hager is preparing to hit the road with Devo in the spring of 2026 for the Mutate, Don’t Stagnate tour. Beyond that, it’s wait and see.“We’ve got a lot of touring to do,” he says. “It’s back on the road, and maybe I’ll have time for some solo stuff, too.”posted by: @guitarworldmagazine](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6739231335634316726720_0_ab0e690e84ca3070125f61f7509b7339.jpg?o=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&h=cd52eb6d98dba83596ce6ba38e1b66d5)
