Mark and his musical factory

Even on an eclectic stretch like Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, it’s hard to miss the Mutato Muzika office.

The building is squat and round, painted lime green. It looks like a flying saucer about to lift off.

Mark Mothersbaugh always had his eye on it, and when the tenant left, he bought the property. It’s now one of the busiest musical factories in Hollywood.

Chances are you’ve heard Mothersbaugh’s work, but how depends on your age and taste.

Rock fans saw him bounce around in a yellow jumpsuit and red dome as a member of Devo. Kids giggle to his music in “Rugrats.” Teens hear it while immersed in PlayStation games.

And moviegoers can hear it in the background during such films as “Thirteen” and the upcoming “Lords of Dogtown” and “Herbie: Fully Loaded.”

In a business that rarely allows for more than one, the 54-year-old Mothersbaugh has lived several lives.

“There are still people who are clients of mine and don’t really know about Devo,” he says. “They’ll be walking in the office and see the platinum records and go, ‘Oh, I remember them vaguely. My dad was into that band.’ “

Mothersbaugh’s musical journey began more than three decades ago back home in Akron, Ohio. He and a fellow Kent State University art student, Jerry Casale, formed Devo in the early 1970s. Devo was short for devolution, the idea that man was devolving into its monkey state.

“It gave us sort of a methodology for writing music,” he says. “It gave us a way to talk about the things that we were concerned about and curious about and still be writing music.”

Devo had an early MTV hit with “Whip It” and some other smaller successes like “Beautiful World,” recently featured in a Target ad. But the gas ran out in the mid-1980s.

Mothersbaugh’s most depressing moment came during a European tour where he needed hours a day with a vaporizer to keep from losing his voice. Someone brought a tape of the rock documentary spoof “This is Spinal Tap” on the bus, and he realized he’d lived most of the scenes.

“It’s really cool when you’re 20; it’s a really great job,” he says. “When you’re 30, you’re thinking it’s time to move on; and when you’re 40, shame on you. If you’re 50 and you’re doing it, you’re just pathetic, I think.”

Mothersbaugh had moved to Los Angeles shortly after Devo began recording. He was intrigued when a friend, Paul Reubens, asked if he would write a theme song for a new show he was working on. Mothersbaugh provided the music for “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.”

He was hired to provide music for “Rugrats” after a producer heard a solo album he had written called “Music for Insomniacs.”

“Why do you want to use my song?” Mothersbaugh asked.

“Because it’s childish and simplistic,” the producer replied.

His music is often bouncy and fun, although slightly skewed – making him a natural for a new generation of children’s television producers.

He’s written bebop jazz, worked with a 100-piece orchestra, seen heroes like Willie Nelson sing his songs. Even O.J. Simpson sang one of his songs, called “We’re All Winners.”

Movie soundtrack work followed. Mothersbaugh is a particular favorite of director Wes Anderson, and he’s worked on a few of Anderson’s films: “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “Rushmore.”

Mutato Muzika has also done commercial work. Mothersbaugh recently composed a piece for a Burger King chicken sandwich spot. Devo fans will enjoy the irony: the band’s first album included a mocking recitation of a Burger King theme song at the time.

Devo still gets together on occasion, performing pretty much the same show it did back in 1977 with some highlights of the years afterward.

“We’re more like weekend warriors at this point,” Mothersbaugh says.

“Admittedly, it’s different being 50 years old and doing it. With those yellow, baggy suits we used to wear, we always kind of looked like cheeseburgers. Now we just look like double cheeseburgers.”