Bob Mould co-founded cult punk band Hüsker Dü in 1979, breaking new ground in the 80s US hardcore scene. He went solo following their split in 1988, and released two introspective albums: Workbook and Black Sheets Of Rain.
In 1992 he formed the power trio Sugar. Their album was the landmark alt.rock classic Copper Blue, and that was followed in ’94 by File Under: Easy Listening. In ’96 he returned to his solo career and has released 12 albums in the past 30 years.
Last year, Bob Mould reunited with his Sugar bandmates to record new material for the first time since 1994. Both new tracks House Of Dead Memories and Long Live Love are out now. While a new Sugar album isn’t planned, he tells us “there’s a third song that I need to go back and revisit to see if there’s anything there”.
The first music I remember hearing
When I was three, it was the soundtrack to the 1956 movie Around The World In 80 Days. I remembered being fascinated by the artwork. There was this round twelve-inch piece of PVC, and if you put it on a record player and put the needle on it, this whole world comes to life! As a small child it was as if I’d opened a magic box or something.
The first song I performed live
I’m a self-taught musician. I would sit at the piano and figure out the melodies to pop songs on the radio. That was how I learned music, and that led to my parents buying me an Emenee plastic chord organ. When I was nine I wrote a song called Let Me Live Today and played it at a school talent show.
The greatest album of all time
Revolver. Pretty easy. You can hear Tomorrow Never Knows all over my work. And She Said She Said, the droning that’s in B. It’s a chord that I go to all the time and write in consistently. If you speed up She Said She Said and slow down Real Word by Hüsker Dü, you’ve got sort of the same song.
The singer
I was fortunate to be around Jeff Buckley when he was coming up during Live At Sin-é [’93] and his residencies in small clubs. We got to be friends. What a gifted singer. My enduring memory wasn’t at any shows, we were just hanging out in my living room and he said: “do you like Bad Brains?” Then he just dropped an a-capella version of Pay To Cum on me.
The guitar hero
Between Pete Townshend, Johnny Ramone and Johnny Thunders, I would go with Thunders. When I realised that Kiss lifted a fair bit of their stuff from the New York Dolls, I became in love with them. Thunders was the archetype of that swaggering, loose, blues-informed lead guitar playing. It was a pretty wild sound. So different to Johnny Ramone who used barre chords with insistent and focused playing. Townshend’s completely different again. But Richard Thompson is clearly the master!
The songwriter
Pete Townshend. The Who were such a big influence on my outlook on music. The first thing I heard by The Who was the single Happy Jack. Its crashing din and the story made me dig more into The Who. The rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia had a big impact on me – all before Hüsker’s Dü’s [1984 punk rock opera album] Zen Arcade.
The best cover version
Moby Grape’s Omaha by The Golden Palominos that Michael Stipe sang on. And Superman by R.E.M. I just went to see Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends where they do the R.E.M. albums. Each year they do a new album. They were doing Lifes Rich Pageant and Superman [originally by The Cliques] is the cover on that.
The best record I made
Workbook. I go back and forth between Workbook and Copper Blue. Zen Arcade was a big statement. It was the first of the three great albums I think we [Hüsker Dü] made. But Workbook was the beginning of life after Hüsker Dü, and it was a daunting proposition to consciously step away from a sound I made with that band and to look at songwriting from a completely different perspective.
The worst record I made
Modulate [solo album] in 2002 was by far the most confounding. When I stepped away from rock guitar and started living my gay life in gay New York in the late nineties, the soundtrack was electronic music, and that drew me in.
The most underrated band ever
Swervedriver. Early nineties band from Oxford in the UK. Mezcal Head – one of the best albums of all time! I first became familiar with their music in 1988 when I started a label with two other people called Singles Only Label. I think people who were fans of grunge like Soundgarden would be floored by Swervedriver.
The song I want played at my funeral
Love Will Tear Us Apart. What a sad, haunting song. Hüsker Dü were booked to open for Joy Division at Duffy’s in Minneapolis in 1980 but Ian Curtis passed on the eve of the tour. I loved that band so much. I lose my mind every time I hear a weird cover of it. Some things should just not be touched.
Sugar tour the UK from May 23. Copper Blue The Singles Collection and File Under: Easy Listening The Singles Collection are out now via BMG.
