By Ryan J. Prado
In the early 1980s, Hüsker Dü was a breath of fresh air for the then-fledgling hardcore punk rock scene of Minneapolis. With a threadbare, snarling, yet composed rock ‘n’ roll vitriol, the band—led by guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton and drummer Grant Hart—announced through grinding riffs and snarky confessionals what punk predecessors had only pin-pricked in the past. In the years prior to the band’s 1988 demise, Mould and company carved a defiant melodic bent to their craft, unwittingly influencing the coming onslaught of alternative rock that would define the late ‘80s and ‘90s.
But Hüsker Dü was mired with in-fighting, severe mainstream expectations, and even more severe drug and alcohol abuse—and that’s before mentioning that Mould and Hart were both semi-closeted gay men. Subsequent years proved that although Hüsker Dü’s legacy left a high watermark for punk and hardcore, it was in fact Mould’s personality, and capacities as a songwriter, that would ultimately persevere and carry his solo career to success.
Mould’s ninth solo album, Life and Times, released on Anti-Records in April, is a conceptually approached album, without the concept. Borne from free-verse lyricism, with music improvised later, the album is both one of the most revealing of Mould’s catalogue, and a conduit for awakening the ghosts of his initial post-Hüsker Dü output. Mould played every instrument on the album, save for the rock solid percussion of Superchunk’s Jon Wurster.
“I don’t think I was trying to recreate, but I knew the feel was similar,” Mould explained via telephone interview. The idea was to place himself in the writing mindset of his first solo album, Workbook, produced 20 years earlier.
“There’s a more confessional style, a little less pop and a little less rhyming, more of a short-story, or narrative approach, more of an improvisational approach with words,” he said.
Mould achieved some mainstream success with his band Sugar; the act scored a UK radio hit with the 1992 single “If I Can’t Change Your Mind” from its album Copper Blue. Sugar represented a more pop-oriented aesthetic than that of Mould’s hardcore and punk roots, ushering in a new artistic experimentation that he’s fostered ever since.
“On Life and Times,” began Mould, “a lot of the heat and a lot of the emphasis goes onto the story, so it becomes more of a lyrical approach. If I hold that up to Sugar—that was very much a power-pop, guitar riff-oriented band. A lot of times—not to the detriment of any of my songs—but a song like “Helpless” [also from Copper Blue] is more about the riff than it is about the story.”
Mould’s sexual orientation was thrust into the spotlight in 1994 in an article by Spin magazine. The publication presented Mould with an infamous ultimatum: Out yourself, or we will.
Mould said that he never feared a backlash from his fans. Besides, most of them already knew he was gay.
“The only fallout that I thought would happen, and that really happened, was a little bit with the commercial radio world,” explained Mould. “I sort of felt it in the south in a couple places. There was one station that had made some kind of comment —I don’t have the specifics on it—but it was sort of a ‘we really don’t wanna play that kind of music...’
“If I had been thinking, I would have done it myself sooner,” said Mould. “I cooperated, I just felt the article didn’t really represent the thoughts I was trying to get across. There’s no good way [to do it]. What’s done is done; I look back and laugh on it now. It’s sort of hilarious.”
Mould’s presence in the gay community can most visibly—and aurally—be found in his monthly gay dance party, “Blowoff.” The electronic-meets-rock gathering is held once a month in Washington, D.C. (Mould’s home base), once a month in New York City, and every two months in San Francisco and Chicago. The party has become a national success, and has also steered Mould away from his former predilection for infusing electro into his solo output—a move that alienated some longtime Mould fans with records like 2002’s beat-heavy Modulate.
“Blowoff is definitely an equal outlet for me these days,” explained Mould. “I think now that I have an outlet for that side of my musical sensibility, it is showing up a little bit less in my work.”
Mould is in the final stages of finishing up an autobiography with help from rock journalist and musician Michael Azzerad, due for publication in early 2011. The process has been an eye-opener for Mould, but one he hopes to venture into again—that is, if his memory holds up.
“When writing music, or with painting or any expressive arts, there’s so much latitude,” said Mould. “Things can be blurry and you can call it art.
“It does seem like it might be a little premature because I trust that I will have plenty of good years of work left ahead of me,” he added. “I’m getting older and I’m gonna forget this stuff. I think that’s part of the desire to get it done now, while I can still remember most of it.”
The Bob Mould Band, with special guest Spiral Stairs, plays at 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 16 at the Doug Fir, 830 E. Burnside, $18 advance, $20 day of show, ticketswest.com. Check out blogout.justout.com for a full transcript of Prado’s chat with Mould.
