However a few of singer/guitarist Bob Mould‘s greatest music occurred after Hüsker Dü – as evidenced by his work with Sugar and as a solo artist all through the ’90s. And he continues to supply up memorable and impressed music to today, as evidenced by his fifteenth solo effort general, Right here We Go Loopy.
Mould spoke with AllMusic a month earlier than the March 7, 2025 launch of Right here We Go Loopy, and was up for having a look again all through his profession, in addition to the story behind his newest solo effort.
It has been 4 years between Right here We Go Loopy and your final launch, Blue Hearts. Why so lengthy?
“I believe, like a lot of the world, I received slightly knocked off my regular cycle. Usually, my cycles for my total grownup life, give or take a number of months right here and there, is months of writing a report, then a time period to report a report, then, {that a} bizarre time period the place I’ve turned in my homework, however no person will get to have a look at it. And that is the interval that you just and I are in at the moment – the press and the all that stuff. After which there’s the discharge, after which there is a tour. So, Blue Hearts had a plan that was constructed precisely that manner, however with out touring, every little thing type of froze in place.”
“I’m the type of musician who actually appreciates performing and getting suggestions on new materials, and I type of misplaced that a part of my MO for what, a few yr and a half. I do not suppose I used to be in a position to get out and do exhibits till the autumn of ’21. So, spending a lifetime in that type of repetitive cycle and having it damaged, I used to be slightly bit little bit misplaced with, ‘I ponder if these things’s any good?’ That final little little bit of suggestions was lacking. I used to be writing by way of ’20 and ’21 with some combined outcomes. I used to be a bit preoccupied with different stuff. Y’know, staying alive I assume being the primary one. So I believe that is a part of the drag in time.”
“I imply, I believe the stuff that I used to be writing throughout that interval wasn’t…I had a pair good songs – ‘Respiration Room’ was an early track, ‘When Your Coronary heart Is Damaged’ was a fairly early track. But it surely wasn’t top quality output all the best way round. Simply in a time like that, I’ve discovered from expertise, in the event you rush it, it is in all probability not going to be your greatest work. So, simply wait. Simply preserve working and it will all come into focus. And thru ’22 and thru ’23, I used to be out doing a whole lot of solo electrical work and attempting out new stuff.”
“Form of rebuilding that reference to the viewers and getting a very good sense of how Blue Hearts hit them, how the brand new materials that I used to be taking part in was becoming subsequent to the catalog. And that was the type of stuff that was lacking. So once I was getting that, then every little thing begins to line up slightly bit higher. I do know that is an excellent lengthy reply to a quite simple query, nevertheless it was a protracted break. I used to be tremendous busy with touring in ’22/’23, and a good bit of ’24. It is simply now that it feels just like the cycles are again. The cycle, so to talk, is again in place.”
Let’s focus on the observe “Right here We Go Loopy” and its video.
“The video was shot and directed by a gentleman named Gus Black. And the brand new report firm, nicely, the brand new guardian firm, BMG, had labored with Gus previously. I noticed a bunch of his work and actually related with it. And Gus and I talked for like an hour and mentioned, ‘Yeah, let’s attempt to make this video. Let’s do that, and do that, and perhaps try this if we now have slightly additional time.’ We shot every little thing within the totally different desert areas in Southern California. And I believe Gus did an incredible job. It is a very cool video. I had a whole lot of enjoyable working with him.”
“The track itself, nicely, it is the title observe. And very similar to the title observe from Sunshine Rock, or the title observe from Sgt. Pepper, it was…because the recording was wrapping up, it turned fairly clear to me that that could be the opening for the report. I had different songs in thoughts to be the opener, however that one turned out actually nice, and it felt like one of the simplest ways to introduce folks to the remainder of the album. To type of set a time and a spot and a location and a sentiment. It is identical to that, ‘We hope you’ll benefit from the present’ type of factor.”
“When Your Coronary heart Is Damaged” I assumed is a standout observe on the album, too.
“That is a very good one. That is an instantaneous traditional for me, proper? Mid-tempo, super-pop catchy guitars with super-depressing lyrics. [Laughs] That is type of my specialty, I assume. However ‘Right here We Go Loopy’ is fascinating, as a result of it is a whole lot of like, small snapshots of what I have been as much as the previous few years, and issues that I am simply attempting to type of set this huge open house for folks. And simply displaying folks bodily areas, specific objects that come to thoughts, recurring themes.”
“The title is, gosh, perhaps I ought to put a slogan mark on ‘Right here We Go Loopy,’ in order that some chain restaurant would not steal it. [Laughs] But it surely’s a type of titles, proper? It is a good one and who knew by placing out the observe on January eighth, that it could be considerably well timed in a normal sense. I did not see that coming.”
I’ve all the time discovered the ’90s to be a really fascinating a part of your profession, together with Sugar and your solo work. What do you recall about that period specifically?
“If I have a look at ’89/’90 – Workbook and Black Sheets of Rain –Workbook was undoubtedly an announcement of intent. ‘I’m not simply the man from Hüsker Dü.’ Black Sheets to me was type of a reimagining of what [bassist] Tony Maimone and the late [drummer] Anton Fier delivered to Workbook, and what all of the touring from Workbook received us to this heavier, louder model. And that was Black Sheets. And after that report ran its course and I parted methods with Virgin Data, the objective in 1991 to me was to simply begin writing what I hoped could be the most effective report I might presumably write.”
“I used to be on the highway, consistently doing solo acoustic exhibits. I might play for 3 weeks and check out new materials. I would go house for a pair weeks, write extra stuff. I would return out for an additional three weeks. And this was all type of planting seeds for what was to return. That is the figuring out the fabric in entrance of the folks to gauge what’s good and what’s not. After which by the top of ’91 it turned clear to me which report firms would have an interest, what sort of construction would work.”
“And January ’92 is me and David Barbe and Malcolm Travis – the three of us rehearsing and studying 30 songs at the back of a tire store in Downtown Athens, Georgia, with the intent of creating the third Bob Mould solo album. And we received requested to do a present at 40 Watt the night time earlier than we began heading as much as suburban Boston, to report the album. And determined we must always give it a band title, and we got here up with the title Sugar. That is type of how that each one began.”
“The following three years was a whirlwind. I knew Copper Blue and Beaster had been actually good information. I did not foresee being the beneficiary of, y’know, I assume the wave of grunge that actually picked up steam when Nevermind got here out. And I believe, type of ‘reverse engineering’ why that report was profitable – it could take you to the Pixies, that may take you to Hüsker Dü. As like, only a small share of what made that report nice. I believe the roads had been already paved in a manner.”
“I didn’t see the moment success of Sugar because it was occurring. I imply, the second I assume I knew, was we did a pair exhibits in London in late July/early August of ’92, and one among them was at ULU – the College of London Scholar Union Constructing. And it was only a utterly unhinged, insane present. Elements of the PA falling into the gang, nutty stage diving – simply insanity that I hadn’t seen in years. And I might type of really feel it – ‘That is taking off, and we’ve not even put the report out.’ In order that was fairly thrilling.”
“We ran laborious and quick. In ’94, the recording of File Below Simple Listening, I used to be working so quick that I did not have a very superb report written. However, we went with what we had. After which by the top of ’94, the band was wrapping up. And I believe our final present was in Sendai, Japan in January of ’95. After which I retreated quietly, realizing that that mission was carried out. I stored writing music. Recorded an album – a few of it at house, a few of it in a small studio in Austin – and that turned the eponymous album that a whole lot of us name Hubcap.”
“I didn’t intend to tour on that report. The ask from Pete Townshend to open a pair exhibits of his in New York within the spring of ’96 received me fascinated by getting out and dealing once more, and went out and did a whole lot of solo touring. After which ’98 was The Final Canine and Pony Present, and by the point I received there, I used to be beginning to get stressed for one thing new in my very own life. Not my skilled life, however my private life. I had moved again to New York Metropolis and was integrating with the LGBTQ neighborhood greater than I ever had. So I used to be enriching my life in that path, and thought, ‘Perhaps this might be a very good time to cease being solely the rock man who’s on the highway in a van for his complete life.'”
“And in order that that notion of stepping away from rock touring with that report, that was 100% in earnest, that I simply felt like, ‘I am gonna take a break right here, and I am gonna construct this different life that I by no means actually took the time to construct.’ I believe that is it in a nutshell. There’s the professional wrestling stuff within the fall of ’99 by way of spring of 2000 – that type of ran parallel to my homosexual life in New York, my curiosity in digital music. Loads of issues had been shifting. To go write professional wrestling [music] and begin writing digital music, that ultimately led me to DJing for a lot of the aughts. I knew I needed to alter, I did not know what type it could precisely take, nevertheless it all got here collectively fairly nicely. Naturally, I believe.”
The Sugar track “Your Favourite Factor” is a ’90s alt-rock traditional. What do you recall about writing that track?
“Actual tremendous riff, tremendous catchy. I do not suppose that one took lengthy to write down. Which may have been like, a half hour track. Which, a whole lot of the nice ones are. However I simply thought it was a extremely cool signature riff. It is type of in that traditional ‘Sugar tempo’ – y’know, the 120s to 130s. Simply these type of laborious driving 4 on the ground pop songs. The lyrics, there’s nothing revelatory within the phrases. However hopefully the best way that they had been constructed is fascinating. Good track, although.”
Earlier than you mentioned one thing that I completely agree with: “The roads had been already paved” earlier than Nirvana’s Nevermind hit. As a result of I’ve all the time felt that bands such because the Pixies, REM, Hüsker Dü, and a number of other others from the 80s undoubtedly helped set the stage for different rock’s massive breakthrough within the early ’90s. Do you see that on the time?
“I believe I noticed it when Sugar received actually massive. I used to be like, ‘Oh yeah, we did this.’ [Laughs] On the threat of the sound of me patting myself on the again being louder than my voice. And I imply Mudhoney, Meat Puppets…there’s so many issues that received into Nevermind, proper? However yeah, I believe I knew, by the point Sugar was blowing up that if I had any doubts about what perhaps had occurred previously, then I believe that was type of like, ‘Oh yeah. That is proper.‘”
What had been your impressions of listening to Nevermind for the primary time?
“Nicely, I had the demos as a result of I used to be in rivalry for producing the report. I didn’t have the demo of ‘Teen Spirit’ – I do not know if there was one, and I do not know if anyone received it, if there was. However I keep in mind sitting with Gary Gersh at Geffen, and it got here up. Historical past went the best way it did, and it was completely the best manner. Butch Vig was any individual that I labored with again in ’84. Butch is superb. And it was an ideal match for what the songs on Nevermind had been. And every little thing went precisely because it ought to. [Laughs] Y’know, Butch does that, they blow up, after which it is type of like, ‘Oh, now I’ve received this E-ZPass for the toll highway I’ll have had a hand in constructing.'” [Laughs]
How necessary was MTV and 120 Minutes for alt-rock artists within the ’90s?
“MTV, on the whole – and Matt Pinfield and 120 Minutes, particularly – did a lot to raise all of us that had been making that type of guitar-driven music within the early ’90s. It was so necessary. There have been different exhibits earlier than it – a present again within the ’80s, The Chopping Edge. I keep in mind that as a result of there was one episode, it was the primary time the Smiths had been on TV in America, I believe. There was one thing with Morrissey speaking.
I keep in mind going to see Stone Temple Pilots in 2000 or one thing with a pal. And after like, the thirteenth track, I checked out my pal like, ‘These are all Stone Temple Pilots songs?’ I had heard all of those songs without end, however I did not know who they had been.
“And that very same episode, Hüsker Dü was on, as nicely. There was type of a trampoline or basis being set already earlier than 120 Minutes. However yeah, 120 Minutes was the place that each one of us needed to be. It was the place the place everybody discovered about new music. It was the best way to get there. No query about it.”
“There have been a whole lot of radio stations that had been round. School stations, after which stations like WLIR in New York. So, that was all a part of constructing the firmament, as nicely. It was a protracted course of. It did not simply occur out of skinny air. And WBCN, and Matt was DJing down in South Jersey. So, that late ’80s by way of ’91/’92, all of that was vital infrastructure, as nicely. It is simply humorous – you understand this and I do know this – however there’s type of a ‘mainstream historical past,’ like, ‘There was all this hair metallic, after which Nevermind got here, and it modified.’ There was lots of people who did a whole lot of work to get to that time.”
Who’re a few of your favourite ’90s alt-rock artists?
“Not many. [Laughs] I imply, I’ve a whole lot of respect for Pearl Jam and Nirvana. I keep in mind going to see Stone Temple Pilots in 2000 or one thing with a pal. And after like, the thirteenth track, I checked out my pal like, ‘These are all Stone Temple Pilots songs?’ I had heard all of those songs without end, however I did not know who they had been.”
“Through the ‘Sugar years,’ the bands that jumped out to me would have been my UK label mates, like Swervedriver. Or the Boo Radleys, who came to visit and toured with Sugar. However the greatest one to me was My Bloody Valentine. I preserve ready for any individual to high Loveless. There have been information since then which have gotten near that stage…however that was like a beacon of sunshine of what could be carried out with this type. So, that may be the one which I might all the time go to.”
“Swervedriver being up there on the high, as nicely. The best way that Adam [Franklin] and Jimmy [Hartridge] method songwriting and placing stuff collectively and the sounds of their information was actually good, as nicely. It was simply the guitar interaction, Adam’s voice, the songwriting was actually advanced…nevertheless it stayed actually catchy. And I knew about these guys from like, ’88, once they had been referred to as Shake Enchantment – as a result of they despatched me the demos that turned Son of Mustang Ford. I am going manner again with them, and I am an enormous fan. I all the time sing their praises. And so they received new stuff – the brand new stuff is fairly cool, too. There is a observe that got here out perhaps three weeks in the past. It is nonetheless received the entire earmarks. So, it is nice.”
What can followers count on from the upcoming tour?
“The touring for ‘Right here We Go Loopy’ within the US, it is precisely what you’d count on. It is me, and me and the rhythm part which were on the final six information. It is simply going to be a pleasant celebration of this report. I might recommend that will probably be a celebration of all six information that we recorded collectively. I would wish to put the highlight on that – which the three of us did collectively, and simply actually focus into that. I imply, I’ve received a deep catalog – solo, Sugar, Hüsker Dü. I believe the meat and potatoes of the tour would be the six information that we made. And I believe every little thing else will in all probability…do not quote me on this! [Laughs] Simply kidding – I believe these different parts of my songbook, that’ll be the spice, not the meat of it.”
