However a few of singer/guitarist Bob Mould‘s finest 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 this present day, 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 obtained slightly knocked off my regular cycle. Usually, my cycles for my total grownup life, give or take a couple of months right here and there, is months of writing a report, then a time frame to report a report, then, {that a} bizarre time frame the place I’ve turned in my homework, however no person will get to take a look at it. And that is the interval that you simply and I are in presently – 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 approach, however with out touring, every thing type of froze in place.”
“I’m the sort 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 couple of yr and a half. I do not assume I used to be capable of get out and do exhibits till the autumn of ’21. So, spending a lifetime in that sort of repetitive cycle and having it damaged, I used to be slightly bit little bit misplaced with, ‘I’m wondering if these items’s any good?’ That final little little bit of suggestions was lacking. I used to be writing via ’20 and ’21 with some blended outcomes. I used to be a bit preoccupied with different stuff. Y’know, staying alive I suppose 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 tune, ‘When Your Coronary heart Is Damaged’ was a reasonably early tune. Nevertheless it wasn’t top quality output all the way in which round. Simply in a time like that, I’ve realized from expertise, if you happen to rush it, it is most likely not going to be your finest work. So, simply wait. Simply maintain 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 an excellent sense of how Blue Hearts hit them, how the brand new materials that I used to be enjoying was becoming subsequent to the catalog. And that was the sort of stuff that was lacking. So after I was getting that, then every thing begins to line up slightly bit higher. I do know that is a brilliant lengthy reply to a quite simple query, but it surely was an extended 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 talk about 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, properly, the brand new mum or dad firm, BMG, had labored with Gus prior to now. I noticed a bunch of his work and actually related with it. And Gus and I talked for like an hour and stated, ‘Yeah, let’s attempt to make this video. Let’s do that, and do that, and perhaps do this if we’ve got slightly additional time.’ We shot every 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 tune itself, properly, it is the title observe. And very like the title observe from Sunshine Rock, or the title observe from Sgt. Pepper, it was…because the recording was wrapping up, it grew to become 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 the easiest way 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’ sort of factor.”
“When Your Coronary heart Is Damaged” I assumed is a standout observe on the album, too.
“That is an excellent one. That is an prompt traditional for me, proper? Mid-tempo, super-pop catchy guitars with super-depressing lyrics. [Laughs] That is type of my specialty, I suppose. 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 area 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] Nevertheless it’s a kind of titles, proper? It is a good one and who knew by placing out the observe on January eighth, that it will be considerably well timed in a common 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 obtained us to this heavier, louder model. And that was Black Sheets. And after that report ran its course and I parted methods with Virgin Information, the purpose in 1991 to me was to only begin writing what I hoped could be the most effective report I may probably write.”
“I used to be on the street, consistently doing solo acoustic exhibits. I’d play for 3 weeks and check out new materials. I would go residence 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 understanding the fabric in entrance of the folks to gauge what’s good and what’s not. After which by the top of ’91 it grew to become clear to me which report corporations 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 behind a tire store in Downtown Athens, Georgia, with the intent of creating the third Bob Mould solo album. And we obtained requested to do a present at 40 Watt the evening earlier than we began heading as much as suburban Boston, to report the album. And determined we should always give it a band identify, and we got here up with the identify Sugar. That is type of how that each one began.”
“The subsequent three years was a whirlwind. I knew Copper Blue and Beaster have been actually good information. I did not foresee being the beneficiary of, y’know, I suppose 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 will 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 have been already paved in a approach.”
“I didn’t see the moment success of Sugar because it was occurring. I imply, the second I suppose I knew, was we did a pair exhibits in London in late July/early August of ’92, and one in all them was at ULU – the College of London Pupil Union Constructing. And it was only a utterly unhinged, insane present. Components of the PA falling into the group, nutty stage diving – simply insanity that I hadn’t seen in years. And I may 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 arduous and quick. In ’94, the recording of File Below Simple Listening, I used to be working so quick that I did not have a totally wonderful 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 undertaking was achieved. I stored writing music. Recorded an album – a few of it at residence, a few of it in a small studio in Austin – and that grew to become 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 obtained me excited about 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 obtained 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 route, and thought, ‘Perhaps this may be an excellent time to cease being solely the rock man who’s on the street in a van for his entire 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 via spring of 2000 – that type of ran parallel to my homosexual life in New York, my curiosity in digital music. Quite a lot of issues have 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 wished to alter, I did not know what kind it will precisely take, but it surely all got here collectively fairly properly. Naturally, I believe.”
The Sugar tune “Your Favourite Factor” is a ’90s alt-rock traditional. What do you recall about writing that tune?
“Actual tremendous riff, tremendous catchy. I do not assume that one took lengthy to jot down. That may have been like, a half hour tune. 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 arduous driving 4 on the ground pop songs. The lyrics, there’s nothing revelatory within the phrases. However hopefully the way in which that they have been constructed is fascinating. Good tune, although.”
Earlier than you stated one thing that I completely agree with: “The roads have 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 several other others from the 80s undoubtedly helped set the stage for various rock’s huge breakthrough within the early ’90s. Do you see that on the time?
“I believe I noticed it when Sugar obtained actually huge. 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 obtained 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 prior to now, then I believe that was type of like, ‘Oh yeah. That is proper.‘”
What have been your impressions of listening to Nevermind for the primary time?
“Effectively, I had the demos as a result of I used to be in competition 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 obtained it, if there was. However I bear in mind sitting with Gary Gersh at Geffen, and it got here up. Historical past went the way in which it did, and it was completely the suitable approach. Butch Vig was anyone that I labored with again in ’84. Butch is wonderful. And it was an ideal match for what the songs on Nevermind have been. And every 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 obtained this E-ZPass for the toll street I could have had a hand in constructing.'” [Laughs]
How necessary was MTV and 120 Minutes for alt-rock artists within the ’90s?
“MTV, typically – and Matt Pinfield and 120 Minutes, particularly – did a lot to raise all of us that have been making that sort 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 Slicing Edge. I do not forget that as a result of there was one episode, it was the primary time the Smiths have been on TV in America, I believe. There was one thing with Morrissey speaking.
I bear in mind going to see Stone Temple Pilots in 2000 or one thing with a good friend. And after like, the thirteenth tune, I checked out my good friend like, ‘These are all Stone Temple Pilots songs?’ I had heard all of those songs eternally, however I did not know who they have been.
“And that very same episode, Hüsker Dü was on, as properly. 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 wished to be. It was the place the place everybody discovered about new music. It was the way in which 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 properly. It was an extended 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 via ’91/’92, all of that was essential infrastructure, as properly. It is simply humorous – you recognize 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 bear in mind going to see Stone Temple Pilots in 2000 or one thing with a good friend. And after like, the thirteenth tune, I checked out my good friend like, ‘These are all Stone Temple Pilots songs?’ I had heard all of those songs eternally, however I did not know who they have 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 maintain ready for anyone to prime Loveless. There have been information since then which have gotten near that degree…however that was like a beacon of sunshine of what could be achieved with this type. So, that may be the one which I’d all the time go to.”
“Swervedriver being up there on the prime, as properly. 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 properly. It was simply the guitar interaction, Adam’s voice, the songwriting was actually advanced…but it surely stayed actually catchy. And I knew about these guys from like, ’88, once they have been referred to as Shake Enchantment – as a result of they despatched me the demos that grew to become Son of Mustang Ford. I am going approach again with them, and I am an enormous fan. I all the time sing their praises. They usually obtained 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 obtained the entire earmarks. So, it is nice.”
What can followers anticipate from the upcoming tour?
“The touring for ‘Right here We Go Loopy’ within the US, it is precisely what you’d anticipate. 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’d recommend that it is going to be a celebration of all six information that we recorded collectively. I would prefer to put the highlight on that – which the three of us did collectively, and simply actually focus into that. I imply, I’ve obtained 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 thing else will most likely…do not quote me on this! [Laughs] Simply kidding – I believe these different elements of my songbook, that’ll be the spice, not the meat of it.”