BOB MOULD

'Bob Mould' (born October 16 1960, in Malone, New York) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for influential rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.

Contents

Biography

Hüsker Dü years

Solo work

Sugar years and afterwards

Personal life

Pop culture

Solo Discography

Bootlegs

Bands Produced

External links

Biography

Hüsker Dü years

Main articles: Hüsker Dü

Born in Malone, New York, Mould lived in several places, including Pine City, Minnesota and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where he attended Macalester College. There, he formed Hüsker Dü in the late 1970s, with drummer/singer Grant Hart and bass guitarist Greg Norton.
Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a ferociously fast "speed-core" punk rock group, with a series of notable recordings on the independent label SST Records. Over time, however, Mould and his bandmates evolved musically, adding tuneful melodies to their explosive sound. One of the first '80s underground bands to sign a contract with a major record label (Warner Brothers), Hüsker Dü found only moderate success, but were later often cited as one of the key influences on 1990s alternative rock.
In the late 1980s, Hüsker Dü broke up acrimoniously amidst drug abuse and personal problems. Mould and Hart still take occasional jabs at each other in the press, though the two revisted their Hüsker Dü back catalog together at a 2004 benefit concert for an ailing friend.

Solo work

Mould's first solo album came more than a year after Hüsker Dü broke up; 1989's ''Workbook'' eschewed Mould's trademark wall-of-noise guitar for a stripped-down sound featuring acoustic guitars and cellos. 1991's jagged ''Black Sheets of Rain'' put Mould in more familiar territory, recalling Hüsker Dü's loudest, angriest moments.

Sugar years and afterwards

Mould then formed the group Sugar, a college/alternative radio favorite in the mid-1990s. Along with extensive touring, Sugar released two albums, an EP and a B-sides collection before splitting.
Mould returned to solo recording, releasing a self-titled album in 1996 (which is often referred to as ''Hubcap'' because of the cover photo) and 1998's ''The Last Dog and Pony Show''.
During a stint living in New York City in the late-1990s, Mould's tastes took a detour into dance music and electronica. Those influences were clear on his 2002 release ''Modulate'', which featured a strong electronica influence (reviews were mixed). To pursue this sound, Mould also began recording under the pseudonym LoudBomb (an anagram of his name). He has released one CD so far under this name.
Mould took a brief break from the music world to get involved with another passion of his, professional wrestling, when he joined WCW as a scriptwriter for a brief period. Creative differences with some of the other writers of the league led to Mould leaving the company and returning to music. The liner notes for ''Modulate'' thank some of the wrestlers he associated with, most notably Kevin Nash and Kevin Sullivan.
In addition to his solo work, Bob Mould is also a live DJ in collaboration with DC-area dance music artist Richard Morel, under the collective banner Blowoff. A recording under that banner was released in September 2006. Both LoudBomb and Blowoff have led to Mould's being asked to do remixes for a variety of dance and alternative-rock artists. A recent remix of the Interpol song "Length Of Love" has led to more critical acclaim for the veteran artist.

For much of the 1990s, Mould toured playing solo acoustic renditions of his catalog (occasionally switching to electric guitar midway through his set). In 2005 his solo album ''Body of Song'' was cross-announced with his first band tour since 1998. Brendan Canty, best known as the drummer for Fugazi, and Mould's Blowoff collaborator, Morel, are playing drums and keyboards, respectively, for the tour, which began in the fall of 2005. Mould has been playing more songs from his Hüsker Dü back catalogue than at any time since the band broke up.

Personal life

Though his sexuality was previously something of an open secret, Mould was outed in the early 1990s, and he is openly gay. Though it was often rumored during his Hüsker Dü days that he and bandmate Hart were an item (Hart was also homosexual, and both acknowledge taking partners on tour), both have flatly denied ever having been romantically involved.

Pop culture

On September 29, 2005, Mould's song "Circles" was featured on ''The OC'' as Marissa Cooper was starting her first day at her public school in Season 3.
Mould's song "Dog on Fire" is the theme song for ''The Daily Show''. They Might Be Giants perform the current version. Later, "See a Little Light" became one of the principal theme songs for the HBO series The Mind of the Married Man. "See a Little Light" is also used in a television commercial for TIAA-CREF as of August, 2007. Mould also composed the theme for the TLC program, ''In a Fix''.
Mould and director Cameron Crowe (a former journalist with Rolling Stone magazine in the '70s) are close friends; Bob Sugar (played by Jay Mohr) in Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" is named for Bob Mould and Mould's former band, Sugar.
Mould appeared on an episode of IFC's ''The Henry Rollins Show'' on June 15, 2007.

Solo Discography

(see also Hüsker Dü and Sugar discographies.)

★ ''Workbook'' LP (Virgin, 1989)

★ ''See A Little Light'' Single (Virgin, 1989)

★ ''Wishing Well + 4 Tracks'' Single (Virgin, 1989)

★ ''Black Sheets of Rain'' LP (Virgin, 1990)

★ ''Poison Years'' Compilation LP (Virgin, 1994)

★ ''Egøverride'' Single (Rykodisc, 1995)

★ ''Bob Mould'' LP (Rykodisc, 1996)

★ ''The Last Dog and Pony Show'' LP (Rykodisc, 1998)

★ ''Modulate'' LP (Granary Music, 2002)

★ ''Live Dog 98: The Forum, London UK'' Live LP (Granary Music, 2002)

★ ''Long Playing Grooves'' (released under anagram LoudBomb) LP (Granary Music, 2002)

★ ''Body of Song'' (Yep Roc, 2005)

Bootlegs

★ ''The Calm Before the Storm'' (Kiss The Stone, 1994)

Bands Produced

★ Soul Asylum, ''Made To Be Broken'' LP

★ Articles of Faith, ''Give Thanks'' and ''In this Life'' LPs

★ Magnapop, ''Hot Boxing'' LP

★ Verbow, ''Chronicles'' LP

★ 'The Zulus', ''Down on the Floor'' LP

★ 'Impaler', ''If We Had Brains... We'd Be Dangerous'' LP

★ Low, ''Tonight the Monkeys Die'' Remixes EP

External links

★ Interview with ''The Onion A.V. Club''

★ Official Bob Mould Granary Music artist page

★ Boblog (Bob Mould's personal weblog)

★ Blowoff nightclub events

★ PopMatters interview (7/2005)

★ Metro Weekly interview series

★ Wishing Well: A Small Web Site About the Music of Bob Mould

★ Bob Mould on 3RRR MP3 extract of interview

★ Bob Mould on Colbernista MP3 extract of interview