Bob Mould | |
|---|---|
 Mould performing live in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Robert Arthur Mould (1960-10-16)October 16, 1960 (age 65) Malone, New York, US |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | |
| Member of | Sugar |
| Formerly of |
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| Website | www |
Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter foralternative rock bandsHüsker Dü in the 1980s andSugar in the 1990s.
Mould was born on October 16, 1960,[2] inMalone, New York.[3] He first started playing guitar in 1976 after being inspired by theRamones. He said he "figured that if they could do it, anybody could."[4] Mould lived in several places, including theMinneapolis-St. Paul area, where he attendedMacalester College inSaint Paul.[5] At Macalester, he formedHüsker Dü in the late 1970s with drummer/singerGrant Hart and bass guitaristGreg Norton.[6] Mould and Hart were the principal songwriters for Hüsker Dü.
Forming in 1979, Hüsker Dü first gained notice as apunk rock group with a series of recordings on the independent labelSST Records.[7] In 1986, they signed with a major record label (Warner Bros. Records), but found only modest commercial success.[8] However, they were later often cited as one of the key influences on 1990salternative rock, including bands such asFoo Fighters andPixies.[9]
In the late 1980s, Hüsker Dü broke up acrimoniously amid members'drug abuse, personal problems, disputes over songwriting credits, musical direction, and the suicide of the band's manager, David Savoy.[10][11][12] Mould and Hart played together only once after the breakup for two songs at a 2004benefit concert for an ailing friend, the lateKarl Mueller ofSoul Asylum.[10]
Just before Hüsker Dü broke up, Mould moved to a remote farmhouse inPine City, Minnesota,[13] havingquit drinking and drugs, and wrote the songs that would make up his first solo album.[14] Released by the newly formed Virgin Records America label, 1989'sWorkbook eschewed Mould's trademark wall-of-noise guitar for a lighter tone. DrummerAnton Fier (ofthe Feelies and laterthe Golden Palominos) and bassistTony Maimone (ofPere Ubu) served as Mould's rhythm section. The album peaked at number 127 on theBillboard 200 chart, and the single "See a Little Light" reached number 4 on theBillboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[15]
His 1990 albumBlack Sheets of Rain had a much heavier guitar sound, recalling Hüsker Dü's louder, angrier moments. According to the liner notes for the 2012 re-release ofSugar'sCopper Blue,Creation Records presidentAlan McGee verified that total album sales were 7,000 copies.[16] Still, the album peaked at number 123 on theBillboard 200 chart, and the single "It's Too Late" reached number 10 on theBillboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.[17]
Mould also co-founded a record label, Singles Only Label, with Coyote Records label founder Steve Fallon. The label released singles from bands such asDaniel Johnston,Grant Lee Buffalo,Moby,Mojo Nixon,Morphine,Nikki Sudden, andR. Stevie Moore from 1989 to 1994.[18][19]
Mould then formed the groupSugar, with bassistDavid Barbe and drummerMalcolm Travis. Along with extensive touring, Sugar released two albums, an EP and aB-sides collection before breaking up in early 1995.Copper Blue (1992) was named asNME's 1992 Album of the Year, and was Mould's most successful commercial album, selling nearly 300,000 copies.[20]
While in the band Sugar, in 1993 he contributed the track "Can't Fight It" as a solo artist to the AIDS Benefit AlbumNo Alternative produced by theRed Hot Organization.[21] In 1994, he recorded "Turning of the Tide" forBeat The Retreat, a tribute album to the English guitarist and songwriterRichard Thompson.[22]
In 1996, Mould returned to solo recording, releasing aself-titled album in 1996 onRykodisc, often referred to asHubcap because of the cover photo. Mould played all of the instruments himself, andprogrammed the drums instead of using a real drummer. The album peaked at number 101 on theBillboard 200 chart, and number 1 on the Heatseekers chart.[23]
In 1998, Mould releasedThe Last Dog and Pony Show, his final album on Rykodisc (who had released all of the Sugar albums in the U.S.). The album was named as such because Mould decided that the tour that followed would be his "last electric band tour".[24]
After the tour, Mould took a break from the music world to get involved with another passion of his,professional wrestling, when he joinedWCW as a scriptwriter in 1999 for a brief period.[25] Creative differences with some of the other writers led to Mould's leaving the company and returning to music. Theliner notes for the 2002 albumModulate thank some of the wrestlers he associated with, most notablyKevin Nash andKevin Sullivan.
During a stint living in New York City in the late-1990s, as he more fully embraced his identity as a gay man, Mould's tastes took a detour intodance music andelectronica. Those influences were clear on his 2002 releaseModulate, which featured a strong electronica influence to mixed critical reviews and poor fan reaction.[26] One song, "The Receipt", was fairly straightforward, according toCity Pages: it "can be taken as a barely veiled attack on Mould's old Husker Dü-mate Grant Hart."[27] (In fact, another song on the album ["Trade"] had been written and performed live during his Hüsker Dü days.) In further pursuit of this sound, Mould also began recording under the pseudonym LoudBomb (ananagram of his name), releasing one CD ("Long Playing Grooves") so far under this name.[28]
His next solo album,Body of Song, had been originally scheduled to closely follow the release of 2002'sModulate. Instead, Mould worked on the album for the next three years, resulting in a 2005 release. By this time, he had changed his mind on touring with a band, and announced his first band tour since 1998. The tour lineup included bassistJason Narducy (ofVerbow), drummerBrendan Canty (ofFugazi), and Mould's Blowoff collaborator, Morel, on keyboards.[29]
In addition to his solo work, Mould also worked as a live DJ in collaboration with Washington DC-area dance music artistRichard Morel, under the collective banner Blowoff. They frequently staged at the9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. A Blowoff CD was released in September 2006, consisting of songs recorded together by the two. Mould has also done remixes for a variety of dance and alternative rock artists, including a remix of theInterpol song "Length of Love".[30]
District Line was released February 5, 2008. A little over a year later, on April 7, 2009, Mould released his next album entitledLife and Times in the midst of researching his life for an autobiography.[31]
Mould ultimately wrote that memoir withMichael Azerrad, the author ofOur Band Could Be Your Life andCome as You Are: The Story of Nirvana. The book,See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, was published in June 2011.[32]
On August 6, 2012, Mould released the first single from his first album onMerge Records,Silver Age, on September 4, 2012.[33] It peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard 200 album chart, No. 12 on the Alternative Albums chart, and No. 3 on the Tastemaker Albums chart.[34] In 2014 Mould releasedBeauty & Ruin and in March 2016, his albumPatch the Sky was released.[35]
On October 25, 2018, Mould shared a new song, "Sunshine Rock" from his new album of the same name, arriving February 8, 2019, via Merge Records[36]
On June 3, 2020, Mould released a new song "American Crisis" the lead single from his albumBlue Hearts, released on September 25.[37]
On January 8, 2025, he announced a new album,Here We Go Crazy, coming out on March 7, and released the title track as its first single. He will be touring throughout the United States in support of the album.[38]
In October 2025, Mould stated he would be reforming Sugar with Barbe and Travis with plans to gig in London and New York in May 2026.[39]
As a member of Hüsker Dü, Mould was known for playingFlying V–style guitars, mainly anIbanez Rocket Roll Jr.[40]
In 1988, Mould bought a blue Fender American StandardStratocaster off the rack after playing it "for about 15 seconds, unplugged". The Stratocaster has been his electric guitar of choice since the breakup of Hüsker Dü around that time.[41] His favored acoustic guitar is a12-stringYamaha APX.[41]
Mould has made various guest appearances throughout his career. In 1984, Mould played piano on Ground Zero's albumGround Zero.[42] In 1991, Mould sang and played guitar on theGolden Palominos albumDrunk with Passion on the song "Dying from the Inside Out". In 1992, he contributed vocals to the song "Dio" on theThrowing Muses albumRed Heaven.[42] Mould performed the guitars for thesoundtrack for thefilm version ofHedwig and the Angry Inch, released in 1999. In 2000, Mould sang "He Didn't" (written byStephin Merritt) onthe 6ths' albumHyacinths and Thistles.[43] He also contributed vocals to the 2009Fucked Up cover of "Do They Know It's Christmas?"[42]
In 2011, Mould performed on theFoo Fighters albumWasting Light, contributing guitar and vocals to the track "Dear Rosemary".[44] He made sporadic appearances with the band during their Wasting Light tour to perform the song on stage, including on theConan O'Brien show.[45] In December 2017, Mould opened for the Foo Fighters in four states during theirConcrete and Gold tour.[46]
Granary Music is theindependent record label and publishing company operated by Mould. As a record label, its only artists are Mould himself, his former band Sugar, and hiselectronic dance music side project Loudbomb. Under the Granary name, Mould controls the master rights to the entire Sugar discography, and all of the solo work he has recorded since Sugar's breakup in 1995. Most of these masters have been leased through Granary to other labels, includingRykodisc andYep Roc; however, Mould released his 2002 solo albumModulate and the Loudbomb CD directly through Granary.[47] Granary also controls the publishing rights to all of Mould's compositions, including all of the songs he wrote and performed with Hüsker Dü, which he claimed after the band's own publishing partnership was disbanded in 1988.
Granary is also the name used to refer to Mould's home studio, first used in NYC for parts ofThe Last Dog and Pony Show and forModulate. When he moved to Washington, D.C., Mould moved the studio and label along with him and recorded most of the basics (save for live drums) for his 2005Body of Song there.
Mould isgay.[48][49] Though hissexual orientation had previously been an open secret, he wasouted in the early 1990s in an interview in the music magazineSpin. Since then, Mould has been cited as a musical and social influence among otheropenly gay musicians. "Hüsker Dü changed my life. That was a huge influence on me," said Steve Brooks ofTorche.[50] "BeforeRob Halford came out, there was Bob Mould. He wasn't very vocal about it, but I'm a big fan of his music. It was comforting — one of my favorite musicians was 'a gay!' Kick ass."[51]
In April 2004, Mould was a co-organizer of the WEDRock benefit concert for Freedom to Marry. "WedRock" was a play on the word "wedlock". The event raised an estimated US$30,000. Mould also contributed the song "See a Little Light" to the 2006 albumWed-Rock: A Benefit for Freedom to Marry, an album to support in the legalization ofsame-sex marriage.[52]
In interviews to promote his 2019 albumSunshine Rock, Mould revealed that he had been residing inBerlin, Germany, since 2015.[53][54] As of 2020,[update] he splits his time between San Francisco andPalm Springs, California.[55][56] In San Francisco, he specifically lives in theCastro District, famously known as San Francisco's gay neighborhood.[57]
Mould is married to Don Fisher.[58]
Mould's song "Dog on Fire" is the theme song forThe Daily Show. He originally wrote the track for histhird solo album, but cut it as redundant. The name was picked bymastering engineer Jim Wilson from an offhand comment Mould made in an interview.They Might Be Giants performed updated versions which were used in the 2000s, and the song was later remixed byTimbaland whenTrevor Noah took over as host.[59][60] On December 19, 1996, Mould made a cameo appearance onThe Daily Show Holiday Spectacular in an homage duet of "The Little Drummer Boy" with Mould playing the part ofDavid Bowie toCraig Kilborn's "Bing Crosby".[61]
The song "See a Little Light" has been used more than once in various television applications: It was used in the closing scene of the original un-aired test pilot episode ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer,[62] it was also used in the closing scene of the season 1 finale for13 Reasons Why, it became one of the principal theme songs for theHBO seriesThe Mind of the Married Man and was also used in a television commercial forTIAA-CREF (August 2007). Mould also composed the theme for theTLC program,In a Fix.[63]
In 2011, Mould wrote his autobiographySee a Little Light with Michael Azerrad.[64]
In 2001, Mould played lead guitar in the house band for thefilm ofJohn Cameron Mitchell'sHedwig and the Angry Inch (musical),and on the film's soundtrack.[65] In 2003, Mould also participated in a Hedwig tribute album,Wig in a Box, on which he covered the song "Nailed".[66]
On September 29, 2005, Mould's song "Circles" was included on the TV seriesThe O.C.[67]
Mould appeared on an episode ofIndependent Film Channel'sThe Henry Rollins Show on June 15, 2007.[68]
On November 21, 2011, musicians such asDave Grohl,Britt Daniel andJessica Dobson ofSpoon,Craig Finn andTad Kubler ofThe Hold Steady,Randy Randall andDean Allen Spunt ofNo Age,Margaret Cho,Jason Narducy,Jon Wurster ofSuperchunk, andRyan Adams came together at theWalt Disney Concert Hall and played songs from Mould's career. During the concert, Mould discussed his then-forthcoming albumSilver Age, involving Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster (ofSuperchunk), and a limited tour of Sugar's debut albumCopper Blue.[69]
Mould has been honored with two stars on the outside mural of theMinneapolis nightclubFirst Avenue,[70] one for his solo work and one for Hüsker Dü. The stars recognize performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.[71] Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis", according to journalist Steve Marsh.[72]
| Bob Mould discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 15 |
| Live albums | 2 |
| Compilation albums | 2 |
| Singles | 14 |
| Music videos | 2 |
| Year | Information | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [73] | US Heat. [73] | US Ind. [73] | UK [74] | ||
| 1989 | Workbook[A]
| 127 | – | – | – |
| 1990 | Black Sheets of Rain
| 123 | – | – | – |
| 1996 | Bob Mould
| 101 | 1 | – | 52 |
| 1998 | The Last Dog and Pony Show
| 164 | 11 | – | 58 |
| 2002 | Modulate
| – | 45 | 18 | – |
Long Playing Grooves(as 'LoudBomb')
| – | – | – | – | |
| 2005 | Body of Song
| – | 22 | 37 | – |
| 2006 | Blowoff(with 'Blowoff')[75]
| – | – | – | – |
| 2008 | District Line
| 191 | 5 | 24 | – |
| 2009 | Life and Times
| – | 7 | – | – |
| 2012 | Silver Age
| 52 | – | 13 | – |
| 2014 | Beauty & Ruin
| 38 | – | 5 | 96 |
| 2016 | Patch the Sky
| 82 | – | 6 | 54 |
| 2019 | Sunshine Rock
| 192 | – | – | – |
| 2020 | Blue Hearts
| 181 | – | – | – |
| 2025 | Here We Go Crazy
| ||||
Notes
Various artist compilations including individual tracks by Mould:
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
