But 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 at the present time, as evidenced by his fifteenth solo effort general, Here We Go Crazy.
Mould spoke with AllMusic a month earlier than the March 7, 2025 launch of Here We Go Crazy, and was up for looking again all through his profession, in addition to the story behind his newest solo effort.
It’s been 4 years between Here We Go Crazy and your final launch, Blue Hearts. Why so lengthy?
“I believe, like many of the world, I bought somewhat knocked off my regular cycle. Typically, my cycles for my whole grownup life, give or take just a few months right here and there, is months of writing a document, then a time period to document a document, 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 presently – the press and the all that stuff. And then there’s the discharge, after which there is a tour. So, Blue Hearts had a plan that was constructed precisely that means, however with out touring, every little 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 12 months 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 sort of repetitive cycle and having it damaged, I used to be somewhat bit little bit misplaced with, ‘I’m wondering if these things’s any good?’ That final little little bit of suggestions was lacking. I used to be writing by means of ’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 principle 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 – ‘Breathing Room’ was an early tune, ‘When Your Heart Is Broken’ was a reasonably early tune. But it wasn’t top quality output all the best way round. Just in a time like that, I’ve realized from expertise, should you rush it, it is in all probability not going to be your finest work. So, simply wait. Just preserve working and it will all come into focus. And by means of ’22 and thru ’23, I used to be out doing numerous solo electrical work and attempting out new stuff.”
“Sort of rebuilding that reference to the viewers and getting a great 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 sort of stuff that was lacking. So once I was getting that, then every little thing begins to line up somewhat bit higher. I do know that is a brilliant lengthy reply to a quite simple query, however it was a protracted break. I used to be tremendous busy with touring in ’22/’23, and a good bit of ’24. It’s 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 “Here We Go Crazy” and its video.
“The video was shot and directed by a gentleman named Gus Black. And the brand new document firm, effectively, 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 try this if we’ve got somewhat further time.’ We shot every little thing within the completely different desert places in Southern California. And I believe Gus did an incredible job. It’s a really cool video. I had numerous enjoyable working with him.”
“The tune itself, effectively, 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 document. 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’s identical to that, ‘We hope you’ll benefit from the present’ sort of factor.”
“When Your Heart Is Broken” I believed is a standout observe on the album, too.
“That’s a great one. That’s an prompt traditional for me, proper? Mid-tempo, super-pop catchy guitars with super-depressing lyrics. [Laughs] That’s type of my specialty, I suppose. But ‘Here We Go Crazy’ is attention-grabbing, as a result of it is numerous like, small snapshots of what I’ve been as much as the previous few years, and issues that I’m simply attempting to type of set this huge open area for folks. And simply exhibiting folks bodily places, explicit objects that come to thoughts, recurring themes.”
“The title is, gosh, perhaps I ought to put a slogan mark on ‘Here We Go Crazy,’ in order that some chain restaurant would not steal it. [Laughs] But it is a type of titles, proper? It’s a great one and who knew by placing out the observe on January eighth, that it could be considerably well timed in a basic sense. I did not see that coming.”
I’ve at all times discovered the ’90s to be a really attention-grabbing a part of your profession, together with Sugar and your solo work. What do you recall about that period specifically?
“If I take 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 bought us to this heavier, louder model. And that was Black Sheets. And after that document ran its course and I parted methods with Virgin Records, the objective in 1991 to me was to only begin writing what I hoped could be the very best document I might presumably write.”
“I used to be on the street, continuously doing solo acoustic exhibits. I might play for 3 weeks and check out new materials. I’d go residence for a pair weeks, write extra stuff. I’d return out for one more three weeks. And this was all type of planting seeds for what was to return. This is the figuring out the fabric in entrance of the folks to gauge what’s good and what’s not. And then by the tip of ’91 it grew to become clear to me which document 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 behind a tire store in Downtown Athens, Georgia, with the intent of constructing the third Bob Mould solo album. And we bought requested to do a present at 40 Watt the evening earlier than we began heading as much as suburban Boston, to document the album. And determined we must always give it a band title, and we got here up with the title Sugar. That’s type of how that every 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 document was profitable – it could take you to the Pixies, that will take you to Hüsker Dü. As like, only a small proportion of what made that document nice. I believe the roads have been already paved in a means.”
“I didn’t see the moment success of Sugar because it was taking place. 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 among them was at ULU – the University of London Student Union Building. And it was only a fully unhinged, insane present. Parts 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 – ‘This is taking off, and we have not even put the document out.’ So that was fairly thrilling.”
“We ran arduous and quick. In ’94, the recording of File Under Easy Listening, I used to be working so quick that I did not have a very superb document written. But, we went with what we had. And then by the tip of ’94, the band was wrapping up. And I believe our final present was in Sendai, Japan in January of ’95. And then I retreated quietly, understanding that that venture was executed. 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 numerous us name Hubcap.”
“I didn’t intend to tour on that document. The ask from Pete Townshend to open a pair exhibits of his in New York within the spring of ’96 bought me fascinated by getting out and dealing once more, and went out and did numerous solo touring. And then ’98 was The Last Dog and Pony Show, and by the point I bought 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 City 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, ‘Maybe this could be a great 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 document, that was 100% in earnest, that I simply felt like, ‘I’m gonna take a break right here, and I’m 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 means of spring of 2000 – that type of ran parallel to my homosexual life in New York, my curiosity in digital music. Numerous issues have been shifting. To go write professional wrestling [music] and begin writing digital music, that ultimately led me to DJing for many of the aughts. I knew I needed to vary, I did not know what type it could precisely take, however it all got here collectively fairly effectively. Naturally, I believe.”
The Sugar tune “Your Favorite Thing” is a ’90s alt-rock traditional. What do you recall about writing that tune?
“Real tremendous riff, tremendous catchy. I do not suppose that one took lengthy to jot down. That might need been like, a half hour tune. Which, numerous the nice ones are. But I simply thought it was a very cool signature riff. It’s type of in that traditional ‘Sugar tempo’ – y’know, the 120s to 130s. Just these type of arduous driving 4 on the ground pop songs. The lyrics, there’s nothing revelatory within the phrases. But hopefully the best way that they have been constructed is attention-grabbing. Good tune, although.”
Before you stated one thing that I completely agree with: “The roads have been already paved” earlier than Nirvana’s Nevermind hit. Because I’ve at all times 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 various rock’s large breakthrough within the early ’90s. Do you see that on the time?
“I believe I noticed it when Sugar bought actually large. I used to be like, ‘Oh yeah, we did this.’ [Laughs] At the danger 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 bought into Nevermind, proper? But 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’s proper.‘”
What have been your impressions of listening to Nevermind for the primary time?
“Well, I had the demos as a result of I used to be in rivalry for producing the document. I didn’t have the demo of ‘Teen Spirit’ – I do not know if there was one, and I do not know if anyone bought it, if there was. But I bear in mind sitting with Gary Gersh at Geffen, and it got here up. History went the best way it did, and it was completely the correct means. 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 have 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 bought this E-ZPass for the toll street I’ll have had a hand in constructing.'” [Laughs]
How vital was MTV and 120 Minutes for alt-rock artists within the ’90s?
“MTV, basically – 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 vital. There have been different exhibits earlier than it – a present again within the ’80s, The Cutting 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 perpetually, however I did not know who they have been.
“And that very same episode, Hüsker Dü was on, as effectively. There was type of a trampoline or basis being set already earlier than 120 Minutes. But yeah, 120 Minutes was the place that every 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 numerous radio stations that had been round. College stations, after which stations like WLIR in New York. So, that was all a part of constructing the firmament, as effectively. 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 means of ’91/’92, all of that was crucial infrastructure, as effectively. It’s simply humorous – 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 numerous work to get to that time.”
Who are a few of your favourite ’90s alt-rock artists?
“Not many. [Laughs] I imply, I’ve numerous 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 perpetually, however I did not know who they have been.”
“During 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. But the most important 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 executed with this type. So, that will be the one which I might at all times go to.”
“Swervedriver being up there on the high, as effectively. The means that Adam [Franklin] and Jimmy [Hartridge] method songwriting and placing stuff collectively and the sounds of their information was actually sensible, as effectively. It was simply the guitar interaction, Adam’s voice, the songwriting was actually complicated…however it stayed actually catchy. And I knew about these guys from like, ’88, once they have been referred to as Shake Appeal – as a result of they despatched me the demos that grew to become Son of Mustang Ford. I am going means again with them, and I’m an enormous fan. I at all times sing their praises. And they bought new stuff – the brand new stuff is fairly cool, too. There’s a observe that got here out perhaps three weeks in the past. It’s nonetheless bought the entire earmarks. So, it is nice.”
What can followers anticipate from the upcoming tour?
“The touring for ‘Here We Go Crazy’ within the US, it is precisely what you’d anticipate. It’s me, and me and the rhythm part which have been on the final six information. It’s simply going to be a pleasant celebration of this document. I might counsel that it will likely be a celebration of all six information that we recorded collectively. I’d wish to put the highlight on that – which the three of us did collectively, and simply actually focus into that. I imply, I’ve bought 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] Just kidding – I believe these different parts of my songbook, that’ll be the spice, not the meat of it.”