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 feel, like a lot of the world, I bought a bit of 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 one will get to take 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 method, however with out touring, the whole lot kind of froze in place.”
“I’m the sort of musician who actually appreciates performing and getting suggestions on new materials, and I kind 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 capable of get out and do reveals till the autumn of ’21. So, spending a lifetime in that sort of repetitive cycle and having it damaged, I used to be a bit of bit little bit misplaced with, ‘I ponder if these items’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 assume being the primary one. So I feel that is a part of the drag in time.”
“I imply, I feel the stuff that I used to be writing throughout that interval wasn’t…I had a pair good songs – ‘Respiratory Room’ was an early tune, ‘When Your Coronary heart Is Damaged’ was a fairly early tune. But it surely wasn’t prime quality output all the best way round. Simply in a time like that, I’ve realized from expertise, in case you rush it, it is in all probability not going to be your finest work. So, simply wait. Simply hold working and it will all come into focus. And thru ’22 and thru ’23, I used to be out doing quite a lot of solo electrical work and making an attempt out new stuff.”
“Type 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 enjoying was becoming subsequent to the catalog. And that was the sort of stuff that was lacking. So after I was getting that, then the whole lot begins to line up a bit of bit higher. I do know that is a brilliant 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, properly, the brand new mum or dad 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 do this if we’ve got a bit of additional time.’ We shot the whole lot within the completely different desert places in Southern California. And I feel Gus did an incredible job. It is a very cool video. I had quite a 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 individuals to the remainder of the album. To kind 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 a great one. That is an instantaneous basic for me, proper? Mid-tempo, super-pop catchy guitars with super-depressing lyrics. [Laughs] That is kind of my specialty, I assume. However ‘Right here We Go Loopy’ is attention-grabbing, as a result of it is quite a lot of like, small snapshots of what I have been as much as the previous few years, and issues that I am simply making an attempt to kind of set this huge open area for individuals. And simply exhibiting individuals bodily places, 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 does not steal it. [Laughs] But it surely’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 attention-grabbing 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 a press release of intent. ‘I’m not simply the man from Hüsker Dü.’ Black Sheets to me was kind 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 report ran its course and I parted methods with Virgin Data, the purpose in 1991 to me was to only begin writing what I hoped could be one of the best report I may presumably write.”
“I used to be on the highway, continually doing solo acoustic reveals. I’d play for 3 weeks and check out new materials. I might go dwelling for a pair weeks, write extra stuff. I might return out for one more three weeks. And this was all kind of planting seeds for what was to return. That is the figuring out the fabric in entrance of the individuals 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 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 creating the third Bob Mould solo album. And we bought 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 should always give it a band title, and we got here up with the title Sugar. That is kind 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 assume the wave of grunge that actually picked up steam when Nevermind got here out. And I feel, kind of ‘reverse engineering’ why that report was profitable – it will take you to the Pixies, that will take you to Hüsker Dü. As like, only a small proportion of what made that report nice. I feel the roads have been already paved in a method.”
“I didn’t see the moment success of Sugar because it was taking place. I imply, the second I assume I knew, was we did a pair reveals in London in late July/early August of ’92, and one in every of 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 kind of really feel it – ‘That is taking off, and we have 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 totally superb report written. However, we went with what we had. After which by the top of ’94, the band was wrapping up. And I feel our final present was in Sendai, Japan in January of ’95. After which I retreated quietly, understanding that that undertaking was completed. I saved writing music. Recorded an album – a few of it at dwelling, a few of it in a small studio in Austin – and that grew to become the eponymous album that quite a lot of us name Hubcap.”
“I didn’t intend to tour on that report. The ask from Pete Townshend to open a pair reveals of his in New York within the spring of ’96 bought me occupied with getting out and dealing once more, and went out and did quite a lot of solo touring. After which ’98 was The Final Canine and Pony Present, 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 Metropolis and was integrating with the LGBTQ neighborhood greater than I ever had. So I used to be enriching my life in that course, and thought, ‘Perhaps this might be a great 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 feel that is it in a nutshell. There’s the professional wrestling stuff within the fall of ’99 by means of spring of 2000 – that kind 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 needed to vary, I did not know what type it will precisely take, nevertheless it all got here collectively fairly properly. Naturally, I feel.”
The Sugar tune “Your Favourite Factor” is a ’90s alt-rock basic. What do you recall about writing that tune?
“Actual tremendous riff, tremendous catchy. I do not suppose that one took lengthy to write down. That may have been like, a half hour tune. Which, quite a lot of the great ones are. However I simply thought it was a very cool signature riff. It is kind of in that basic ‘Sugar tempo’ – y’know, the 120s to 130s. Simply these kind 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 have been constructed is attention-grabbing. Good tune, although.”
Earlier than you mentioned 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 different rock’s large breakthrough within the early ’90s. Do you see that on the time?
“I feel I noticed it when Sugar bought actually large. I used to be like, ‘Oh yeah, we did this.’ [Laughs] On 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? However yeah, I feel I knew, by the point Sugar was blowing up that if I had any doubts about what perhaps had occurred previously, then I feel that was kind of like, ‘Oh yeah. That is proper.‘”
What have been your impressions of listening to Nevermind for the primary time?
“Properly, 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 bought 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 proper method. Butch Vig was anyone 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 the whole lot went precisely because it ought to. [Laughs] Y’know, Butch does that, they blow up, after which it is kind of like, ‘Oh, now I’ve bought this E-ZPass for the toll highway I could have had a hand in constructing.'” [Laughs]
How essential was MTV and 120 Minutes for alt-rock artists within the ’90s?
“MTV, usually – 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 essential. There have been different reveals earlier than it – a present again within the ’80s, The Reducing Edge. I keep in mind that as a result of there was one episode, it was the primary time the Smiths have been on TV in America, I feel. 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 tune, 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 have been.
“And that very same episode, Hüsker Dü was on, as properly. There was kind of a trampoline or basis being set already earlier than 120 Minutes. However 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 quite a lot of radio stations that had been round. Faculty stations, after which stations like WLIR in New York. So, that was all a part of constructing the firmament, as properly. 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 properly. It is simply humorous – this and I do know this – however there’s kind 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 quite a 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 quite a 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 tune, 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 have been.”
“In the course of 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 hold ready for anyone to high Loveless. There have been information since then which have gotten near that degree…however that was like a beacon of sunshine of what might be completed with this type. So, that will be the one which I’d all the time go to.”
“Swervedriver being up there on the high, 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 sensible, as properly. It was simply the guitar interaction, Adam’s voice, the songwriting was actually complicated…nevertheless it 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’m going method again with them, and I am an enormous fan. I all the time sing their praises. And so they bought 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 bought 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 might 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 feel the meat and potatoes of the tour would be the six information that we made. And I feel the whole lot else will in all probability…do not quote me on this! [Laughs] Simply kidding – I feel these different parts of my songbook, that’ll be the spice, not the meat of it.”
