Bob Mould

Bob Mould (born Robert Arthur Mould, October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Born in Malone, New York, Mould lived in several places, including the Minneapolis-St. Paul area where he then attended Macalester College. There, he formed Hüsker Dü in the late 1970s, with drummer/singer Grant Hart and bass guitarist Greg Norton.

Formed in 1979, Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a punk rock group with a series of recordings on the independent label SST Records. In 1986, they signed with the major record label Warner Bros. Records, but found only modest commercial success. However, they were later often cited as one of the key influences on 1990s alternative rock, including bands such as Nirvana and the Pixies.

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. Mould and Grant Hart, the band's other songwriter and vocalist, still have lingering bitterness, though the two revisited their Hüsker Dü back catalog together at a 2004 benefit concert for an ailing friend, the late Karl Mueller of Soul Asylum.

After Hüsker Dü broke up in 1988, Mould sequestered himself in a remote farmhouse in Pine City, Minnesota, quit drinking and drugs, and wrote the songs that would make up his first solo album. Signing to the newly-formed Virgin Records America label, 1989's “Workbook” eschewed Mould's trademark wall-of-noise guitar for a stripped-down, atmospheric sound featuring acoustic guitars and cellos. Drummer Anton Fier (of the The Feelies and later The Golden Palominos and bassist Tony Maimone (of Pere Ubu) served as Mould's rhythm section. The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and the single, “See a Little Light,” reached #4 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

1990's “Black Sheets of Rain” had a much heavier guitar sound, recalling Hüsker Dü's loudest, angriest moments. The album peaked at #123 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the single, “It's Too Late,” reached #10 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Mould then formed the group Sugar, with bassist David Barbe and drummer Malcolm Travis. Along with extensive touring, Sugar released two albums, an EP and a B-sides collection before breaking up. 1992's “Copper Blue” became Mould’s most successful commercial album, selling nearly 300,000 copies.

Mould also co-founded a record label, Singles Only Label, with Coyote Records label founder Steve Fallon. The label released singles from bands such as Daniel Johnston, Grant Lee Buffalo, Moby, Mojo Nixon, Morphine, Nikki Sudden, and R. Stevie Moore from 1989 to1994.

In 1996, Mould returned to solo recording, releasing a self-titled album in 1996 (which is often referred to as “Hubcap” because of the cover photo) for the Rykodisc label. The album consisted primarily of four-track home demos. The album peaked at #101 on the Billboard 200 and at #1 on the Heatseekers Albums chart.

In 1998, Mould released “The Last Dog and Pony Show,” his final album on the Rykodisc label (who had released all of the Sugar albums). The album was named as such because Mould decided that the tour that followed would be his “ast electric band tour.”

After the tour, Mould took a break from the music world to get involved with another passion of his, professional wrestling, when he joined WCW as a scriptwriter in 1999 for a brief period. Creative differences with some of the other writers led to Mould leaving the company and returning to music. The liner notes for his 2002 solo album “Modulate” thank some of the wrestlers he associated with, most notably Kevin Nash and Kevin Sullivan.

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 to mixed critical reviews and poor fan reaction.

His next solo album, “Body of Song,” was originally scheduled for release at the same time as 2002's “Modulate.” Instead, Mould worked on the album for the next three years, resulting in a 2005 release. In addition to his solo work, Mould also worked as a live DJ in collaboration with Washington DC-area dance music artist Richard Morel, under the collective banner Blowoff. They frequently staged at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. A recording was released in September 2006. Mould has been asked to do remixes for a variety of dance and alternative rock artists, including a remix of the Interpol song “Length of Love.”

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 bassist Jason Narducy (of Verbow, drummer Brendan Canty (of Fugazi) and Mould's Blowoff collaborator, Morel, on keyboards. Mould’s next solo album, “District Line,” was released in 2008. Little over a year later in 2009, Mould released his next album, entitled “Life and Times.” In 2012, Mould released the first single from his first album on Merge Records, “Silver Age.” “Silver Age” was released later in 2012.