October 7. 2005 ’ JUSt OUt 3Q
MUSIC
............ ▼................
“When I told
everybody
I need to go away,
I need to reinvent,
I need to do some
different things, it
wasn’t Just about
music. It was about
claiming my identity
as a gay man.”
What about Bob?
Htlsker DU frontman breaks the Mould
inger. Songwriter. Guitarist. DJ. Wrestling
scriptwriter. Liar.
S
These are all words that describe Bob
Mould, frontman for the legendary
Hiisker I Xi and Sugar, who said in 1998 that he
was done touring with a loud rock band. Fast-
forward seven years and he’s back at it again,
seemingly happier and more energized than
ever before.
For those unaware of his rich musical
legacy, Mould was the co-frontman (along
with Grant Hart, the slightly less productive
McCartney to Mould’s hyper-prolific
Lennon) for Hiisker Dii, which changed the
face of hardcore punk in the ’80s by adding
melody, emotional lyrics and instrumental
virtuosity to a genre obsessed primarily with
being fast and hard. It would be easy to credit
Hiisker Dii for Nirvana if you do the math:
Frank Black placed an ad in a paper looking
for musicians inspired by Hiisker Dii, which
resulted in the birth of the Pixies; later Kurt
Cobain readily admitted to both ripping off
the Pixies and loving Hiisker Dii. Coinciden
tally, Mould was on the short list to produce
Nirvana’s Nevermind before that job fell to
Garbage’s Butch Vig.
Following the drug, drink and differences-
fueled implosion of Hiisker Dii, Mould busied
himself with a brisk solo career, spitting out a
pair of pivotal, career-defining releases (the
reflective, acoustic-based Workbook in 1989
and the bitter, bombastic Black Sheets of Rain
in 1990) before re-embracing the band con
cept with a trio of Sugar records (the high
light being 1992’s close-to-perfect Copper
Blue) that catapulted him onto MTV and
further into the public consciousness.
Newfound popularity didn’t come without a
price: Spin unceremoniously outed Mould in
1994. “Publicly 1 was never out, but I wasn’t
closeted. Everyone knew that 1 was gay. Some
body just wanted to put a stamp on it.”
Sugar dissolved soon after. Mould put out a
couple of more solo records, including 1998’s
prophetically titled The Last Dog and Pony
Show, and then, after a tour supporting that
effort, disappeared.
“When 1 told everybody I need to go away,
I need to reinvent, 1 need to do some different
things, it wasn’t just about music. It was about
claiming my identity as a gay man," he says. “I
was living in New York, and I needed to have
some time to integrate into my community
and really feel connected to it and get in the
gay life.”
A lifelong wrestling enthusiast, Mould did
Current
Doctor
not treating you
like the
by J im
T hompson
—Bob Mould
Ten years after being outed by Spin, Bob Mould finds self-acceptance on the long-promised
Body of Song.
some scriptwriting for World Championship
Wrestling, an exhausting seven-month stint he
calls “insane, a dream come true and more
work than 1 could ever imagine.” He doesn’t
entirely rule out a return to this gig. “1 did the
best I could. If somebody in the business ever
wanted my opinions or wanted me back at it,
they know where to find me.”
Mould also began hitting the gym in
earnest, simultaneously honing his physique
and opening his ears to other sonic possibili
ties, namely electronic dance music, a genre he
would explore more fully in the ensuing years.
He played guitar on the Hedwig and the
Angry Inch soundtrack in 2001 and released
three records in 2002: Modulate, an extreme
electronic experiment under his own name,
which confused and alienated critics and fans
alike; Dmg Playing Grooves, an even more
extreme electronic experiment under the
moniker LoudBomb; and LiveDog98, an audio
document of a London performance from the
Dog and Pony tour.
After moving to Washington, D.C., in 2002,
Mould forged a successful DJ partnership with
Richard Morel (known for remixes of Depeche
Mode, Pet Shop Boys, New Order and many
others) dubbed Blowoff, which culminates in
frequent sets at kx?al clubs. These multiple-hour
marathons often begin as straight DJ sets, shift
into a live rock show with guitars, vocals and
backing tracks, and then segue seamlessly back
into spinning records—a mind-bending combi
nation for unfamiliar attendees who just happen
to show up “instead of going to the circuit party
that night,” he says.
The DJ experience got Mould hankering for
the familiarity of his guitar, which had mostly
been collecting dust since the conclusion of
the Modulate tour. This reacquaintance kick-
started a creative process that helped bring the
long-promised Body of Song to fruition. Mould
describes it as a “sunny, optimistic” record,
which sort of makes sense when sifting through
his back catalog. (Sample lyric: “Should I
throw myself from the hanging tree? Is there a
place for those of us who don’t belong?
1 haven’t found it yet.”) More realistically, Body
of Song is rhe work of a 44-year-old man experi
encing an awareness of his own mortality, the
end of a long-term relationship and the begin
ning of self-acceptance.
“I think I’ve got a little more of a comfort
level with my own sound. I was running away
from it pretty briskly with Modulate,” Mould
says. “It’s an acceptance of whatever I do or
have done well that people enjoy.”
Body of Song offers much to appreciate for
longtime fans and neophytes. “Paralyzed” and
“Circles” (soon to be featured on The O.C.)
tread comfortably recognizable loud yet melodic
ground, with lyrics detailing breaking up and
down, respectively. “(Shine Your) Light Love
Hope” and “1 Am Vision, I Am Sound” provide
an encouraging slap on the ass to the handful of
fans who didn’t feel just slightly betrayed by
Modulate. “Best Thing” and “Missing You”
sound like long-lost Sugar outtakes and are jar
ringly out of place sandwiched between the
unrelentingly beautiful “Days of Rain” and
“High Fidelity.” However, “Always Tomorrow,"
with its bewitchingly fat bass and drums, whis
pered verses and ubercatchy chorus, offers the
most hope for the continued vitality of Mould’s
solo output.
“1 wish I knew what was next,” he says,
mulling future plans. A recorded Blowoff
project is in the works, and his remixing skills
are in demand, as indicated by recent work
with Low, Interpol and VHS or Beta. In the
meantime there’s the tour behind Body of
Song, which hits Portland on Oct. 12.
“The tour is gonna be a hcxit,” says Mould,
who is breaking the mold of former tours by
playing both Hiisker Dii and Sugar songs with
a full band, a musically benevolent move that
will undoubtedly delight diehards. “1 know
what people like. This is supposed to be a fun
year for me. This is not a big, dark, introspec
tive kind of vibe. ” jm
B ob M ould performs with Shiny Toy Gun
9 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Doug Fir Diunge,
830 E. Bumside St. Tickets are $17 at the door
and $15 in advance from TicketsWest.
J im T hompson was a soon-to-be-expelled,
semi-juvenile-delinquent seventh-grade Catholic
schoolboy in 1 987 when he first heard and fell in
love with Hiisker Dii late at night on KBOO's
What Does Your Brother Know?
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