Bob Mould is best known for his work with the seminal punk band Hsker D and his own band Sugar. But in the past few y ears hes been putting out solo albums via his own record label. Now hes stepped back from being an executive and has allowed Yep Roc Records to release his latest, Body of Song.
Check out the official site for Bob Mould
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Bob Mould: I am actually just doing press this week. Thats pretty much it. I went out to the beach for a couple days and came back early to take care of some impending video work and today is a press day.
DRE: What video work?
BM: Actually I had to put together a trailer for Apple. I think their iTunes music store is doing something on Tuesday with the single and were doing some kind of make a video contest or something. They were like Oh. We need some stuff like now. I was like, Okay. Well, Ill just come back from the beach and take care of it.
DRE: What is it youre editing together?
BM: Just a 60 second thing with a little bit of talk and a little bit of music. Thats an average week.
DRE: What inspired Body of Song?
BM: It was just nice to get back to the guitar. Id been writing a lot more electronic music over the past few years and about this time last year I looked over and saw the guitar sitting in the corner and said, You know. Ive got this guitar record thats half done. I should probably finish it now. Body of Song was originally supposed to be part of a triptych in 2002. I put out Modulate, which was sort of a hybrid electronic rock record. I put out the LoudBomb record, which was very electronic. So Body of Song was supposed to come out in 02.
DRE: Why didnt it?
BM: I had done a handful of recording sessions and written a lot of songs and just didnt feel like it was the record that I wanted or envisioned. So I shelved it for a year and a half and about this time last year I went back and revisited a lot of the stuff and finished writing.
DRE: A lot of people are calling the record a return to form.
BM: To me it is just another part of what I do. I think its a more familiar part for a lot of the fans. I think people over the years have associated me with heavier guitar driven stuff. This record is more guitar than electronic but I guess thats where people are getting the return to form kind of thing.
DRE: Why did you want to go back to guitars?
BM: It just ended up that way. I stepped away from it for awhile. Over the past couple of years was just doing a lot of just like bootleg remixing work and DJing and working on projects outside of my normal scope. But its always cyclical with me now. I just get into different things. I guess this was a good time to get this one done.
DRE: How did you end up working with the label Yep Roc?
BM: They are an indie label out of North Carolina and they own their own distribution company, which was attractive to me. They had been calling me for about a year and a half. I put them off for a while because I wanted to get the record done first. Its a good place. John Doe, Robyn Hitchcock and Paul Weller are over there. A lot of people who have been making music for years. They let me do my thing. So far, so good.
DRE: Do they have the power to screw you over?
BM: Business is business. Who can predict the future? I dont think anybodys progressing with malice in mind, but the business has a way of changing. You never know whats going to happen. But so far its good. Its a good working relationship.
DRE: Who were you with right before that?
BM: Modulate and LoudBomb records were self-released on Granary Music, which has been my imprint for 16 years now. Before that I was working with Ryko, which is another large independent label. I had a stint with Virgin. I had a stint with Warner Brothers. I had a long stint with SST; a label in the 80s which has never quite caught up on their payments. So thats sort of my history in the business.
DRE: What made you decide to not self-release this one?
BM: With going through the machinations of it three years ago and seeing how much extra work it put on me I thought, Maybe this is record where I should just concentrate on the music instead of having to be in every marketing meeting. I still have a lot of control over how that gets rolled out though. I think its going to be a pretty successful record. If it was a record that I thought had a limited audience or a niche audience, I would definitely sell it.
DRE: Do you miss playing with Hsker D or Sugar?
BM: Hsker D was a great band at the time but eight years was enough of that. Sugar was a lot of fun. So no I dont, onward and forward.
DRE: How is the big tour going?
BM: We did Europe in September and then we did a month in the US. Its going very well.
DRE: I read you are a fitness nut now.
BM: I definitely take better care of myself. Part of that is because I havent been on the road every day for the last seven years. The last six or seven years Ive really been taking better care of myself, I work out pretty hard and eat right. I want to try to have a higher quality of life in the health department. I think it helps with all components of life.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official site for Bob Mould
Daniel Robert Epstein: What are you up to today?
Bob Mould: I am actually just doing press this week. Thats pretty much it. I went out to the beach for a couple days and came back early to take care of some impending video work and today is a press day.
DRE: What video work?
BM: Actually I had to put together a trailer for Apple. I think their iTunes music store is doing something on Tuesday with the single and were doing some kind of make a video contest or something. They were like Oh. We need some stuff like now. I was like, Okay. Well, Ill just come back from the beach and take care of it.
DRE: What is it youre editing together?
BM: Just a 60 second thing with a little bit of talk and a little bit of music. Thats an average week.
DRE: What inspired Body of Song?
BM: It was just nice to get back to the guitar. Id been writing a lot more electronic music over the past few years and about this time last year I looked over and saw the guitar sitting in the corner and said, You know. Ive got this guitar record thats half done. I should probably finish it now. Body of Song was originally supposed to be part of a triptych in 2002. I put out Modulate, which was sort of a hybrid electronic rock record. I put out the LoudBomb record, which was very electronic. So Body of Song was supposed to come out in 02.
DRE: Why didnt it?
BM: I had done a handful of recording sessions and written a lot of songs and just didnt feel like it was the record that I wanted or envisioned. So I shelved it for a year and a half and about this time last year I went back and revisited a lot of the stuff and finished writing.
DRE: A lot of people are calling the record a return to form.
BM: To me it is just another part of what I do. I think its a more familiar part for a lot of the fans. I think people over the years have associated me with heavier guitar driven stuff. This record is more guitar than electronic but I guess thats where people are getting the return to form kind of thing.
DRE: Why did you want to go back to guitars?
BM: It just ended up that way. I stepped away from it for awhile. Over the past couple of years was just doing a lot of just like bootleg remixing work and DJing and working on projects outside of my normal scope. But its always cyclical with me now. I just get into different things. I guess this was a good time to get this one done.
DRE: How did you end up working with the label Yep Roc?
BM: They are an indie label out of North Carolina and they own their own distribution company, which was attractive to me. They had been calling me for about a year and a half. I put them off for a while because I wanted to get the record done first. Its a good place. John Doe, Robyn Hitchcock and Paul Weller are over there. A lot of people who have been making music for years. They let me do my thing. So far, so good.
DRE: Do they have the power to screw you over?
BM: Business is business. Who can predict the future? I dont think anybodys progressing with malice in mind, but the business has a way of changing. You never know whats going to happen. But so far its good. Its a good working relationship.
DRE: Who were you with right before that?
BM: Modulate and LoudBomb records were self-released on Granary Music, which has been my imprint for 16 years now. Before that I was working with Ryko, which is another large independent label. I had a stint with Virgin. I had a stint with Warner Brothers. I had a long stint with SST; a label in the 80s which has never quite caught up on their payments. So thats sort of my history in the business.
DRE: What made you decide to not self-release this one?
BM: With going through the machinations of it three years ago and seeing how much extra work it put on me I thought, Maybe this is record where I should just concentrate on the music instead of having to be in every marketing meeting. I still have a lot of control over how that gets rolled out though. I think its going to be a pretty successful record. If it was a record that I thought had a limited audience or a niche audience, I would definitely sell it.
DRE: Do you miss playing with Hsker D or Sugar?
BM: Hsker D was a great band at the time but eight years was enough of that. Sugar was a lot of fun. So no I dont, onward and forward.
DRE: How is the big tour going?
BM: We did Europe in September and then we did a month in the US. Its going very well.
DRE: I read you are a fitness nut now.
BM: I definitely take better care of myself. Part of that is because I havent been on the road every day for the last seven years. The last six or seven years Ive really been taking better care of myself, I work out pretty hard and eat right. I want to try to have a higher quality of life in the health department. I think it helps with all components of life.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
he rocks so much with a band. I liked this show better than when he toured solo for the modulate album. he is a cool guy, i am glad to see an interview here.
Could You Be The One is my ring tone