To interview a rocker God or what he perceived as one can be an exciting although no cracking experience

Rochester's SCENE - May 1987

HUSKER DU'S
BOB MOULD
interview
by Kathy Landers

To interview a rock god or what you perceive as one can be an exciting although nerve-racking experience. I was given that chance on April 3, of this year. An interview with a man I consider to be the conscience of a generation without preaching, a man that makes one guitar sound like either a damn good whipping or a chorus of scathing angels. A band, a concept that can only be Bob Mould of Husker Du...

K: What was the first instrument you started to play?

B: One of those plastic electric organs when I was about 7 years old. Those were the ones with the magic chord buttons on them, on the left-hand side, the little round buttons. My parents gave it to me. As far as serious 'playing' music, when I was 16 I started playing guitar.

K: Did you have any ambitions to be a rock star at that time?

B: No, I never really thought about that. I knew, I guess in the back of my mind that I'd always end up in music, but I never really wanted to be a rock star. I was happy to be a musician.

K: Did you grow up in Minneapolis?

B: No, I grew up in Upstate New York. Farther north than Rochester.

K: When you started to play out, what was your first band?

B: Husker Du was the first real band for all of us. I mean we were in jam bands and all.

K: So you got together with Grant and Greg in 1979?

B: Yea, I met Grant in '78 at a record store, and had known Greg from another record store. It turned out that I played guitar, Grant played drums and Greg had a bass, so we just decided to start a band. Started writing songs right off the bat. We played our first show out in March 30th of 1979 - 8 years ago.

K: 8 years! - Has your life changed a lot, not just musically?

B: It's sort of strange growing up in front of people.

K: When you first started playing out what kind of clubs did you play??

B: Punk clubs. Places that would have bands that played original music.

K: So when did the "no stage diving" rule come into effect,

B: That started about two years ago when people really started getting hurt - playing venues that have higher stages. When your audience changes, not everybody wants to stage dive. Not everybody wants to be stage-doven on.

K: Did you guys ever get heavily into the punk scene in the late '70s?

B: We were so punk nobody could stand it.

K: Is that why you have a definite attitude, almost "anti-punk" - that you don't want to be "considered" one of a or any group?

B: When we started playing music in 1979 we did exactly what we wanted to do because we thought that was punk rock. Though it was the ability for anyone with any amount of talent to get up there and do something. As time went on, people wanted to categorize the

band as a hard-core band or a punk band or this or that or the other thing and every time someone tries to pin a label on the band they're wrong. You know, it only goes to show their frame of reference. What they consider the world to be, that's where they put us, Vis-a-vis, everything else in their life. And it's not so much a hard anti-punk stance, it's just hard anti-anything except what we do as musicians because we're not carrying anybody's flag.

K: You also don't want to be allied with any political organizations either?

B: That's not our time or place to get up there and tell people about politics. None of us are that well versed in the political system. I mean, I know what's going on right now but my opinions are not anymore valid because I'm a musician.

K: Let's talk now about labels you've been on - "EVERYTHING FALLS APART" was on REFLEX...

B: That's our own label - we started that label.

K: But "LAND SPEED RECORD" was your first album?

B: That was the first album. There was a single before that on REFLEX and then there was "LAND SPEED RECORD" on New Alliance, which was the Minutemen's label, Mike Watt's label.

K: Were you very close to D. Boon and the rest of the Minutemen?

B: Yeah, real close.

K: How did you end up on SST? Is that because of the Minutemen and Black Flag?

B: We had gotten to be acquaintances of Black Flag as well as the Minutemen and when we were recording "METAL CIRCUS" they offered

to put it out so we went with them. We were sort of strapped for cash at the time. Basically operating on a negative cash flow at that point. We were running a label and putting out records by other bands as well.

K: Which bands were those?

B: Well, RIFLE SPORT, GROUND ZERO, ARTICLES OF FAITH, OTTO'S CHEMICAL LOUNGE, MAN-SIZED ACTION, the MINUTEMEN'S live EP,, a lot of different things, compilations too.

K: Do you plan on doing that in the near future?

B: Maybe sometime in the future but not right now. I'm the kind of person that if I can't give something 100% of my attention I'd rather not do it. So the labels on hold for right now. And all the bands that were on that label have other things going right now, so that worked out well.

K: So what's going on with the AIDS benefit challenge that you initiated to Giorno Poetry Systems?

B: It wasn't so much of a challenge but when it came time for the royalty checks to get passed out, we were sitting around the office trying to

think of something to do with the money. I mean it wasn't a lot of money and something we really needed to deal with right then. So I said that it would be interesting to give some of it to this AIDS Hospice that's set up in Manhattan. It's not so much research, but hands on care for people that are afflicted with the disease. You know, it's going out to restaurants to get food for them and clothing and things like that.

K: Has the response been good?

B: Yeah, I think so. I just watched on the news the other night, there's something similar going on in London on a bigger scale right now. A lot of the legitimate rock stars and pop stars are contributing. I think it's just a matter of time before the people wake up to the fact that something is going on, and nobody knows what it is yet. I think a lot of the people who were working with John Giorno on the compilations are of alike or similar mind about those things as are people like Laurie Anderson, Phillip Glass, you know, people who are a little more aware of things, I think, than most people. Or maybe, have been affected by it a little more close to home than most people. So, it was a little something we could do that certainly didn't hurt anybody.

K: Did you do this because of a long-standing human need to help people?

B: That's not the first thing we've done in that line. We raised money for children's hospitals and doing other benefits to raise money to get toys for under privileged children around Christmas time. We'd also done some work for Greenpeace in England.

K: Did you do the work with Greenpeace on tour?

B: Well, just one show, and it wasn't a heavy political statement. The people who put it together were working with Greenpeace and the money went to them.

K: "WAREHOUSE: SONGS AND STORIES" is getting a lot of critical acclaim, much like "ZEN ARCADE" but on a much larger scale. How do you feel about it?

B: Well, it's encouraging. I suppose it means the people are listening to the music and finding some value in it. I mean that makes it a little more than it would be for me. It's nice to write those songs and play them and put them out there but to find out people actually appreciate what you're doing is real nice as well. It's not overwhelming or anything like

that. I mean, I still keep working every day, I don't just stop because we got the lead review in Rolling Stone. We just keep doing what we do and hopefully people will keep listening to what we do.

K: What videos are out now?

B: "MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL," "DON'T WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ARE LONELY," and "COULD YOU BE THE ONE."

K: Do you have any concert videos available?

B: There's an unofficial concert video that can be obtained from a company in England but I don't think anybody's going to get them anymore. It was put together in real strange circumstances. It was taped for a television show and ended up coming out as a home video. There's also various things SST has put out, different live footage. I mean, the band has been pretty well documented on video.

K: How do you feel on tour - do you like going out and meeting all the people or does it become a blur to you sometimes?

B: It's real nice to go out and talk to the people who listen to your music. What happens is we're making music and we throw it out there, and it comes back to us and it's a never-ending combination of us making music and people reacting to it. It's a very immediate thing to go out and play and see people appreciating your music. It's a real nice feeling. I also like to play.

K: What about bands that don't tour - just make albums in the studio? Do you think they really have a grasp on their audience?

B: I think they're a little more insulated than bands that go out and play live. That's fine, too. However anybody chooses to get their message across. If they choose to only make records, some people aren't of a mind that

they can go out and deal with people, and that's understandable. It is definitely different from bands that play out live for 150 years and never make a demo tape. There's all ends of it to look at.

K: Did you ever worry that you were going to be stuck there - as a band that played out for 150 years?

B: No, because we're playing theatres for 70 dates a year. Showcasing as an international act. No I'd never do that - that's not why I make music.

K: You were always optimistic about your progress?

B: Yeah, we were always looking ahead. Still are. You can't just sit on what you've done. You have to keep moving forward.

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