Download a free MP3 of Bob Mould's "The Silence Between Us" here.
A true punk-rock veteran, Bob Mould fronted the enormously influential punk act Hüsker Dü in the ’80s, and led college rock act Sugar in the ’90s. For the past decade he’s released solo material under his own name, most recently District Line, which teamed him with Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty. District Line reconciles Mould’s classic-rock songwriting with his love of electronica (see his dance album Modulate), blending organic and synthetic elements into an album as dynamic as it is distinctive.
But to hear Mould tell it, he’d rather talk about the next album, the one he hasn’t made yet. “I’m sort of done with District Line already,” he says with a laugh. “All I have to do now is go out and play it. As soon as it’s mastered, and that’s the best it’s ever going to sound, I’m ready to move on. I’ve let go of it at that point because it’s a child, and it’ll learn to walk; I can’t hold onto it anymore.
District Line blends natural and artificial instrumentation. How do you achieve that balance without going too far to either side?
I can sort of trace the seed of an idea to one of two things: The days I pick up the guitar first, the foundation is more of a linear singer-songwriter style, and the days that I start with a machine, loops and stuff will be more prevalent. Some mornings I get up and I’m listening to college radio and some days I get up and I’m looking around for stuff for my DJ gig, so whatever I wake up listening to when I go into the work room is usually the vibe I’m going to carry in with me.
How is the songwriting process different for you now than it was 20 years ago?
Completely different. [Laughs.] Once I started laying things down to click and to grid 10 years ago, I started realizing, “Wow this isn’t like when I go in with a band and we hit record on the two-inch machine and we all have to play forward together.” Now, with the technology, you’re afforded anything that you want and you can reshape to fit any tempo or key that you want, so I think the non-linear approach opens up an entire world of possibilities as far as arranging. It’s not all just storytelling, it almost becomes a lot more like city planning.
Can that also be overwhelming at times?
Yeah, that’s the biggest problem. Now I’ve found the balance, and I have a specific way of songwriting that is really good for me: I write all the words first, pick up the guitar, and just start improvising—and then the music will take shape within five or 10 minutes. When I write in that style then it really sounds like my traditional style that people are used to. District Line is just coming out, but I’m already working on the next record; I think it’s going to be more in that linear style that’s more like true writing than cutting and pasting.
How often do you write?
I have big blasts of it. I mean, I broke my ankle this summer, so I was in the house for six weeks, and that was a great excuse to break another record. [Laughs.] Thank God, it wasn’t my wrist!
After being a professional musician for so long what keeps things fresh and inspiring for you?
I love music. I’m always carrying music all day and night in my head. I can be a terrible conversationalist when I’m just sitting with somebody because I’m like, “Don’t bother me, I’m hearing something right now”—which is horrible, but that’s my work. I can’t make it stop. Touring gets harder, and it takes more time to get things finished as I get older, but music is what I do. It’s been that way my whole life, really. I love waking up and working on music every day.