The Spin Interview: Bob Mould

Bob Mould / Photo by Richard Kern

Is this why Hüsker Dü albums still aren't available for download?
I don't know anything about any of that. Grant's lawyer was in charge of the Hüsker Dü estate. I still haven't heard the live album [1994's The Living End]. I couldn't bring myself to listen to it, I had Sugar's guitar tech check it out instead. Why? I don't know.

So we won't be seeing Hüsker Dü headline Coachella anytime soon? Even My Bloody Valentine…
Headlining Sunday night, I know. There's been talk, but there was never a formal approach, and there probably never will be. Not interested.

But there's an entire generation of music fans who've heard about this important band and never got the chance to see you.
I can't provide it. I can't scream like that, I don't feel like that. Listen to those records and try to picture us playing that now. It can't be done. It's not like the Pixies -- okay, Charles [Black Francis] can't yell as hard as he used to, but other than that, it's pretty much the same.

Do you ever find it odd that the one piece of music of yours that people today hear the most is --
The Daily Show theme. Isn't that crazy? I was friends with Lizz Winstead, who co-created the show, from back in Minneapolis. That was one of two songs I wrote for the "hubcap" album [1996's Bob Mould] that didn't have words, and that's the one she chose.

Is your legacy important to you?
I absolutely think about it. That was something I learned from getting to hang around with a lot of the Beat guys like Burroughs and John Giorno, just to sit and talk and learn what's important about what we do. So if it seems like I get hung up on history or protecting memories, it's because I was taught to. My concern, always, is not to let the past overshadow the present, but believe me, I'm blessed to have such a nice history to work off of, and I'm careful not to cash in on it. I enjoy talking about what it all meant, how we had to rely on friends for shelter and food, the mechanics of it all compared with how it is now. It's romantic. I'm comfortable with that now.