Flip Your Wig: Talkin' Shop in '86 with Husker Du's Bob Mould
My All-Time Favorite Interviews by Mike Starling | for Cuts: The Independent Music Review, Spring 1986
Here we have three unlikely rock 'n' roll heroes:
You figure it out.
I know I've tried to pinpoint why these guys cause tremors in the hearts of music fans and record execs everywhere... Maybe it's their sheer sonic wall of power. Maybe their inspiring independence. Maybe it's just cuz these are the last three guys you'd ever expect to blow the cobwebs out of your hearing canals on stage. I don't know. The fact is, this Twin Cities trio called Husker Du has conquered a couple continents with its powerful live shows, and their records have made everybody's best-of-the-year lists.
Now signed with Warner Bros., the band is in the middle of another U.S. tour. I spoke with Bob Mould prior to the Jan. 9 opening date of their Flip Your Wig tour at the Concordia Ballroom in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Here are some excerpts:
- Bob Mould, an Elmer Fudd on acid who plays his beat-up Flying V guitar like Dick Butkus played middle linebacker.
- Greg Norton, a human pogo stick on stage with handlebar mustache and bass guitar.
- Grant Hart, slam-bam drummer and resident wise-ass, yet source of some of the group's most sentimental song lyrics.
You figure it out.
I know I've tried to pinpoint why these guys cause tremors in the hearts of music fans and record execs everywhere... Maybe it's their sheer sonic wall of power. Maybe their inspiring independence. Maybe it's just cuz these are the last three guys you'd ever expect to blow the cobwebs out of your hearing canals on stage. I don't know. The fact is, this Twin Cities trio called Husker Du has conquered a couple continents with its powerful live shows, and their records have made everybody's best-of-the-year lists.
Now signed with Warner Bros., the band is in the middle of another U.S. tour. I spoke with Bob Mould prior to the Jan. 9 opening date of their Flip Your Wig tour at the Concordia Ballroom in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Here are some excerpts:
You recently signed a contract with Warner Bros. Why did you decide to go with a major label?
We've been approached for about two years by major labels. We were real happy with SST and the deal we had, being able to have pretty much all the freedom we wanted to put out records and etc. Around Zen Arcade time it started seeming like we needed a bigger label that could do a little bit better job with distribution and keeping records in print. New Day Rising went OK and then Flip Your Wig came out in September. We signed with Warners in November. I guess it's just a matter of wanting to make sure the records are available all the time. SST is one of the best independent labels going right now – it was definitely a friendly split.
Sort of an evolutionary move?
Uh huh. It was just a decision we had to make sooner or later.
Will you have a large degree of artistic freedom with Warners?
Uh, I think so. Grant and I are producing the album.
Do you guys do all the artwork?
You betcha. Nothing's changed except the label on the record really. I'm sure they've got a lot more people working for them and hopefully they can do a better job of getting their records and the name around. But other than that, I don't think there'll be that many changes.
Any effect it might have on the sound of the band itself?
No, I don't think it's going to compromise our sound whatsoever. I think the only thing that may change is that we're going to have to get a whole lot more professional. Since we don't have management, we don't have a booking agency, we do all that in-house. Major labels are used to working with high-powered management and booking agents. We have to prove that we can do everything ourselves.
From the start you've been active in all parts of the business – booking, producing and everything. Why?
Well, you know, we're sort of stubborn about that. We like to do things ourselves. I guess a little bit of it's if something goes wrong with us or the band, pretty much there's one one faction to blame and that's ourselves. I guess we sort of like it that way.
I've noticed a steady evolution of the music since the first record. Are you happy with the way you sound on Flip Your Wig?
Um. yeah. But we're changing again. That's sort of one of the things we enjoy is the ability to change the sound from record to record, try to make each record have a certain feel, have a certain emotion. I'm sure the next record's not gonna sound anything like the other ones.
When is that coming out?
That'll be March 17. [Editor's note: This would be the album Candy Apple Grey, including classic Husker tracks like "Crystal," "Dead Set on Destruction" and "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely."]
What did you guys do before Husker Du?
I was going to college, Grant and Greg were working at record stores.
Just hanging out in Minneapolis?
Bums, right.
So how'd you end up in rock 'n' roll band instead of, say, some corporate headquarters up there or something?
(laughs) Well, it started getting a lot more serious than college, at least to me. I guess I had to pick one over the over. I figured, well, I can finish college anytime, but if I drop the band for two years, it won't be worth anything.
I was going to college, Grant and Greg were working at record stores.
Just hanging out in Minneapolis?
Bums, right.
So how'd you end up in rock 'n' roll band instead of, say, some corporate headquarters up there or something?
(laughs) Well, it started getting a lot more serious than college, at least to me. I guess I had to pick one over the over. I figured, well, I can finish college anytime, but if I drop the band for two years, it won't be worth anything.
A lot of good bands have come out of Minneapolis. What's going on up there?
Something in the water? (laughs) I don't know. It's a real supportive town as far as arts, culture and what not goes. You get people like the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, or the Art Institute, and then clubs like First Avenue, 7th Street Entry and all the other clubs that have come and gone, and good newspapers, good underground newspapers. It's real supportive and everybody works together. It's not like, "Oh, those damn artists" or "Oh, those damn musicians."
Was it different when you started Husker Du in 1979?
Well, we were on the outside then. We just weren't in with the clique at the time.
What was the general music trend at that time?
At that time, new wave. All the "the" bands, and we were NOT a "the" band. You know, we didn't wear little ties or anything. We just got up and generally screamed and played real fast (laughs).
Did you draw any criticism at first?
We drew a lot of criticism. A whole bunch of hatred. We just stuck it out. We weren't going to let people put us down. We liked what we were doing and I think we knew were gonna get somewhere with it.
Something in the water? (laughs) I don't know. It's a real supportive town as far as arts, culture and what not goes. You get people like the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, or the Art Institute, and then clubs like First Avenue, 7th Street Entry and all the other clubs that have come and gone, and good newspapers, good underground newspapers. It's real supportive and everybody works together. It's not like, "Oh, those damn artists" or "Oh, those damn musicians."
Was it different when you started Husker Du in 1979?
Well, we were on the outside then. We just weren't in with the clique at the time.
What was the general music trend at that time?
At that time, new wave. All the "the" bands, and we were NOT a "the" band. You know, we didn't wear little ties or anything. We just got up and generally screamed and played real fast (laughs).
Did you draw any criticism at first?
We drew a lot of criticism. A whole bunch of hatred. We just stuck it out. We weren't going to let people put us down. We liked what we were doing and I think we knew were gonna get somewhere with it.
Mike Starling's original music is heard on numerous recordings and soundtracks, and his stories and photos have been featured in books, films, mags and other media.
starlingarchive.weebly.com is the authorized website for samples of published work by the Wisconsin-based writer, artist and musician Mike Starling. Photo of Starling on assignment in Ireland by J. Winke. Young Bob Mould with his Flying V photo from the I Am Hanging on the Telephone blog.. Bob Mould playing at the Peppermint Lounge in the 1980s photo by Robert Barry Francos. Website developed and managed by Nine Volt Media. ©MMXX-MMXXIII. All rights reserved.