Getting to know … Bob Mould
Age: 46
Hometown: Washington D.C.
Status: 'Happily single,' after having been partnered with two guys ( not at the same time, mind you ) for 21 years. 'Right now I'm enjoying the single life.'
Hobbies: Working out, cooking, yard-work, traveling, bowling.
Favorite sport: 'I'm not really a sports guy, though I used to follow hockey.'
Favorite team: Montreal Canadians
Favorite athlete: Brian Urlacher
It's a Fact: Gave guitar lessons to former professional hockey players.
( Complete the following sentence. ) I'm better than most at … 'recognizing that life is short.'
Favorite TV show: Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Favorite movies: Syriano and Team America
Favorite actor: Vin Diesel
Favorite actress: None
Blowoff: 'It's gone from a humble monthly party, starting in January 2003, to a huge monthly party, with 95 percent ( of the audience being ) gay men.' The event is held once a month at Nightclub 9:30 in Washington, D.C, attracting about 1,200 each time. Mould and his Blowoff tag-team partner Rich Morel composed and recorded a record together, titled Blowup, released about six weeks ago. 'Blowoff has really been getting a good response in the gay community.'
Bob Mould has long been a fan of professional wrestling. Legends Ric Flair, Terry Funk, Nick Bockwinkel and The Sheik were his favorites. And he still today is close friends with Kevin Nash, a former World Heavyweight Champion who now appears weekly on Total Nonstop Action ( TNA ) Wrestling ( Thursdays at 8 p.m. CT on Spike TV ) .
Mould is just as big a star as any of the grappling greats; it's just in a different ring. Or, more specifically, Mould's work has a different ring; he never smashes a chair over someone's head.
Mould is, of course, the guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the influential 1980s punk-rock band Husker Du. He later formed Sugar, in the 1990s. And he now also is a live DJ in collaboration with Rich Morel, producing monthly parties under the banner Blowoff.
'I've been a lifelong wrestling fan. I grew up watching it as a kid,' said Mould, who has done some ring-announcing for wrestling matches and worked, in 1999, for seven months for the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) as a member of its creative team.
Working for WCW 'was a very enjoyable experience. There's a lot of hard-work that goes into producing a pro wrestling program. I have nothing but respect for the people in the business.'
Mould's current favorites include Austin Starr and Chris Sabin of TNA fame.
In 2002, Mould released the album Modulate and, in its liner, he thanked some of the wrestlers he became associates with, such as Nash and Kevin Sullivan. 'That album was really challenging to my core audience,' because it was Mould's first with a lot of gay lyrics. 'It was an experiment in my writing, a phase I was going through in my own life, and the gay community paid a lot more attention to that record.'
Yes, Mould is gay.
He came out publicly in 1994 through a story in Spin Magazine.
'That [ story ] was the moment when everyone officially knew what I thought they already knew,' he said. 'I got no resistance [ to my sexuality ] among my music fans, and actually got an additional group [ of fans ] who are looking for gay artists. It was a nice addition.'
The Spin writer visited Mould at his home, where he was living with his then-partner. He wrote at length about Mould's demeanor.
'I was very flustered when I saw the piece, but, as time has gone on, I laugh about it,' he said. 'It was awkward for me at the time. I don't think my coming out was the most graceful.'
Mould's music certainly was affected by his coming out. Several stations would not play his music 'because their advertisers would not approve of them playing gay music. But it was the person who wrote it who was gay, not the music.'
In 1994, things were certainly different on the gay scene than in 2006.
'I was reluctant to be out professionally for multiple reasons,' he said. 'Music is music, and music is a universal truth that really defies gender and sexuality. I was nervous that all of my work prior [ to coming out ] would be [ re-analyzed ] . Second, I really wanted to protect my family, who lived in a conservative part of northern New York; I thought they may have to deal with some scorn from their community,' because of the announcement.
Mould is wrapping up his next album, scheduled for a July 2007 release. He then will tour Europe, followed by stops around the U.S. next fall. Chicago hopefully will be on his schedule; he has performed numerous times at The Metro.
He has performed for intimate settings of 150 people on up to festivals with 15,000, and more.
Up to 30 percent of his audience in various markets is gay, he said.
