Loud and sweet: An interview with Bob Mould of Sugar

By Gregg Shapiro

Photo by Todd Owyong-NBC

Modern rock pioneer Bob Mould is not one to sit idle. Over the course of his more than 40-year recording career, the gay musician recorded six studio albums with Hüsker Dü, two full-length albums with Sugar, and more than a dozen solo studio records. That doesn’t even include other projects such as those he recorded in the dance/electronic realm. In 2026, reunited with his former Sugar bandmates David Barbe and Malcolm Travis, Mould is playing a series of live shows featuring Sugar fan favorites, along with some new songs. Bob generously made space for a summertime interview about the Sugar reunion.

Gregg Shapiro: Bob, after a span of 30 years, why was now the time for Sugar to record new songs and go on tour?

Bob Mould: There was a lot of interest building with fans, with people in the music business. It started to feel like something that people would be excited about. I reached out to David Barbe a couple of years ago with the idea and he was amenable to it. We went to Malcolm Travis, the drummer in

Sugar, and he was pretty excited about it. I guess if we were ever going to revisit the three albums that

we made in the ‘90s and, as you mentioned, a few new songs…(the) clock’s ticking [laughs]. None of us

are getting any younger. It just felt like the time to do it. So far, it's been great.

GS: I’m glad you mentioned Malcolm. I went to college in Boston during the early 1980s and one of my favorite local bands from that time was Human Sexual Response, which featured Sugar drummer Malcolm Travis. How did you and Malcolm connect?

BM: Malcolm and I connected in 1988. It was after I had left Hüsker Dü and before (my solo debut)

“Workbook” was released. Malcolm was playing drums in a band called The Zulus.

GS: That was an offshoot of Human Sexual Response, right?

BM: Correct. It was Larry (Bangor) and Rich Gilbert and Malcolm and Rich Cortese was the bass player. They got signed to Slash Records and I was asked to produce their album. I was in the studio for a lot of time with Malcolm. I knew that he was a great drummer. That was in my memory bank as time went on and, then Sugar came together.

GS: Sugar, like Hüsker Dü before it, and your current solo touring band with Jason Narducy and Jon Wurster, is a trio. What appeals to you about musical threesomes?

BM: It feels natural to me. Starting with Hüsker Dü, that's what set the stage for the configuration with

Sugar and, as you said, with Jon and Jason. To me, the more musicians you have on stage, there’s less direct communication and less room for improvisation. (Even though) Sugar’s not a band that improvises a lot. Guitar, bass, drums, and vocals is such a direct way to address songs. There's been a lot of great three pieces over the history of Western pop music. I always think about Jimi Hendrix Experience. Even the Ramones, who I loved, are a threepiece, but with the lead singer, a fourth member. It’s where I started and it's been my main way of performing live with other musicians.

GS: Does the Sugar tour setlist include all album tracks and Bsides?

BM: We have a general set that we play every night. We make alterations: maybe a couple times a

week we'll switch out a few songs. It’s not top to bottom album play or anything. A fair amount of “Copper Blue,” half of “Beaster, a fair amount of “FUEL” (“File Under Easy Listening”), and a lot of deep cuts and the new songs, as well. It's a pretty interesting set. It's been running about 90 minutes. We're not real talkative on stage. We just get on to the music and keep going. We've cycled a few songs out and brought some new stuff in. When we pick up again in August, we’ll take a look at some other things

that we haven't been playing.

GS: How close is Sugar to releasing a new full-length studio album?

BM: We haven't really even addressed that. We have the three songs that we that we did last June and then just started focusing on getting ready for all the touring this year.

GS: Among the many cities on Sugar’s tour schedule is Chicago for the annual Riot Fest. The 2012 “Copper Blue+Beaster” reissue on Merge included the bonus disc “Live At Cabaret Metro, 1992,” recorded in Chicago. Please say something about your relationship with the Chicago music scene.

BM: Hüsker Dü started in Minneapolis in ’79. Some of our earliest out of town shows were in

Chicago in late ’80. That was back in the (music venues) Oz, O’Banion’s, C.O.D. days. And then Cubby Bear, and, of course. Metro. I still have a great relationship with Metro and Joe (Shanahan) and Chicago, in general. There's always been so much support, so much love from (radio station W)XRT. We’ve been fortunate to play Riot Fest a number of times, and look forward to getting back this year. The (live disc from the) show you mentioned, that was summer ‘92. Sugar did a two-week tour of the

Southeast and a few shows in the Midwest. Those shows were before any music had been released.

People were coming to that show at Metro on faith. They hadn't heard any of music. We got such a great response. Those two weeks got us up and running for the first singles that came out and going over to the UK. Then the album came out a couple months after the Metro show and off we went at that point.

GS: Is there any chance that Jason (Narducy, who lives in the Chicago area) will be in town and will join Sugar on stage at Riot Fest?

BM: He's already been on stage (with us). He jumped up at one of the New York shows [laughs]. It was

great to see him. I think it was the third of the Webster Hall shows in New York City. I did not know that

Jason was in town until late that morning. He was like, “Hey, I'm around. Can I come down?” I said,

“Yeah, you want to jump up?” And he's like, “Yeah!”

GS: Your eponymous 1996 album was released 30 years ago. Do you think you might include anything from that album on your concert tour to acknowledge the anniversary?

BM: No. I'm glad you mentioned it. Believe it or not, I completely lost track of that 30th anniversary. It’s the three (Sugar) albums, the B-sides and the new stuff. That's what we're doing this time around.

GS: Is there a genre of music or an artist that you listen to that might surprise your fans?

BM: I think during a lot of the 2000s, when I got deep into electronic music and was DJing regularly. I

think that surprised a lot of people then. I think it probably would surprise new Sugar fans now, that I still have such a love of French house and progressive house music. It's pretty far away from punk rock or grunge or shoegaze, which, I guess, are the genres in which I've worked in and around for most of

my working career. I still like electronic music, but I'm not as informed or educated as I used to be when I was DJing. Back in those days, it would be looking for new music for half the day, listening online and trying to find new stuff to DJ.

GS: Lastly, a couple of days before we’re speaking, Jennifer Finch of L7 passed away. Did you ever cross paths with Jennifer at a festival or show?

BM: I think we may have done some festivals together. It's terrible news. It’s really sad. L7

were an important band in the day, and it looks like they're still preparing to do some stuff despite this huge loss. It's always sad to lose people too soon, of course. My thoughts

are with her fans and friends and family.