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After Husker Du broke up in January 1988, the guitarist/singer/songwriter Bob Mould continued his musical career as a solo artist. He spent 18 months in solitary, preparing a large number of songs which would later become his solo albums. Bob signed with Virgin Records in 1988 and during the following 2 years released 2 albums (Workbook in 1989 and Black Sheets Of Rain in 1990). He recorded and toured with the Bob Mould Band during this period of time and also did two solo acoustic tours. Frustrated with the business operations of major record labels, Mould left Virgin after the release of Black Sheets Of Rain. He spent almost all of 1991 touring through America and England with his solo acoustic program. During this tour, he ended every show playing electric guitar really loud, and seeing people's reactions to it, Mould decided to play this kind of music with a band. Those months on the road helped renew Bob's confidence in himself. When he returned to America, he contacted Malcolm Travis, whom he had met while producing a The Zulus record years earlier. Boston-based Malcolm Travis's music career began in 1979 with Human Sexual Response and continued with the The Zulus and Concussion Ensemble. Next came David Barbe, the Athens-based bassist who led the band Mercyland and fronted Buzz Hungry. David also engineered and produced numerous local bands. Mould sent David and Malcolm home-demo versions of his songs so they could familiarize themselves with the material. Barbe and Travis had never met each other before. After three weeks of rehearsals in Athens, the new outfit emerged for an unannounced debut performance at the 40 Watt Club, before heading for Outpost, a recording studio in Stoughton, Massachusetts (an incomplete and mediocre-sounding recording of this performance can be found on the bootleg CD Whatever Makes You Happy). The band signed with Rykodisc in the U.S. and Creation in the U.K. SUGAR's first album, Copper Blue, was released in the fall of 1992 to enthusiastic reviews and became Mould's most successful project to date. Copper Blue sold over 350,000 copies and spawned several alternative radio and MTV hits, including "Helpless"
and "If I Can't Change Your Mind."
In the spring of 1993, SUGAR released the mini-LP Beaster, a more abrasive collection than Copper Blue that was recorded at the same sessions. Mould wrote the material for the second SUGAR album during 1993. The band began recording in the spring of 1994, but the sessions ground to a halt and the tapes were erased. Mould decided to give the album one more try, and it was recorded quickly later that spring. The album, File Under: Easy Listening,
appeared in the fall of 1994. It received good reviews, but oddly enough was moderately successful commercially. In the spring of 1995, it was announced that SUGAR was on hiatus. Besides, a collection of rarities and B-sides, was released that summer. SUGAR played their last gig during the Japanese tour in summer 1995. After that, Barbe left the band to spend more time with his family and turned his attentions primarily to engineering. In 2001, however, he released Comet of the Season - his debut solo effort. Travis keeps up his chops by playing with several bands in the Boston area, including Wheelers and Dealers, Laughing Academy, and Kustomized.
After SUGAR fell apart in the fall of 1995, Mould begun to work on his third solo album entirely by himself. He released four solo albums. In 2005 his album Body Of Song was cross-announced with his first band tour since 1998. Brendan Canty, best known as the drummer for Fugazi, and Mould's Blowoff
collaborator Richard Morel play drums and keyboards, respectively, Jason Narducy plays bass for the tour, which began in the fall of 2005. David Barbe played bass on some tracks at the recording of the CD.
In addition to his solo work, Bob Mould is also a live DJ in collaboration with DC-area dance music artist Richard Morel, under the collective banner Blowoff. Bob also has another electronic alter ego - a project called LoudBomb
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