Guitarist Bob Mould Stays Part of the Bigger Picture

Guitarist Bob Mould is proud to be a part of rock history, but he’s not content with clinging to it.

Mould fronted the influential Minnesota punk band Hüsker Dü in the ’80s. The group brought more vulnerable, introspective lyrics to the hardcore punk template, eventually breaking the genre wide open with the wildly experimental 1984 double LP “Zen Arcade.” Following Hüsker Dü’s 1987 breakup, Mould found alt-rock radio success in the early ’90s with his band Sugar, best known for their 1992 release “Copper Blue.”

Between the two seminal groups, the singer-songwriter-guitarist has become a trailblazer for a new generation of musicians, with artists from the Hold Steady to Pixies citing him as a guiding light. Mould responds to the idolization with genial humility.

“The fact that it resonates now and in different ways to younger people, that’s really great,” Mould says. “It makes me feel real good.”

Although he still trots out his old material in concert, Mould isn’t one to fixate on the past. He envisioned his latest record, “Beauty and Ruin,” as a song cycle moving through four themes: loss, reflection, acceptance and future. The record was largely inspired by his father’s death in 2012, and Mould says the recording process helped him “work through” that event. But he’s already enjoying different ways of looking at the new tunes in live settings.

“They’re just sitting in alongside other songs in the big book,” he says. “To see this record that I had, this four-act play that I had, … to just break it all apart and fit it into the bigger picture, it’s pretty cool.”

The record tackles solemn themes, but Mould’s far from self-serious. He poked fun at his own disconnect from the technology-obsessed modern music industry in the video for “Beauty and Ruin’s” lead single, “I Don’t Know You Anymore.” Mould says he “could get real curmudgeonly” about the myriad changes he’s seen in the industry throughout his career, but “there’s really no point.” He still enthusiastically embraces the most essential element of promoting a record: getting on the road and playing the music.

“Getting people together in a room to have that experience is very different than telling a story with a record,” he says. “It’s much more of a community. That’s why touring is great and playing live is great. It’s really important.”

Looking to the future, the 53-year-old Mould acknowledges that his touring days may be limited — at least for his current performance style.

“I don’t think I can play wild, three-piece punk rock forever,” he says. “It’s a very, very physical show. It’s a loud show. As I get older, it’s natural that I don’t have all of the fuel or all the tools I had when I was 23. I’m being realistic about it.”

But when that day comes, it’ll be just the next evolutionary step for a highly adaptable musician.

“I think I’ll always get up and play music for people,” he says. “I’m not saying when I wake up tomorrow, all the music is put away. That’ll never happen.”