Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould has no difficulty distinguishing his sonic power trio from the plethora of other major-label, white rock bands. "We may have just signed to Warner Brothers, but there is a difference between the way we do business and the way other groups do, because we choose to do it all ourselves!" he states quite emphatically without trying to impress. "We're still self-managed, self-produced, self-car-driven, self-booked, self-promoted, and we still handle all arrangements for interviews, photos and other appointments. We have to answer for everything we do, good or bad. "We don't hire middlemen," he continues. "And, in particular, we don't hire somebody to give the record company shit; we do it ourselves! I think the company likes it that way, they get to talk to the band directly; there's no one playing go-between, no one putting weird pressure on them. "We only ask for what we need. We don't want a whole lot, just someone to put our records out and leave us alone; let us do everything else ourselves. I don't know if anyone else has been doing it this way, but we feel it works for us." There is doubtlessly a scarcity of bands with this degree of self-reliance, much less independence, but it should also be noted that despite Hüsker Dü's alternative sound and business practices, Mould also has an independent attitude toward the snare of punk classification, as well as the self-important attitudes of other radical movements devoted to the great cause. "People want to think they're outside the norm, but in reality everyone is inside this pink balloon. Clusters of radicals are still part of society. All you do is influence the trends of the norms. You can just change where the balloon stands, you can't change what's in it." One has to wonder, though, if Hüsker Dü will collapse with all the overwork, responsibility and basic exhaustion? "Sooner or later it's going to happen. One of these nights it's all going to crack and that might be the end of it."