Bob Mould

Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould,... bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart. Hüsker Dü first gained notice as a hardcore punk band with thrashing tempos and screamed vocals. The band developed a more melodic musical style as they drifted away from their early sound, helping to develop the early alternative rock sound in the process. Mould and Hart split the songwriting and singing duties; Mould's lyrics were known for being more soul-searching and intense than the often whimsical and cryptic ones of Hart. Following a series of albums on independent label SST Records, including Zen Arcade and New Day Rising , the band signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1986. Hüsker Dü broke up in 1987 without having achieved a popular breakthrough, but they influenced later pop punk and alternative rock bands. Mould released two solo albums before forming a similar band, Sugar, in the early 1990s; Hart released a solo album on SST, and later formed a band, Nova Mob. Norton has been less active musically since Hüsker Dü's demise.
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Restless Records was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarly released alternative, metal and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records. Restless also had a fully owned subsidiary Pink Dust... Records. In 1991 Restless and a number of Enigma Records titles were acquired by Bill Hein and Joe Regis re-launched in Hollywood, California. In 1992, Restless acquired the Twin/Tone Records label and classic titles by such artists as The Replacements, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks and Ween. This addedto Restless' already substantial catalog of titles by They Might Be Giants, The Cramps, The Dead Milkmen, Devo, The Flaming Lips, Stiff Little Fingers, T.S.O.L. among others. In 1993 Restless co-founded Alternative Distribution Alliance with Warner Brothers Music Group to handle its distribution and certain titles released by Warner Bros., Elektra Records, Atlantic Records, their affiliates and Sub Pop Records. Sub Pop subsequently became a partner in the venture. Within 10 years, ADA went on to become the largest distributor of independent music in America.
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Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label in the United States, Rykodisc was founded in... 1983 in Salem, Massachusetts, by Arthur Mann, Rob Simonds, Doug Lexa and Don Rose. In the late 1980s, the label also began to issue high-quality cassette and vinyl versions of many releases under the name Ryko Analogue. Rykodisc had some notable successes in the CD-reissue industry, as artists such as Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Nick Drake, Nine Inch Nails, Robert Wyatt, and Mission of Burma allowed Rykodisc to issue their catalogs on CD. Rykodisc still retains the rights to the Zappa catalog. Rykodisc also re-released the SST Records-era recordings by the Meat Puppets. Over the years the label has acquired Hannibal Records, Tradition Records, Gramavision Records, Emperor Norton Records, Restless Records and, most recently, Cordless Recordings. Rykodisc also founded a distribution company, Ryko Distribution, and a music publishing company, Rykomusic.
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Granary Music is the independent record label and publishing company operated by Alternative/punk/indie icon Bob Mould, formerly of Hüsker Dü and Sugar. As a record label, its only artists are Mould himself, his former band Sugar, and his electronic dance music side project Loudbomb.... Under the Granary name, Mould controls the master rights to the entire Sugar discography, and all of the solo work he has recorded since Sugar's breakup in 1995. Most of these masters have been leased through Granary to other labels, including Rykodisc and Yep Roc; however, Mould released his 2002 solo album Modulate and the Loudbomb CD directly through Granary. Granary also controls the publishing rights to all of Mould's compositions, including all of the songs he wrote and performed with Hüsker Dü, which he claimed after the band's own publishing partnership was disbanded in 1988. Granary is also the name used to refer to Mould's home studio, first used in NYC for parts of The Last Dog and Pony Show and for Modulate. When he moved to Washington, DC, Mould moved the studio and label along with him and recorded most of the basics for his 2005 Body of Song there.
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