Rocker Bob Mould finds balance of rock and electro

By Karen Brettell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For more than 25 years songwriter, performer, producer and DJ Bob Mould's sound has crossed hardcore punk, melodic guitar-based indie music and electronica, with fans coming and going along the way.

Now with his first DVD release and a new album on the way, he says he has struck a balance between his different styles and ended up in a pretty good place.

"Right now I think I have a fairly healthy blend of where I think I'm composing less in the electronic side and more on the organic side," Mould told Reuters in an interview.

"I think that the blend is a lot more acceptable to other people and I'm having a lot of fun with it."

As the co-singer and songwriter of thrash punk band Husker Du in the 1980s, the face and voice of 1990s alternative rock band Sugar, or through solo projects, 47-year-old Mould became synonymous with angst-ridden guitar rock and the alternative rock scene.

Mould's DVD, "Circle of Friends," documents a show from a 2005 tour at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, where Mould revisited songs from all of his different recording incarnations with a full band.

The same band, featuring Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, bassist Jason Narducy from Rockets Over Sweden and keyboardist Richard Morel, will also hit the road after Mould releases his new album, "District Line," in February.

Mould describes the album as having 10 songs, "a lot of guitars, some electronic embellishments," and one mainly electronic song.