Hart formed Hüsker Dü in 1979 with Bob Mould and his friend Greg Norton. The band's early material had them lumped in with the hardcore movement of the early 1980s. The band members received help from their parents in their early days. In Hart's case, his mother let him use the copier machine at the credit union where she worked to make show flyers, and the band added $2,000 to an existing loan at the credit union to release the band's first single, "Statues," on their own label Reflex Records in 1981. Success existed on a small scale for the band; by 1982 Hart was unemployed and relied on support from friends and family.