May Interview with Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices. Bob discusses the new GBV album, his song writing technique and more.

RollUpandShine: Listening to "Isolation Drills" it’s easy to see that it is a lot more introspective than past albums, did you plan on the album being that way?

Bob: I really don’t know what an album is going to be like until I write the lyrics. The lyrics just came out to be kind of personal, kind of introspective and when I wrote the music for it, it just matched up. It just so happened that is what was going on not only in my life but also in the lives of some of the other guys in my band.

RollUpandShine: How would you say that your song writing has progressed?

Bob: Well..(strange music plays in the phone) Did you hear that music? It was my lighter.

RollUpandShine: Cool.

Bob: My Mao Tse Tsung lighter.

RollUpandShine: Huh?

Bob: A lighter somebody gave me that has Mao Tse Tsung on it and plays the Chinese national anthem. Anyway, I’ve kind of made a conscious decision to start becoming a better songwriter. It’s really easy for me to toss off song ideas. I can do that all day long. But if I actually want to sit down and work on a song, and work on the bridges and repeating verses and things like that, that’s a little bit more of a challenge and I’ve consciously wanted to do that the last couple of albums.

RollUpandShine: Can you talk about the record title and what the name means?

Bob: "Isolation Drills" is actually a really old…Do you know Pete Jamison is? Do you know that guy? He’s the guy who’s been with me forever. He and I kind of invented Guided By Voices. I used to coach football with him and we came up with that. It’s a set of drills we came up for coaching high school football. They called them isolation drills where we focused on a particular aspect of the game. So actually it’s been around for a long time. There was a song that I called "Isolation Drills" that was going to be on the album that was the last song that was actually deleted from the record that will probably show up as a B-side. But originally the album was going to be called "Broadcaster House" and I thought "Isolation Drills" was a better title because it’s a more personal record and I think the drills have come to mean to me the drills that we’ve done in the last year that has brought about this feeling of isolation and seperation from being on the road all the time. So the drills are the things we do like drink and carry on and rock and all that, you know?

RollUpandShine: Yeah. I think this record has a lot of radio possibility, not that the other ones haven’t. Do you think you’ll be getting a lot of radio play or would you like to see a lot of radio play?

Bob: Well, the last album got some radio play depending on where you’re at. I don’t know where you’re at? We don’t get too much radio play in certain spots of the world.

RollUpandShine: I’m in Indiana and they don’t really play too much here.

Bob: We don’t get too much play even here in Dayton. There are places right now that have put "Glad Girls" into their regular rotation. It started on the last album with "Teenage FBI" and "Hold on Hope" "Srgnt. Focus" started getting some play and then in Australia "Teenage FBI" was kind of a hit. But I don’t know, I don’t worry about those kind of things. I think my label would be happy if something would get some radio play and "Glad Girls has done pretty well so far. I mean it’s good to get radio play because then you sell more records and more people listen to your music

RollUpandShine: What are your expectations for this album?

Bob: I would personally like to sell 100,000 copies. I think we usually sell around 40,000 or 50,000 records, so if I think we could double our record sales that would be nice. I don’t really think about those things, I just make records to make myself happy. All of them should have a different personality and I think it does so I’m happy for the fact that it doesn’t sound like anything we’ve done before.

RollUpandShine: I’m interested to hear about how you write songs because everything I read about you says you go on these song writing binges. Does it just come to you really easy?

Bob: I really don’t think or stress out about writing songs. First of all, I keep lyrical ideas and titles all the time. I keep a notebook with me on tour. Whenever I hear something cool or think of something cool, I write it down and those become the seeds of inspiration. Then once I have enough cool ideas I put music to them.

RollUpandShine: I know GBV has gone through over 40 different band members. Has it been hard to record or tour with so many different members?

Bob: Uh no. Any time in the past where I felt there needed to be a change then I made a change in the spirit of keeping things going and in the spirit of progression. Some people I’ve decided to dismiss out of lack of enthusiasm and other people have left on their own accord for family obligations or a drug reason or whatever. Whatever I need to do to keep Guided By Voices going I’ll do. I am always seeking the perfect band and I think that I’ve found it right now and I can’t imagine having a better band than I have right now. It doesn’t make it difficult. Whenever we are getting ready to tour, we practice a couple of times and then we go out.

RollUpandShine: Do you have any pre- or post-concert rituals besides drinking?

Bob: Well, after every show we're supposed to get two pizzas. We like to eat pizzas you know?

RollUpandShine: Do you have any agreement for that?

Bob: It's on our writer that we're supposed to get two pizzas but sometimes they don't honor it. It mainly centers around the fact that we are supposed to get five cases of beer and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

RollUpandShine: What's your favorite beer?

Bob: I like Budweiser but I've been drinking Miller Lite because we drink a lot and I want to make sure I keep the calories down.

RollUpandShine: That's my buddies favorite beer. The slogan down in Texas is "Be True to Texas" so my friends always say, "We have to be true to Texas and go with the Miller Lite."

Bob: Is that a Texas beer?

RollUpandShine: I don't think it's a Texas beer but everybody drinks it. Either that or, we have a beer called Lone Star down in Texas.

Bob: I thought you were going to say Lone Star.

RollUpandShine: Yeah, it's cheap stuff. I like it but none of my friends seem to so we hardly ever get it.

Bob: Well I'll drink anything. It depends are where we are you know? When we go to Europe or Australia we have to drink the beer that they drink over there. So you just have to get used to it. I drink a lot of Miller Lite because it's like water basically.

RollUpandShine: Have you ever considered hooking up an IV to take in the alcohol?

Bob: If I had to I guess. If something happened to my mouth and I couldn't drink I'd take an IV or drink through a straw I guess.

RollUpandShine: I got a chance to see you guys two years ago at South by Southwest and I noticed that you do a lot of high kicks. How long have you been doing that?

Bob: I started doing that at our first show in New York. During the show I started doing kicks. I don't know what made me start doing that but you know I emulate a lot of moves that I've seen in rock, and I steal from everyone that I've seen that I like. I do the Adam Ant-jump where I kick my legs to the side and hit my hand on my foot. I do the Ian Anderson-stance [of Jethro Tull] where I put my foot up on my knee and stand there with my arms up. I do the Paul Stanley-side-kick [of KISS] kind of thing. But I think the high kick is mine, I not sure if I've seen anybody do it.

RollUpandShine: For Christmas I bought my brother your Suitcase album and my friend and I were dying laughing over some of the band titles you've used in the past. 'Bottoms Up! (You Fantastic Bastard)' was my favorite.

Bob: Yeah, I do that all the time.

RollUpandShine: Where do you come up with all the names?

Bob: Before I came up with the name Guided By Voices I kept a notebook of names because I was trying to come up with a good name. That's really important because you don't want to be stuck with a sh*tty name. That used to be a practice of mine, I got kind of addicted to it. We still do it, where we sit in the van on tour and try to come up with band names. Radioshack O'Neil, I like that one. It's just a hobby that I've always done and it's kind of a time waster. I've gotten several of my friends to start doing it now too.

RollUpandShine: What's your favorite album of all time?

Bob: It's a three way time. I like "Who's Next", I like the Beatles' white album and I like an album by a band called Wire called "154". Those are my favorite albums and it's kind of a tie between the three.

RollUpandShine: Say a new Guided By Voices fan only has a limited amount of money, what album should they buy or what's most important to pick up?

Bob: Well we've gone through three different phases so I would suggest buying one record from each phase. I'd say get "Bee Thousand" because that's our lo-fi record. Some people call it our masterpiece. You definitely should get that. Then the mid-fi phase, I think you should get "Under the Bushes, Under the Stars". Then get "Isolation Drills". I'd say if you get those three records then you've pretty cool.

RollUpandShine: If you weren't a rock star/artist/musician what would you be doing? Would you go back to school teaching?

Bob: I don't think I'd want to teach anymore, it's kind of a stress and pressure filled job. I wouldn't mind being a bartender or a chef or a porn director.

RollUpandShine: What is the best thing about Guided By Voices?

Bob: Maybe it's how much stuff we put out. If you're a fan of Guided By Voices we don't let you down because we are always putting out material, not just Guided By Voices but also my solo records and side projects. We constantly cracking them out so you don't have to wait around long for us to do something.

RollUpandShine: What would you say the worst thing about GBV is?

Bob: Some people say the same thing. That we put out too much stuff. Some people think that we dilute by putting out too many releases, but I disagree. Some people think we've gone through too many changes in personal. I've kind of slowed that down though because I've had the same guys for a while. I don't know. Maybe we drink too much. I don't know.

RollUpandShine: What Guided By Voices song would you like to see on the radio most?

Bob: Well the ones I'd like to see on the radio most are never selected for singles. I want "Twilight Campfighter" or "Unspirited" from "Isolation Drills" but that's not going to happen I don't think.

RollUpandShine: Do you have a worst album ever?

Bob: I love them all, they are like children to me but, yeah, I think probably "Fanbox", it's in our box set, was one of the first five albums we recorded ourselves. It's probably about the worst record. I don't know what we were trying to do there.

RollUpandShine: Have you ever considered producing records for other bands?

Bob: No, but I've been asked. I've had people ask me, "Would you produce our record?" and I said, "What do you want me to do, make it sound worse?" I don't consider myself to be a producer but I can certainly screw things up if that's what they want.

RollUpandShine: Who do you think is the best band in music today?

Bob: Are you talking mainstream or anything?

RollUpandShine: How about your mainstream and then your anything.

Bob: First of all I don't like mainstream but I would guess someone like Foo Fighters are the best maybe. I don't know if Elliott Smith is considered mainstream. Maybe Beck or someone like that. My personal favorite is a band that's been around for as long as we have and that's Superchunk. I've always liked the Drifters too but they haven't done anything in a while. Actually, there's a guy named Andrew W. K. He's from New York. Last year I got a CD of his from a friend that he did and he produced everything himself and he played everything. I don't know what happened to him and I don't know if he's put out anything, but it's amazing. It's really kick a** party rock.

RollUpandShine: If you could record an album with anyone who would it be?

Bob: Quite recently I did some stuff with J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. and I did some backing vocals and that was really cool. I'm getting ready to do some stuff with Mac McKon from Superchunk. I'm not into that thing first of all because it kind of scares me. I have to be really comfortable to work with someone. I have to have known them for a while. I've been asked to do things with some people but I don't really think I'm into it. I'd like to write songs with some one like Jimmy Webb. I don't know if you know who he is but he's a great songwriter from the 60's.

RollUpandShine: My brother wanted me to ask you if it's fair to use music as a tool to influence people?

Bob: Well it does anyway. It's a conscious decision on people who become musicians because they influence people. You can do that definitely in a negative way like Slipknot and all that kind of bullsh*t and Insane Clown Posse and sh*t that influences kids not in a good way. I like to think that my music sometimes of helps people out and kind of uplifts them up in a good way and it's a positive influence in some people's lives. I've had people come up and tell me that too, so that's good.

RollUpandShine: I have five more quick ones and then I'll let you go. What's in your CD?

Bob: A CD by a band called The New Pornographers.

RollUpandShine: What's your favorite television show?

Bob: The Sopranos, by far.

RollUpandShine: If you had a Ben and Jerry ice cream flavor named after you, what would it be called?

Bob: White Ice (laughs). I don't know man.

RollUpandShine: What’s the worst job you've ever had?

Bob: Tarring roofs.

RollUpandShine: Who's the biggest disgrace to music right now?

Bob: Creed.

RollUpandShine: They suck don't they?

Bob: They suck really bad. There's a lot of them that suck so you can't blame it all on them. It's that the industry has created some really bad pieces of crap.

Rockit

Thanks to Bob for the time. Be sure to check out our review of GBV's newest CD "Isolation Drills" in our CD section.

Email him at purduerockguy@hotmail.com