Guided by Voices | |
|---|---|
 Guided by Voices performing in 2016. Left to right: Bobby Bare Jr., Mark Shue, Kevin March, Robert Pollard, Doug Gillard. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Works | Guided by Voices discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Members | Robert Pollard Doug Gillard Kevin March Mark Shue Bobby Bare Jr. |
| Past members | Mitch Mitchell Tobin Sprout Jim Pollard Timothy Payton Earick Kevin Fennell Don Thrasher Greg Demos Dave Swanson Jim Macpherson Nate Farley Tim Tobias Dan Toohey James Greer Chris Slusarenko Jon McCann Leland Cain Paul Comstock Nick Mitchell Steve Wilbur |
| Website | gbv gbvdb |
Guided by Voices is an Americanindie rock band formed in 1983 inDayton, Ohio. The band had a variety of lineup changes, with singer and songwriterRobert Pollard remaining the group's sole constant. The most well-known lineup of the band consisted of Pollard (lead vocals), his brother Jim (guitar, bass), Mitch Mitchell (lead guitars),Tobin Sprout (vocals, rhythm guitars),Kevin Fennell (drums), and bassistGreg Demos.
Guided by Voices' drew influence from earlyBritish Invasion music,garage rock,psychedelic rock,progressive rock,punk rock andpost-punk. The band has had a prolific output, releasing 43 full-length albums along withmany other releases, and has garnered a dedicated cult following. Originally emerging out of thelo-fi music scene during the 1980s, their songs employedPortastudio four-tracks-to-cassette production methods, and are known for their frequent brevity.
Guided by Voices initially disbanded in 2004. In 2010 the "classic" lineup reunited to perform atMatador Records' 21st anniversary party, subsequently touring and releasing six new albums. GBV broke up a second time in 2014, but Pollard again rebooted the band with a new album and a new lineup in 2016, which continues till this the present day.
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Formed inDayton, Ohio, in the early 1980s, Guided by Voices began their career as a bar band working the local scene. As lineups and day-jobs shifted, however, Pollard moved the band towards a studio-only orientation. Guided by Voices' recording career began with a stream of self-financed, independent releases beginning with the R.E.M.-inspired E.P.Forever Since Breakfast and followed by the albumsDevil Between My Toes,Sandbox,Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia, andSame Place The Fly Got Smashed. With only a few hundred copies of each album being pressed, these tended to circulate only among the band members' family and friends.
With the release of the ultra-limited albumPropeller in 1992 (of which only 500 copies were pressed, each with a unique, handmade cover), Guided by Voices for the first time gained some recognition outside of their hometown. This was due in part to gaining fans in thecollege rock circuit and bands such asSonic Youth,R.E.M. andThe Breeders. New York City and Philadelphia were host to Guided by Voices' return to the live stage (and first shows outside of Ohio) in 1993. At this time, the always-fluid Guided by Voices lineup coalesced around the core of Pollard, guitaristsTobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell (not to be confused withJimi Hendrix's drummer), bassistGreg Demos, and drummerKevin Fennell. Sprout, who was briefly featured in an early-'80s version of the band, had re-joined circaPropeller and soon became Pollard's primary musical foil, in addition to contributing several of his own songs to the band's catalog. 1993 also saw the release ofVampire on Titus, as well as theFast Japanese Spin Cycle andStatic Airplane Jive EPs. Over the next year, the band began to receive national media exposure from sources such asSpin magazine.
In 1994, after culling both new songs and reams of archival recordings from GBV's history, Pollard delivered the indie landmarkBee Thousand viaScat Records, with a distribution deal through indie labelMatador Records. Soon, the band officially signed with Matador, concurrent with Pollard and his bandmates finally retiring from their day jobs to work in music full-time. The band surprised early audiences accustomed to the generally shambling, lo-fi and collage-like quality of the records with their energetic live show, featuring Pollard's homegrown rock theatrics (consisting of karate-kicks, leaps,Roger Daltrey-inspired mic-twirling, later beer can throwing at rival bands[2]), Mitch Mitchell'swindmilling andchain smoking, sometime bassistGreg Demos' striped pants, a never-ending barrage of tunes that all seemed to clock in under 90 seconds, and prodigious alcohol consumption all around.
Their true Matador debut came in 1995 withAlien Lanes, which, despite a five-figure recording allowance, was constructed out of home-recorded snippets on the cheap. The band's underground following continued to grow, with notices coming from mainstream sources such asMTV andRolling Stone. After sessions for a concept album entitled The Power of Suck were aborted, the band assembledUnder the Bushes Under the Stars out of their first 24-track studio sessions, recorded withKim Deal andSteve Albini among others, in 1996. However, the strain of heavy touring would ultimately lead to the demise of the "classic lineup", with Sprout deciding to retire from the road in order to focus on raising his first child, his painting, and his solo musical career. Sprout and Pollard marked the occasion by releasing simultaneous solo albums on the same day in 1996: Sprout'sCarnival Boy and Pollard'sNot in My Airforce, with each making a guest appearance on the other's album. Pollard maintained an active, parallel solo and side project career alongside GBV releases for the remainder of that band's existence.
Pollard formed a new incarnation of Guided by Voices with members ofCleveland groupCobra Verde in 1997. The following albumMag Earwhig!, combined a new hard-rocking swagger with classic lo-fi fragments and one track, "Jane of the Waking Universe", that featured the classic lineup for one last time. However, after another year of rigorous touring, the "Guided by Verde" lineup split in late 1997 following Pollard's announcement in an interview that he intended to work with other musicians on the next Guided by Voices project.
Cobra Verde'sDoug Gillard was tapped for yet another new Guided by Voices lineup in 1998, which also included "classic"-era bassistGreg Demos, formerBreeders drummerJim Macpherson, and eventually, formerAmps/Breeders guitaristNate Farley. Departing from Matador, this lineup (without Farley) worked with producerRic Ocasek to create what was intended to be Guided by Voices'major label debut. Initially produced forCapitol Records,Do the Collapse was repeatedly delayed and finally released in mid-1999 on pseudo-indie labelTVT. (In the UK it was released onCreation Records). Featuring a slick, heavily processed sound previously foreign to GBV albums,Do the Collapse failed to garner radio airplay, and was for the most part greeted with mixed reviews.
Through touring heavily throughout 1999 and 2000, Guided by Voices' live act became legendary, with shows often stretching past the three-hour mark, and populated by an endless stream of new and classic songs, Pollard solo tracks, impromptu covers ofThe Who,David Bowie andThe Rolling Stones, all accompanied by continuous alcohol consumption. In addition to multiple swings through the United States and Europe, 2000 saw the band's first and only visits to Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. 2000 was capped with the release of the massiveSuitcase, a four-disc, 100-song trawl through three decades worth of Pollard's enormous reserve of unreleased material. (Three more box sets of unreleased songs,Suitcase 2,Suitcase 3 andSuitcase 4 released in October 2005, November 2009 and November 2015 respectively.)
2001'sIsolation Drills was recorded withRob Schnapf,[3] who aimed to capture the band's live sound more closely than did Ocasek. Though the album debuted inBillboard's top 200 and received higher critical notices than its predecessor, it did not achieve the sought-after radio breakthrough.
After departing from TVT in 2002, Guided by Voices returned to Matador and releasedUniversal Truths and Cycles, a departure from the previous two radio-aspiring albums, and a return to the band's mid-90s, mid-fi aesthetic.Universal Truths producerTodd Tobias would also record the band's final two albums for Matador. 2003 saw the release of the prog-styledEarthquake Glue, followed by the anthology box setHardcore UFOs: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere and thegreatest hits compilationBest of Guided by Voices: Human Amusements at Hourly Rates.
In 2004, Pollard announced he was disbanding Guided by Voices[4] following the release of theHalf Smiles of the Decomposed LP, and a final farewell tour. Pollard stated:
On November 9, 2004, Guided by Voices performed on the stage ofAustin City Limits, broadcast byPBS on January 22, 2005. Their last television appearance was onLate Night with Conan O'Brien on December 2, 2004. They played the single, "Everybody Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)". After a select round of final US shows, Guided by Voices played their final show at The Metro in Chicago on December 31, 2004. The four-hour, 63-song marathon finale is documented on the DVDThe Electrifying Conclusion.[5]
Pollard released his first post-GBV album in 2006 onMerge Records. The album, titledFrom a Compound Eye was a double LP produced byTodd Tobias. Later Pollard albums have been released on Merge and Pollard's own label, Guided by Voices Inc. The GBV song "Everyone Thinks I'm a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking)" was featured in the soundtrack forMLB 2K6.
Following GBV's demise, Pollard was frequently asked about band reunions. In 2007 he toldMAGNET: "To me, it's just cashing in. If you're gonna get the band back together, it should be to support a new record, not just to play the hits. That's like doing the county-fair circuit. I don't see Guided By Voices reforming. For one thing, there were 50 or 60 people in Guided By Voices over time."[6]
Pollard also commented on the fact that GBV and his solo output are basically the same, when he toldHarp magazine, in 2005, "You know, a lot of people try to distinguish things between what is Robert Pollard and what is Guided By Voices. I tell them basically that there is no difference; I am Robert Pollard and I am Guided By Voices."[7]
In 2008, Pollard admitted to almost bringing GBV back for his albumRobert Pollard Is Off to Business but decided against it, instead forming a new label titled Guided by Voices Inc.[8]
The 1998–1999 lineup of the band reunited for a few songs, for Pollard's 50th birthday in 2007.
In October 2008, it was announced that Guided by Voices' music would be used for a3-D film musical based on the life ofCleopatra to be directed bySteven Soderbergh with script byJames Greer.[9]Soderbergh and Greer would rewrite the lyrics of the songs to fit the story.[10]Soderbergh had previously used a Guided by Voices song in his filmFull Frontal, and wrote an introduction to a book on the band.[11]Pollard wrote the soundtrack to Soderbergh's filmBubble, and that music was released asMusic for 'Bubble'.[11] Guided by Voices and Pollard posters, t-shirts, and songs appeared frequently on British sit-comThe IT Crowd.
In June 2010,Matador Records announced that the "Classic '93–'96 Lineup" would reunite to perform at the label's 21st Anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, in October of that year.[12] A full reunion tour was subsequently announced, with the band selling out nearly every date. The tour included stops at Hoboken'sMaxwell's and the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky, two venues that the band had built a history with due to legendary shows there in the past.[13] When asked bySpinner if there might ever be another proper GBV record Pollard said "I've thought about it sometimes but it's a very long shot," he says. "We all kind of do our own thing. I'm not completely eliminating the possibility."[14]
On September 21, 2011, it was announced that a new GBV album,Let's Go Eat the Factory, had been recorded for release in January 2012.[15]
On January 4, 2012, the band performed their single "The Unsinkable Fats Domino" on theLate Show with David Letterman to promoteLet's Go Eat the Factory. During their performance, bassistGreg Demos fell while attempting a dance move. However, Demos was not seriously injured and the band continued to perform their song.
The band canceled what was to have been their first post-reunion show in the UK at theAll Tomorrow's Parties 'I'll Be Your Mirror' festival at Alexandra Palace, London, in May 2012[16] as well as a planned appearance at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona. The band's management denied reports that the cancellations were due to them splitting up again and confirmed they were still working on new material.[17]
The band released a second post-reformation LP,Class Clown Spots a UFO, on June 12, 2012. Generally regarded by fans as the best of the latter-years' albums, it marked a return in tenor and quality to this line-up's mid-90s heyday. A third,The Bears for Lunch, followed in November.[18] GBV began touring again in September 2012 with a 13 show "Tour of the South", starting in Dayton, Ohio, on September 8, 2012, which included gigs in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and stops in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, New Orleans, Texas (Houston and Austin), Missouri and Kansas, with the final show on September 29, 2012, in St. Louis. Another album,English Little League, was released in 2013.[19]
In a July 2013 interview withMagnet magazine, Pollard stated thatEnglish Little League could be the final GBV album.[20] However, in September, a fifth reunion record,Motivational Jumpsuit, was confirmed for release on Guided by Voices Inc. and Fire Records in February 2014.[21] Drummer Kevin Fennell was replaced by Kevin March for the sixth reunion album,Cool Planet,[22] which was released on May 13, 2014.[23]
On September 18, 2014, GBV abruptly released a statement on Facebook that they had once again disbanded. Remaining tour dates were canceled.[24]
In February 2016, the official Guided by Voices Facebook page announced that GBV has been announced to headline theSled Island Festival on June 25 and that a "strikingly fresh Guided By Voices album in the works", on which Pollard plays all the instruments.[25][non-primary source needed] Pollard subsequently confirmed the new lineup for the band which would include returning drummerKevin March along with newcomers guitaristBobby Bare Jr., guitarist Nick Mitchell and bassist Mark Shue.[26]
After the band's set on July 14, 2016 at the Grog Shop in Cleveland, when the band was expected to return to the stage for an encore, Nick Mitchell was fired in the dressing room next to the stage. Mitchell was replaced by former member Doug Gillard,[27] who subsequently rejoined Guided by Voices permanently later that month.[28]
On January 25, 2017, the band announced their firstdouble albumAugust by Cake for release on April 7, 2017, and released a new song, "Hiking Skin." The album was also Robert Pollard's 100th album.[29] On March 10, the band premiered another new song from the upcoming album, "Dr. Feelgood Falls Off the Ocean".[30]
On June 22, 2017, Guided by Voices announced another new album for 2017, titledHow Do You Spell Heaven, which was released on August 11. The band also released a new single from the upcoming albumJust to Show You.[31]
On December 8 of the same year, the band announced another album to be released the following March entitledSpace Gun, and released the title track as a single.[32]
In 2018, Guided by Voices announced the future release of thedouble albumZeppelin Over China andWarp and Woof for 2019. They also made their 7" single, "You Own the Night" available for pre-order containing singles from both albums.[33]
In 2019, the band releasedZeppelin Over China,Warp and Woof andSweating the Plague and in 2020 went on to release three more albums,Surrender Your Poppy Field,Mirrored Aztec andStyles We Paid For.
In 2021, the band releasedEarth Man Blues in April 2021,[34]It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them! in October 2021,[35] andCrystal Nuns Cathedral, which was released on March 4, 2022.[36]
Tremblers and Goggles by Rank and the compilationScalping the Guru rounded out 2022, followed byLa La Land,Welshpool Frillies, andNowhere to Go but Up in 2023.[37]Strut of Kings was announced in April 2024 and released in June. Then, In November 2024, they announced another album titledUniverse Room. It would be released on February 7th, 2025.[38]
In September 2025, they announced another album titledThick Rich and Delicious. It would be released on October 31st.[39]
Guided by Voices have been categorized asindie rock,alternative rock andlofi, with compositions that Mark Deming ofAllMusic said were "infectiously brief pop songs". The band's early releases were described as "amateur recordings that included audible mistakes, eclectic instrumentation, and haphazard songwriting".[40] The band is influenced by the stylings of theBritish Invasion andprogressive rock.[41]
It's been said over fifty musicians have contributed to the band. The following is a list of all known members.[42][43][44]
Current
Former
Former touring members
Timeline
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