Guided By Voices Interview: A Conversation with Doug Gillard
Robert Pollard (left) and Doug Gillard (right); Guided By Voices perform “I Am A Tree” at SPACE in Evanston
Journeyman Doug Gillard has been in Guided By Voices for 10 years, over 2 stints, for 12 official LP’s and other releases that no casual fan could keep track of. So, apart from Robert Pollard himself, I could think of no better person to analyze the creative process behind their recent crop of records, including two so far this year, Zeppelin Over China and EP compilation Warp and Woof, and a third coming, Sweating the Plague. More than ever, GBV seems to be a democracy, and not just because each member has gotten his turn at writing a few songs. From my conversation with Gillard over the phone last month from his home in Queens, I got the sense that as long as Pollard doesn’t have a clear idea for the song, he not only welcomes but relies on the others to help him complete it, even if he was the original writer. As for Gillard, he provides the backbone of the songs, something you don’t really notice but would if his contributions weren’t there, especially the horns and strings that supply dramatic flair or emotional weight. At any given live show, he’s the heart and soul of the band, whether doing backup vocals on the set mainstay that he wrote “I Am A Tree” or dishing Pete Townshend-esque riffs on the band’s Who worship.
Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity, wherein Gillard also talks about his favorite new GBV songs, upcoming band-related news, and other projects he’s recently worked on or is working on.
Since I Left You: You’ve said Zeppelin Over China is unlike anything the band has done before. What makes it unique within the GBV discography?
Doug Gillard: I think it’s just a little warmer and has a little more orchestration and is probably the most diverse record.
SILY: A song like “The Hearing Department” is certainly hazier than your average propulsive GBV track.
DG: Yeah, Bob wanted sort of a rumba beat for that in his notes. Sometimes he has notes. Some songs he doesn’t. When we do the music, a lot of times, we just have freedom to take a song somewhere we’re feeling at the time of recording. Other times, he has sort of a vision. It’s a mixed bag, which is great. We like doing both. On that one, given that beat and the chords, it sort of reminded me of an early Fleetwood Mac song--Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac.
SILY: On “Cobbler Ditches”, does he reference “Motor Away”?
SILY: You guys have so many songs, but having listened to a lot of them, I’ve never really picked that out before, where he’s referenced a previous song by title. It had to happen one of these days.
DG: I think it’s happened in the past, but I can’t be sure. There’s been a lot of records.
SILY: On this one, you did a lot of string and horn arrangements. That’s most notable on the singles and the ones you were playing before the album was out: “The Rally Boys” and “You Own the Night”. Where else did you add them in?
DG: They’re all over the record--“Vertiginous Rafts”, the last song on the record. Really, there are little parts of strings and horns on a lot of the songs on here. Sometimes, the strings are in the version of a Mellotron, but mostly, they’re not. Sometimes, they’re really subtle, too, added just to add a little bit of atmosphere.
DG: I play them. I have an orchestra program, a MIDI program administered through a keyboard. There’s piano on there--key-related things.
SILY: I’ve seen how you adapted the first two live. Is it the same approach with the others? Are you even playing them?
DG: We will be playing more songs from the record. But when we play stuff live, we just kind of rock it out. I’m not concerned whether parts on the record aren’t in the song live. I really like seeing bands that play songs on the record different from how the record sounds.
SILY: Bob has said in past concerts that you’re the most instrumentally capable version of GBV ever even though the fans want the mistakes. But you achieve the balance between the record and live well. You still retain that rawness.
DG: Yeah, I think that’s true. Sometimes, I’ll try to play some of the string lines live on guitar if there’s room. I was doing that with “See My Field”. But it’s only because I hear them. I don’t have to play them. It wasn’t a request--just something I thought I would do.
SILY: Were the last songs you wrote for GBV the ones from “August By Cake” [Ed note: “Goodbye Note” and “Deflect/Project”]?
DG: No, there have been some B-sides to singles that band members have written that have come out. They haven’t been digitized, necessarily. They were vinyl-only and sold out quickly. One was called “Red Nose Speedway”...What was the other one called? I wrote one with Mark Shue. Kevin March wrote one that ended up on the B-side of a single and so did Bobby Bare.
SILY: You don’t play them live, do you?
SILY: Have you done the string and horn arrangements on other GBV albums before?
DG: Yeah. All the stuff that’s come out so far I have done a little bit, but on August By Cake really not much at all...some keyboards, maybe a string line here or there. How Do You Spell Heaven, a little bit. [Engineer] Travis [Harrison] did some string lines on August By Cake. And I did some arrangements on an ESP Ohio record which came out before August By Cake, which was Travis, myself, Mark Shue, and Bob.
SILY: Now that you’re back in the band, as of 2016, is “I Am A Tree” going to be in the set list for as long as you’re in the band?
DG: [laughs] I’m not sure. I would say probably so, but you can never be sure. There are a lot of songs in the can that Bob likes to rotate in and out of the set list.
SILY: How does he or the band decide upon the set list on a night by night basis?
DG: Bob will have a master list that he re-sequences for every show. We’ll have a basic list for every tour, give or take some. Sometimes, he’ll get a whim or an epiphany and put something in mid-tour, which is always fine. But the sequence is different every night.
SILY: Do you have a favorite song on Zeppelin Over China or Warp and Woof?
DG: Wow...there are a lot of songs to choose from on both of those, and they’re all so damn good. Zeppelin Over China, I really don’t know what a favorite would be. Let’s see...looking at the list here...I really like “Where Have You Been All My Life” or maybe “Wrong Turn On” or “Jam Warsong”. There’s a ton, though. They all kind of have different purposes, different sounds. Warp and Woof, there are a lot of great little songs on there. I say little because they’re shorter. About two minutes or so. I think one of my favorites is “Angelic Weirdness”.
SILY: The two that are called out in terms of your contributions are the first and the final track, especially in terms of unique recording process. Didn’t you record “Bury the Mouse” in the van?
DG: Yeah, except for the drums. The drums were done first. We already had those, and we finished it on tour in the van.
SILY: And “End it With Light” was at a soundcheck?
DG: Yeah, I did guitars at the soundcheck on that one. “Cool Jewels and Aprons” is another favorite from Warp and Woof. Oh, I forgot, the last song on 100 Dougs is mine. The instrumental. If you don’t have that actual EP, I can’t remember what sequence it’s in on Warp and Woof, but it’s called “It Will Never Be Simple”.
SILY: The third record you’re putting out this year is no longer called “Rise of the Ants,” right?
DG: That’s correct. It’s going to be called Sweating the Plague.
SILY: Are you able to talk a little about that one, whether your specific contributions, songwriting, and arrangements, or the feel for it in general?
DG: To me, there are similarities to Zeppelin Over China. There’s a little more hard rock on it, a little more of a 70′s rock feel to the songs, some “guitarmonies.” But there are some really nice ballads. It has the four ps that Bob talks about. [Ed note: pop, punk, prog, and psych] Lots of punk on it.
SILY: It’s been described as a little proggy.
DG: For sure. There are a couple prog songs.
SILY: Are there any more records on the horizon for you guys?
DG: There are some reissues this year because of album anniversaries.
DG: No. There’s always an anniversary of some album. Later this year, it’s the 20th anniversary of the release of Kid Marine, Robert Pollard solo, and of Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department, which is a record I did with Bob. It was released under the name Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard, but it was the 4th one in the Fading Captain series of his records coming out around then. That has “Pop Zeus” on it and some other songs. That’s been remastered and it should be reissued in August. There may be a Cash Rivers collection coming out. I’m not sure about when that will be released.
SILY: You’re going to Europe for the first time in decades. Are you excited to play Primavera and the UK?
SILY: When was the last time you were there with GBV?
DG: 2003, I’d say. We did a European tour and UK tour there.
SILY: Was that for Earthquake Glue?
DG: I believe so. It was either Universal Truths or Earthquake Glue. I think it was Earthquake Glue. I’ve been there a lot since with Nada Surf. I’m really excited to play there with Guided By Voices.
SILY: You contributed to the most recent Neko Case record. How did that experience come about?
DG: Neko had always liked my playing. When she was assembling songs for this record, she gave me a call, I went down to Tuscon, and I played a lot of tracks. I learned the songs. It was great.
SILY: I never realized that you were on The Hold Steady’s Stay Positive, too. I was looking at your credits and was like, “Woah, all these albums I’ve loved over the years!”
DG: Oh, yeah. I was friends with those guys at the time they were making that. I think I had just moved to New York, and they invited me to their session. Tad [Kubler] had me play the recurring riff on “Sequestered in Memphis”. That sort of Stones-y riff. That’s the only song I’m on, I think, but that was fun. They’re really good guys.
SILY: Any plans to come back to Chicago soon?
DG: I’m sure we will. We’re always around Chicago at least a couple times a year. Nothing that I know of just yet, but I’m positive something will happen in that area.
SILY: Anything you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading that’s caught your attention?
DG: I listen to a lot of podcasts. Mark Riley from the BBC does a Bowie podcast, The A to Z of David Bowie. I’ve been listening to a lot of that. I’ve been checking out stuff here and there.
SILY: I don’t have anything else to ask you--is there anything I didn’t ask about you want to say?
DG: Let’s see...not sure. I’m producing a band called The Bye Bye Blackbirds. They’re a guitar pop band from the Bay Area. They’ve definitely been around for a while. They have ex-members of Game Theory, The Mr. T Experience. My friend Bradley [Skaught] is the songwriter of the band. He writes some good songs.
SILY: Anything else not GBV in your realm coming up?
DG: Not really too much. GBV’s been planning a busy year with recording and shows and tours coming up, so I’ve been kind of leaving things open for that. It will be busy playing shows for sure. Really nothing else right now.
SILY: Thanks again for your time, I really appreciate it. Congrats on the releases, and looking forward to hearing the next one!
