Robert Pollard
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| Robert Pollard | ||
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 Robert Pollard
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Robert Ellsworth Pollard Jr. | |
| Born | 1957 | |
| Origin | Dayton, OH, USA | |
| Genre(s) | rock | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist | |
| Years active | 1983–present | |
| Label(s) | Matador Records Merge Records Fading Captain Series/Luna |
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Robert Pollard (born October 31, 1957) is a Dayton, Ohio singer-songwriter, who until 2004 was the leader and creative force behind indie rock group Guided by Voices. During his high school years, he was a successful basketball and baseball player. Pollard was a fourth grade schoolteacher until 1994, when Guided by Voices first broke into the national consciousness with the release of the album Bee Thousand. With over 900 songs registered to his name with BMI [1], Pollard is among the most prolific songwriters of his time. In 2006 Paste Magazine listed him at the 78th greatest living songwriter of all-time [2].
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[edit] Solo career
Pollard began releasing solo records in 1996, alongside regular releases from Guided by Voices. These albums were typically recorded with a small group consisting of current or former Guided by Voices members, and they were generally considered to informally be part of the Guided by Voices canon, as that band would regularly perform selections from the solo releases in concert.
After the dissolution of Guided by Voices in 2004, Robert Pollard launched his official solo career with the release of From a Compound Eye in February 2006. Pollard's recent studio work has eschewed the live-band format, instead relying on the multi-instrumental talents of Todd Tobias, who produced several Guided by Voices albums. In 2006, he resumed touring with a new band informally dubbed "The Ascended Masters", which featured Tommy Keene on lead guitar and keyboards, Dave Phillips on guitar, Jon Wurster on drums, and Jason Narducy on bass, but subsequent to the cancellation of some 2006 dates due to a leg injury, Pollard announced his retirement from touring for now. [3]
[edit] Discography
Solo Albums:
- 1996 - Not in My Airforce
- 1998 - Waved Out
- 1999 - Kid Marine
- 1999 - Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (with Doug Gillard)
- 2001 - Choreographed Man of War (billed as "Robert Pollard and the Soft Rock Renegades")
- 2003 - Motel of Fools
- 2004 - Fiction Man
- 2005 - Music From "Bubble"
- 2005 - Zoom (EP)
- 2005 - Relaxation of the Asshole
- 2006 - From a Compound Eye
- 2006 - Normal Happiness
- 2006 - Moon (live EP)
- 2007 - Meet the King: Asshole 2
- 2007 - Silverfish Trivia (April 17th on Prom is Coming Records)
- 2007 - Standard Gargoyle Decisions (September on Merge Records)
[edit] Side Projects
[edit] Fading Captain Series
During the mid-90's, in addition to GbV albums appearing annually, Pollard's prolificacy typically was vented onto innumerable singles, EPs, compilations and other side releases. However, once signed to a major label and constrained to the expectation of producing only a single album per 18 months, Pollard began the self-financed and released Fading Captain Series, a still-active series of releases both under his own name, and a wide variety of pseudonyms. In addition to solo and archival releases, Pollard began collaborating with fellow musicians and friends by mail via a process dubbed "postal rock" - Pollard would receive completed musical backing tracks, and add his own lyrics and vocals. Albums under the Airport 5, Circus Devils, and Go Back Snowball monikers, among others were produced in this fashion.
In December 2006 Pollard announced that the Fading Captain Series was being concluded with a March 2007 release titled Crickets, a 50-song "best of" collection which will feature several previously unreleased songs[4].
Acid Ranch: (archival recordings featuring Robert Pollard, Kevin Fennell and Mitch Mitchell)
- 2002 - Some Of The Magic Syrup Was Preserved
- 2005 - As Forever: A Manifesto Of Fractured Imagination And Wreckless Living
Airport 5: (Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout)
- 2001 - Tower in the Fountain of Sparks
- 2002 - Life Starts Here
Circus Devils: (Robert Pollard and Todd and Tim Tobias)
- 2001 - Ringworm Interiors
- 2002 - The Harold Pig Memorial
- 2003 - Pinball Mars
- 2005 - Five
- 2007 - Sgt. Disco (due in July on Ipecac Records)
Go Back Snowball: (Robert Pollard and Mac McCaughan)
- 2002 - Calling Zero
Hazzard Hotrods: (Recording of informal 1990 performance by Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell)
- 2000 - Big Trouble (re-released as Bigger Trouble 2005)
Howling Wolf Orchestra: (Pollard and various GbV members)
- 2000 - Speedtraps for the Bee Kingdom
Keene Brothers: (Robert Pollard and Tommy Keene)
- 2006 - Blues and Boogie Shoes
Lexo and the Leapers: (Robert Pollard backed by The Tasties)
- 1999 - Ask Them
Lifeguards (Robert Pollard and Doug Gillard)
- 2003 - Mist King Urth
The Moping Swans (Robert Pollard, Greg Demos, Jim MacPherson and Tony Conley)
- 2005 - Lightninghead to Coffee Pot
Nightwalker (pseudonym for archival GbV recordings)
- 1999 - In Shop We Build Electric Chairs: Professional Music by Nightwalker 1984-1993
- 2003 - Beard of Lighting
Psycho and the Birds: (Todd Tobias supplementing Pollard solo demos)
- 2006 - All That is Holy
The Takeovers: (Robert Pollard and Chris Slusarenko)
- 2006 - Turn to Red
[edit] Prom is Coming
When Pollard announced that the Fading Captain Series was being concluded he also announced that he was starting up a new record label, then called Record Company Records [5] but later re-titled as Prom is Coming [6], which is named after a song off his first solo album Not in My Airforce. The first release on Prom is Coming will be Pollard's next solo album, a 22-minute, seven-song "mini-LP" titled Silverfish Trivia due out April 17th.
[edit] Side projects mentioned by Pollard that have not yet happened
- Red Explosion (mentioned back in 1996 or so)
- Polymorph Orchestra (mentioned around the time of Isolation Drills)
- Brown Submarine (mentioned recently as of Jan 2007)
[edit] External links
