Guided by Voices

Guided by Voices is an American indie rock band formed in 1983 in Dayton, Ohio. The band had various lineup changes, with singer and songwriter Robert 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 bassist Greg Demos.

Guided by Voices' drew influence from early British Invasion music, garage rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, punk rock and post-punk. The band has had a prolific output, releasing 43 full-length albums along with many other releases, and has garnered a dedicated cult following. Originally emerging out of the lo-fi music scene during the 1980s, their songs employed Portastudio 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 at Matador 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 to the present day.

History

Formation and early years (1983–1991)

Formed in Dayton, 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 albums Devil Between My Toes, Sandbox, Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia, and Same 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.

Lo-fi era (1992–1996)

With the release of the ultra-limited album Propeller 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 the college rock circuit and bands such as Sonic Youth, R.E.M. and The 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, guitarists Tobin Sprout and Mitch Mitchell (not to be confused with Jimi Hendrix's drummer), bassist Greg Demos, and drummer Kevin Fennell. Sprout, who was briefly featured in an early-'80s version of the band, had re-joined circa Propeller 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 of Vampire on Titus, as well as the Fast Japanese Spin Cycle and Static Airplane Jive EPs. Over the next year, the band began to receive national media exposure from sources such as Spin magazine.

In 1994, after culling both new songs and reams of archival recordings from GBV's history, Pollard delivered the indie landmark Bee Thousand via Scat Records, with a distribution deal through indie label Matador 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), Mitch Mitchell's windmilling and chain smoking, sometime bassist Greg Demos' striped pants, a never-ending barrage of tunes that all seemed to clock in under 90 seconds, and prodigious alcohol consumption all around.