Doug Gillard talks about his Guided By Voices return in an exclusive Q&A
It was announced Monday that guitarist Doug Gillard is returning to a full-time gig with Dayton, Ohio king shits Guided By Voices, following Gillard filling in for the band at a festival gig in Cincinnati on July 17. Gillard originally joined GBV in 1997 when frontman Bob Pollard brought Cobra Verde on as his backup band for the recording of the Mag Earwig! album following the disbanding of the “classic” lineup (Tobin Sprout, Kevin Fennell, Mitch Mitchell, and Greg Demos). Gillard remained with Guided By Voices throughout most of the 2000’s “hi-fi” era, playing with surgical focus on 1999’s Ric Ocasek-produced Do The Collapse, Isolation Drills, Universal Truths And Cycles, Earthquake Glue, and the group’s “final record,” 2004’s Half Smiles Of The Decomposed, before the “classic lineup” reformed in 2010.
Not only is the guitarist playing out and recording with Guided By Voices again, but he and bandleader Robert Pollard have started a new side project, ESP Ohio, which has two singles currently for sale on the Rockathon site with a full-length album due this October. Doug Gillard chatted with The A.V Club about his history with the band, joining Nada Surf, what he’s been doing since 2004’s Electrifying Conclusion tour, and being called back to the lake.
The A.V. Club: GBV broke up in 2004, playing its final shows over two nights at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro. What have you been doing in the 10-plus years since?
Doug Gillard: I’ve made three full-length albums and a single under my own name, [gone on] solo tours, [done] soundtrack music for two films, recorded and toured with Richard Buckner for a year, and played on records by Sally Crewe, The Oranges Band, and The Hold Steady. I’ve reunited for shows and recordings with my first band, Death Of Samantha, with Cobra Verde’s John Petkovic. I also joined Nada Surf in 2010, and became a proud member of Hamburg-era Beatles project Bambi Kino with Mark Rozzo, Ira Elliot, andErik Paparozzi. In addition to that, I co-wrote a couple songs with my good pal Kendall Meade, recorded on two full-length Nada Surf LPs, did the second Lifeguards album with Robert Pollard, played Carnegie Hall with Nada Surf, played a show backing Ronnie Spector in her band, and got invited to play at one of Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows at Maxwell’s. I also produced an album by Eternal Summers, recorded with Indiana’s The Easthills, played bass and guitar for comedian/guitarist Dave Hill, played with lots of great friends in NYC here and there, solo or collaborations, and lots of world touring and great times with Nada Surf.
The A.V. Club: How did you get involved with Nada Surf?
Doug Gillard: I had a solo weekly residency at a club in New York City in 2009, and [Nada Surf bandleader] Matthew Caws came to see one. We met then, and ran into each other at another show. Talk turned to my playing on an album of covers they were doing, and they asked me to start playing live shows here and there. We got along great, and had a lot in common musically and otherwise.
The A.V. Club: How did you end up filling in for Guided By Voices at the last minute in Cincinnati?