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GBV * from page 3 * • ‘Bob: Do you have the new solo record I did with 9 Dpug? Rob: Yes. We do up at the station. Bob: Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire De partment? Jem Garrick: Yes, that is a great record. Rob: What’s it ranked right now? Jem: That is actually No. 8 on our charts right now. Bob: Well, thanks. That’s important. That’s on my own label that 1 started myself. Jem: Tell us a little about Rockathon. Bob: Now that’s actually the Fading Captain Series that that album is on. It’s not Rockathon. The la bel Rockathon is for our friends, to put out records by our friends. I think it’s now defunct. I think we’re only going to put out one more record by Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, which is really good, and then probably a compi lation and that’s it. But I’m going to continue the Fading Captain Series thing because that’s for me and my own pro jects. Jon: With the Fading Captain Series you have a re al big psychedelic pop influence like Love, and stuff like that. Big influences on you, does that come up in your songwriting? Bob: That does. I’m into the melodic sensibilities of the ’60s. That’s when people wrote songs and the melodies were aching and beautiful. But I also kind of liked the power of the ’70s, too. It’s more than that. Some people think of us at times as a ’60s retro band, but there’s too much that goes into it. It’s much more complex than that. I listen to prog rock and post punk and all that kind of stuff, so I think all that goes into our music. Rob: What are some bands today that impress you? Bob: Well, bands we tour with. The band we’re playing with today is a really young band, they’re from Toronto, a really good band called the Amer ican Flag. Superchunk’s a good band, Pavement, The Drifters, Those Bastard Souls. Some of the more obscure bands like Hum, Outta New York, The Multiple Cat. Rob: What has been the overall reaction to the more well-produced sound albeit from other people in the industry and fans? Bob: The overall reaction? You know, I haven’t spoken to everyone, some people obviously are not happy with it. They feel like they’ve lost us, some thing that was theirs. I think that they think that we’re trying to cash in on something or make some kind of a sellout*, But it’s not true because like I said from the be ginning, it’s been our aim to make a big rock record. And I really haven’t changed the way that I write songs. I kind of brainstorm ideas, and then I pick my favorite ideas and work on them, flesh my songs out. I’m interested in becoming a more mature songwriter, more constructions. But you know, I still work within the framework of rock. You don’t hear sampling and this kind of thing in my music. Jon Garrick is the music director for WUSC. He coordinated the interview with Robert Pol lard and was present for the interview. » Kevin Langston The Gamecock Guided By Voices (left to right) Nate Farley, Tim Tobias, Robert Pollard, (obstructed) Jim Macpherson and Doug Gillard run through their sound check Friday night at the Elbow Room. Guided By Voices played songs ranging from their earlier years to their latest release. Rock resurfaces in Columbia ► by Robert Fleming Assistant Encore Editor As was foretold last week, Guided By Voices took to the stage of the Elbow Room Music Hall on Friday night, and about half way through their alcohol-soaked, ear-shattering show, lead singer Robert Pollard broke down how the great mystery of rock V roll works. “You write songs and you play them. It’s as simple as that.” He was quick to add: “And you drink beer!” Write songs, play them, drink beer. It sounds all too easy, but for these 15-year veterans of the rock scene, it’s mere child’s play. Guided By Voic es delivered to the capacity crowd at the Elbow Room what could best be described as a rock ’n’ roll revival. With Pollard onstage acting as spiri tual guide. Guided By Voices made it crystal clear from the start that they were not leaving un til all were saved. In the three-hour-plus experience, Guided By Voices blasted through a laige set list that includ ed songs from their latest album, Do the Collapse, as well as playing a lot of older material off of al bums like Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia and Bee Thousand. Also represented were a lot of songs from Pollard’s solo albums. The band was on fire. Many have said that this incarnation of Guided By Voices is one of the best ever, and from what we saw, the rumors are true. Doug Gillard and Nate Farley filled the air with outstanding guitarwork. Tim Tobias played the bass so effortlessly that it seemed as if he was n’t playing at all. Jim Macpherson played the drums like a man possessed. Frontman Robert Pollard powered through the show with an arsenal of kicks and jumps that makes most rock stars half his age look like they’re the ones in nursing homes. Everybody was on, and it was easy to see that they still enjoyed what they dcfeven after what Pollard has called their most extensive tour in sup port of an album. Song after song rolled out of the band, and the crowd loved every minute of it. The show hard ly ever slowed, unless it was time to crack open a new beer or light up a fresh cigarette. Favorites among the crowd were “Teenage FBI,” “Official Ironman Rally Song” and “I Am A Tree.’ At a point when most bands would have called it a night, Guided By Voices played a song that Pol lard called “the motto for Guided By Voices.” The band then started into “Don’t Stop Now” from their 1996 album Under Che Bushes, Under Che Scars. This signaled to the crowd that the show was far from being finished. It was only warming up. By the time the second encore arrived, Pollard announced that “it was time to play some hits.” With this, the familiar sound of “Bulldog Skin” off of their 1997 album Mag Earwhig! filled the air. It was loud, fast and intense...the way rock and roll should be. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end But just because the show was over didn’t mean that the band was done. Pollard and the band took the time to mingle through the crowd sign ing autographs, taking pictures and talking with fans. Guided By Voices left an impression on any one who packed his way into the Elbow Room that night. If you’re like me, your ears still have a slight ring in the distance. A ring that reminds you that rock ’n’ roll is not dead. It’s driving around Amer ica in two tfhite vans, drinking Budweiser and keep ing the torch burning. Robert Fleming The Gamecock Robert Pollard flashes a crowd-taunting “rock” pose Friday night that was reminisceht of The Who’s Roger Daltry. Pollard listed The Who as one of the bands Guided By Voices was most influenced by. Throughout the show, Pollard and company used such antics as guitar whirlwinds and microphone twirls to add authority to their rock sound.