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Guided by Voices...The Follow Up
18 Plays4 days ago
In an homage to the DIY, lo-fi sound of Guided By Voices, we kick things off right in the middle of our pre-intro chitchat, say our hellos later on, and at 13:07, get to the main course—the indie rock band, GBV (as everyone in the GBV chat calls them).
Along the way, our vocal range is huge, in spite of two out of three of us having lost our voices (ironic?) earlier this winter. We talk about:
The Winter Olympics sports we would compete in if we had the skills and no fear of injury.
Brian tells us where the U.S. stands internationally in breakdancing.
Patti and Charlotte’s assignment was to listen to the Guided By Voices albums Bee Thousand and Thick, Rich, and Delicious. They go above and beyond to find out all the juicy gossip, including band drama (don’t call it a breakup, call it a personnel change); whether Bob Pollard is a hoarder or just prolific; the enduring allure of the band.
We ask and answer questions about music and existence:
What does it mean “to rock”?
How do you (like, you specifically) listen to live music?
And finally, we talk accessibility and give our ratings for the LOIS (Likelihood of Integration Scale, 1-100).
References:
Bee Thousand: https://guidedbyvoices.bandcamp.com/album/bee-thousand
Thick, Rich, and Delicious: https://guidedbyvoices.bandcamp.com/album/thick-rich-and-delicious
Books:
Closer You Are: The Story of Guided by Voices
Mood Machine: the Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, by Liz Pelly
Other Links:
https://people.com/who-is-rebeca-andrade-all-about-the-brazilian-gymnast-8686852
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-grand-unified-theory-of-cultural-stagnation/id1594471023?i=1000738432969
The Mountain Goats, The Sunset Tree: https://themountaingoats.bandcamp.com/album/the-sunset-tree-20th-anniversary-remaster
The inspiration for Charlotte’s goal for 2026: https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nba/bulls-matas-buzelis-best-player-ever-quote-28-points-summer-league/
Logo design by Marielle Martin
Song: Upbeat Drums with Stomps and Claps by music_for_video
BlueSky: @canweinterestyouin.bsky.social
Instagram: @canweinterestyouin
Email us your interests! CanWeInterestYouIn@gmail.com
Website: canweinterestyouin.com
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Transcript
Introduction and Invitation
00:00:00
Speaker
You know that thing you love that your friends and family don't want to hear about anymore? Tell it to us, Patty and Charlotte. We want to learn all about your weird and wild obsessions or your perfectly normal hobbies that you've taken just a little too far.
00:00:15
Speaker
We want to dabble in your curious interests. Can we interest you in today's episode?
Daily Life Musings and Humor
00:00:35
Speaker
So it was, and then we got disconnected, but neither of us realized it for like 10 Cause I was looking through my stuff to find the information. And he was like, I guess waiting for me to do that. And then finally we're both like,
00:00:53
Speaker
Well, he called me and I and i was like, ah I sent it to the voicemail because I was like, but ah like that number looks kind of familiar, but i don't know who it is. And I realized it's like whenever they have called me to confirm my appointments, that's the number. Anyway, it was like a big old thing.
00:01:12
Speaker
all that so and then earlier, my tire was flat. It's been a day. man. But luckily, it's my day. It's my day where I don't have any. Well, I did have one appointment. But other than that.
00:01:30
Speaker
And i never lost my voice this this winter so far. So at least I've got that going. There you go. It was a good thing. It's kind of nice to lose it though. Like I think you probably heard, but as I was saying to Brian, like it was a nice break, like especially when with my sister and her kids, because they'll ask a question and then I'm like, I'll answer it to give, you know, like to give her a break so that she doesn't have to always answer all the questions. And I was like,
00:01:59
Speaker
I think sometimes I just talk too much. So this was really nice to just be like, i can't answer that. I can't respond to this. I can't give stupid facts about, you know, whatever we're seeing on the side of the road that they don't care about.
00:02:16
Speaker
i on the other hand, really enjoyed it because, like, I sounded so different. and I don't know if you heard this part, but, Charlotte, it sounded like an old blues musician. So, like... We were somewhere were somewhere down in Austin, and I opened the door, and these father and son came up, and they were like, thank you. like You're welcome. And like the kid looked up, and clearly not.
00:02:42
Speaker
Not expecting that. I mean, I'm getting older, but I don't look very old enough yet for that voice and you know just like grandpa like booming it out i'm like ah and also like if you're in austin you're also kind of like oh is that someone famous like it could be like should i recognize this person well you know i did i did think momentarily of like if another kid came and saw me i would have been like
00:03:14
Speaker
Don't start smoking when you're six years old. i You're the PSA. yeah This is what it sounds like when you've been smoking for 40 years.
00:03:27
Speaker
Speaking of, do you guys remember that PSA that was that lady who like... I think it was her after like she was already dead, but like, yeah, her voice box was gone and like you could hear her like breathing through it. And she was saying like, it was a cautionary tale. do you remember that from like when we were kids?
00:03:47
Speaker
Brian does Charlotte. Not so much.
Nostalgia and Olympic Excitement
00:03:49
Speaker
Oh, it was cool. It was effective and it was cool. Yeah. yeah I think Patty, I think you could, maybe pull it a little away from the your microphone. Okay, thank you so much. Did I did I say it in the weirdest longest way possible that I could do it? Like, I really don't want to do it.
00:04:14
Speaker
I think you could um play it a slide whistle. oh okay. Yeah, I probably could. That's like, um i I took, i started swim lessons last week. And so my swim teacher, it's one-on-ones and it she's very nice, almost too nice. So like, I was like, oh, no, no, no. You don't have to worry about my feelings. Like I have nothing invested in this. And she was like, oh.
00:04:41
Speaker
okay. Um, but so like maybe an area for that, that was great. That was great. But maybe an area, and I was like, please don't like that. That's more painful.
00:04:52
Speaker
kind of be like she says well I have to be careful. I work with kids mostly. And I was like yes. yeah and She's like, that that was great. That was great. Next time. Don't sink to the bottom. You want to, you want to be closer to the top of the water. Oh, okay.
00:05:10
Speaker
So this are these your first swim lessons? I know how to swim. oh Yeah. so But I want to learn. and I think that also tripped her up, even though I put in there, like, I know how to swim already, whatever. So I don't think she knew really what to do with me that first day. But I do want to improve my stroke. And I told her that my main goal is I want to learn how to do a flip kick underwater so that when I'm doing laps...
00:05:37
Speaker
Like the thing that they do in the Olympics where like they get to the end and then they flip and they kick and they go under the water. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So are y'all getting excited for the Olympics next month? So excited. I learned that they were going to be ah happening yesterday when I saw a commercial with Dua Lipa in it. I believe it was Dua Lipa. Okay. So excitement is low right now. but No, no, it's high because now I know it's happening. Yeah.
00:06:04
Speaker
I'm super excited. i It was, I guess, about six years ago now. I got really sick. I got salmonella poisoning at an event at school, actually. And it was the week of that the Olympics were going on, and I had no plans to watch it. And then I was like, just, I could not leave the bed for like four days. And I was like in and out of sleep. I was...
00:06:27
Speaker
feverish all this time i'm like what's on television and it was the winter olympics and i watched so many winter olympics a year it was so awesome and that is the perfect thing because as you fall asleep or you're awake it doesn't matter you don't have to follow a plot it's not there's always something on it's always interesting it's overseas too so like what you know when it's like it's like it's dark outside on tv it's like 10 o'clock in the morning and what's going on it doesn't matter and i feel like you get to know the announcers and all that and it's like they're your friends you know really real preachy about like i don't like this announcer yeah two days in you already have like very very uh this guy this guy's the best
00:07:15
Speaker
no Was it Bob Costas who had the stye that one year? so like everybody was talking about his stye in his eye, like, oh, what's going on? And is he going to like spread that to the athletes? And what are the conditions like that he has a stye? It was very poor guy. yeah Poor, very rich, wealthy, ah rich, and the same well-known man with Yeah. even They're just like us.
00:07:44
Speaker
They get skies. I do love the Winter Olympics, though, because i don't know. ah Both kinds, you've got the weirdest sports, but like I think especially the Winter Olympics. And then, yeah.
00:07:56
Speaker
Well, that was my question. what what What Winter Olympic sport would you want to compete in? Oh, ice skating, for sure. I mean, if i don't i have any of skills, but I love figure skating. I love it.
00:08:10
Speaker
Charlie? Are we talking about like ideally like if we had if we could be really at it? Yeah, like you had like the competent skills of an Olympiad. I'd probably be like a mogul skier. But like that's if I was not afraid of dying.
00:08:25
Speaker
what Which one is that? They're the ones that I think are like is it either moat they're like the moguls are like the small tiny little hills or like bumps that they go over. And they have to like go through like the I think it's the one where they they go up and up the little bumps of snow, but then also the one where they like go windy around and then they... Any any one of these skiing ones I would want to do but I do fear for my life when going faster than like 25 miles an hour. So I would not... I've skied before. Yeah.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I'd have more skills if I was like Michaela Schifrin. I read about her years ago and her workout routine. I was like, just impressed because she would work to like the point of almost throwing up every single day. And I just can't comprehend it. So, but I respect it.
00:09:24
Speaker
Oh my God. Yes. Well, and that's the other part I love. Brian, I do want to hear which event you would do, but I do love sometimes, most of the time, how much of the story you hear about these athletes. And that's so cool, especially the ones who like aren't going to meddle, but it's really cool to hear about how their families and their town and everything are behind them, or they overcome adversity and what they have to put into it and all the hours and sacrifice and everything like that. Yeah. There was that figure skater, I think last year, and I can't remember what country she was from, maybe Brazil, but was it figure skater or gymnast? But like, basically, they said that her brother would like walk her to the gym or wherever she would practice for like, I don't know, an hour back and forth each day. It was something something really amazing.
00:10:15
Speaker
think she won or she did really, really well. Okay, Brian. What event? Mine would be curling. Oh. Yeah, curling. Have you ever done
Olympic Dreams and Comparisons
00:10:28
Speaker
curling? Like, have you ever gone to one of the curling clubs? I feel like they would have that in Colorado. don't know.
00:10:33
Speaker
i've I've done what the shuffleboard. Uh-huh, uh-huh. Which is not curling, but, you know. Similar. It's a spiritual cousin of of curling.
00:10:46
Speaker
Right, like I'm sure it inspired it. I also think it would be an an amazing idea for the Olympics to consider for each event putting just a regular person into the competition. Just so like for everyone to see. Yeah, it's like you you have all these like world-class skaters and Charlotteson from the I just like go off the side of a cliff or into a tree.
00:11:16
Speaker
She can't even get her. Yeah. yeah There's probably no chance that, you know, any of these people would medal, but it might be the most entertaining aspect of the entire Olympics. Just like, I don't know, Joe and Jane Schmo of, of competitive sports, to the regular people.
00:11:36
Speaker
It would be like that show, Patty, you know what show I'm talking about with the baking where they just have the people who are really bad at baking. Nailed it. Nailed it. Yeah. Exactly. Or like the beatboxer from, was it Australia? The B-girl was in the Summer Olympics and it was like, you have no right being here. She was. Well, that was, what was at break dancing break dancing but like that? that's what it was. Everybody in her country thought she did really, that that she was really good. So maybe our our understanding of breakdancing needs to be widened. Okay. okay But i I don't know enough about it
00:12:15
Speaker
That's generous. I mean, it i've I've always said that the United States is about 20 years behind breakdancing culture. I mean, i think the Europeans and and especially the Australians have... have advanced a lot further in the in the in the art form than the United States has. so it's like, it's so advanced that we don't get it.
00:12:35
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. If there's one thing I know about you, Brian, it's how you you're always talking about how advanced Australia is in breakdancing. I will not shut up about the ah the European dominance of breakdancing. And the Australians, too. yes amy if if If you ever have an opportunity to have a guest come on a second time, I mean...
00:12:57
Speaker
Let's block out a couple hours for that. European breakdancing. You're going to have to do some quick research. We're going to want to see some skills. Which does bring us to the start of the show.
Introduction to Guided by Voices
00:13:13
Speaker
And one of the topics that Brian does like to talk about a lot.
00:13:19
Speaker
And so Brian's back to talk to us about Guided by Voices. who Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. We're leaving all of that in, so it doesn't matter. This was an exciting time. We we talked pre-holidays, even pre-Thanksgiving, and now it's a new year.
00:13:38
Speaker
The holidays have passed. It's a new season, and we are full in on reporting on our homework. okay of Do you refer to them as GBV? Because everybody I was listening to was saying GBV, and so I wanted to...
00:13:55
Speaker
uh yeah i mean like with you know if i said gbv to somebody who has no idea what i'm talking about then it wouldn't really it mean a lot so uh no i i probably say guide my voice more simply because i'm not talking to someone who i imagine knows what i'm talking yeah about right but like people on your chat group you guys might use it as gbv Yeah, and I'm going to say, too, that's kind of like the like before they come on stage at show, GBV, they have the chant. and oh yeah A lot of people know that. so
00:14:35
Speaker
it's In a concert environment, everybody at a Guide by Voices show will know what GBV stands for. aha Yes, or they will figure it out. Yeah, they'll figure out pretty quickly.
00:14:50
Speaker
Well, so our homework was to listen to a couple of albums, specifically B-thousand and Rich Thick Thick, rich and delicious. However, rich and delicious yeah it sounds like maybe Patty, you and I might have gone a little bit further because I feel like we are we want to know the story.
00:15:15
Speaker
Like we want to know all the stories and the gossip. So it sounds like you might have been listening to some podcasts. I was. You know me. I love a podcast. I want i want people to tell me things. Yes. that I listened to the albums and listened to some podcasts. Because also I feel like so much of music appreciation, just like we heard with Brian telling us about what makes this band unique to to you.
00:15:44
Speaker
i wanted to kind of learn a little bit more about that globally how about you charlotte what did you yeah i also well i listened to the music and also read some articles some some wikipedia about them because like it does help me to know like who are these people what is their story and are they married and have they tell me more about the the band breakups and yeah And they have had a lot more band breakups than i originally thought. So that was pretty interesting. Well, I mean, technically, i don't know if they ever broke up. It was just more a matter of like, people quit and some people...
00:16:32
Speaker
were never fully in the band to begin with. And it was sort of, you know, early on, there was a lot of guys who were just sort of coming and going. and those early albums were, I mean, they were like garage slash basement recordings. And so it was sort of like, who's around to do some of this? And so I suppose like they did have ah a bit of a lineup once they were starting to go out and play shows, like in the mid early to mid nineties. But, um,
00:17:02
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they they they they've certainly change. Personality. years Yeah. Well, I i read this um quote from Bob Pollard that says, in the early days of guided by voices when no one was listening, I guess that was early, you know, before people were listening.
00:17:20
Speaker
Okay. So not maybe the whole time. He said, I was impatient. I used to tire of people in the band very quickly. i had physical altercations with them. i even resorted to bullshit tactics, like telling the band I was quitting and we were breaking up, then forming again a month later with new members.
00:17:37
Speaker
But he says, i have learned to allow people to exist, grow and find out who they are in the band to give them all the time they need. As long as they're enthusiastic about the music, they can do whatever they want. So I do appreciate he's very honest, very honest. There's a story where he jump kicks into his brother's stomach.
00:18:00
Speaker
Like his brother was one of the early bandmates. They like started actually had a band before guided by voices. And, and that, that was like how they fought. And I'm like, yeah, I guess that does sound very much like a brotherly fight. I also, though, thought it was funny. like He is definitely a hoarder, I feel, of like everything. Nothing is just byproduct. its It feels like everything. but But why I say that is it was interesting to hear that he had started several bands, as so many musicians do, right?
00:18:40
Speaker
But held on to Guided by Voices as the name until he felt like the team was right. Like, no, no, no, you're not guided by voices worthy yet. You know, like, let me wait until I have that lineup to actually...
00:18:55
Speaker
give this name away which it's a good name one one one of the um i think i showed charlotte this when she was over here at thanksgiving but uh and i may have mentioned this too but amongst all like the releases he's he's put out these things called suitcases and they're like essentially four cds 100 songs per or 25 songs per CD, so 100 songs in a suitcase.
00:19:20
Speaker
And these were like very, a lot of these are very old, old recordings that were never put on the albums. And over the years, some of them have, he's kind of gone back. and I wouldn't say he just re-recorded these songs, but he's kind of changed them a little bit. So, you know, like a lot of fans can be like, oh, this snippet from this new song is actually the lyrics from this song on suitcase. But with these suitcases, every single song is attributed to a different band.
00:19:50
Speaker
So if you go and look at the back of this box you know, there's a hundred songs that are like a hundred different albums, or sorry, 100 different um band names.
00:20:02
Speaker
And they aren't different bands. He just came up with names for these things. And so some of those names have come and you know they become song titles and other stuff. And some of them have become like the side projects. But I mean, he's probably got...
00:20:17
Speaker
i mean there alone i think probably close to what 400 band names from the on the back of these things so very sort of creative and imaginative and you know none of it's like i'm i don't think even hardcore fans are looking at this and trying to draw some sort of analysis out of it but just like they were you know when you're when you're young and you want to be a rock star and you want to do all that, you have like a name, you have, and there's a documentary that got made years, years ago, but he was talking about how he was kid. He, you know, he was make these like fake album covers with, uh, and you know, he grew up to, to do that stuff. He created his own band. He makes most of his own album covers. He does a lot of collage work and those are mostly what those album covers are. So it's sort of like that idea of taking a dream and putting it into reality. And then he he kind of did it himself with the actual pants.
00:21:19
Speaker
Yeah, right. and And that fact that like, when he was a kid, he would pretend to be in a band, like he would imagine these bands. And it's like, it it is interesting to think about that being like the vision of what a band is, or what he would want it to be and the pieces of it, right, which is what we all do when we're playing teacher or hotel, that's what I always
Deep Dive into Guided by Voices' Legacy
00:21:42
Speaker
played.
00:21:42
Speaker
It's like, of course, I don't really know how to, you know, do the the stuff. But it is interesting to me that that, like, it was the idea of the band that kind of came first. And then, of course, I'm like, and so was he trying to, like, get to that right vision, real vision?
00:22:03
Speaker
his vision come to life and like searching for that. But I also just think he's so prolific. Like it, like he can't stop himself on any of it. He's literally guided by voices. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:19
Speaker
It's kind of hard to believe that he ever was going to maybe be an athlete. Like it just seems so, different I mean, he played like I said before, i mean he did play college baseball. Yeah. i mean you yeah And Patty mentioned earlier about the brother. His brother went to Arizona State on a basketball scholarship and actually played with – make a real deep ear. But if you know the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, their shooting guard was Byron Scott.
00:22:51
Speaker
He played at Arizona State, and that's where Bob's brother – played with him for all that. think he like wrecked his knee up or something. So we had to stop playing, but, uh, that's how far this thing goes. It, uh, touches on the, uh, the 1990 era championship, Los Angeles Lakers and Byron Scott.
00:23:12
Speaker
You didn't think you were getting that today. Did not. Right. And if, and if Robert hadn't been injured and had gone on to play baseball,
00:23:24
Speaker
if there's enough of an off season, like I could see him being the first guy to be like, no, but I'm still going to do it all. Like I can't not be making music. And i think I read something, something like he, he decided not to continue with sports and that his dad then withdrew funding for college because of it or something. oh okay.
00:23:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And then, and then later, like, yeah, he was teaching and um was like thinking about quitting guided by voices when they weren't really being nobody was listening and they just weren't having any success he was thinking of quitting i guess he was always sort of thinking of quitting but well i mean at least quitting the band and doing something else but also hard to believe that he could have just kept on being a teacher and um
00:24:19
Speaker
Yeah, I guess that's sometimes just persistence is like the first most important thing to getting some sort of success. Yeah. slowly And so then that like the whole success thing. but Okay, so I listened to two different podcasts, and they both touched on the book that was written about him, the biography, let me get to the title, because it was obvious closer you are the story of Robert Pollard and guided by voices. And so that was written by Matthew Cutter. And so one of them had Matthew Cutter on it. And then the other one, it was a group of three music enthusiasts who were talking, like kind of reviewing the book, but also talking about their experience with his music. And so... I thought it was the legend of this band feels an important piece of the draw. And I could be totally wrong, but this is where I went. It's kind of like, okay, here's this group that's been making, you know, been playing for a long time.
00:25:26
Speaker
in Ohio, which had a pretty big music scene at the time. And it was funny because one of them was saying, well, of course they didn't make it big because not only were they not, you know, I mean, or get known at that time through the bay like through the bars that they were playing at, because not only were they not willing to do covers, they also had so many songs that if you saw them at two different venues, you know, you'd be like, I thought I saw this band, but they're not even playing the same songs that I heard them play last week. You know, so it's like,
00:25:56
Speaker
There was just no kind of like way to grab onto them. But that it was right around the time of Nirvana making it big that then suddenly these music moguls, not really, but we're looking like, who else is out there? But by the time Guided by Voices was like, they were ready to go out with Guided by by Voices. It was like, oh, well, we've moved on to Limp Bizkit and things like that are in the, you know, like in the zeitgeist or what's hot now. So it's like this...
00:26:29
Speaker
Making it, like being discovered, but then not quite rising to that level feels like another piece of it. They weren't willing to sell out. They weren't willing to do whatever else. They were so close.
00:26:41
Speaker
And so enough people knew of them without it being this band that everybody knows. There's this allure of having stumbled upon this little known, not really, hidden secret of a band. And and the fact that they are this DIY band, you know, they like to do all of the things themselves. and And the fact that he wanted to continue staying in Ohio and not move to New York where they were more well-received. It's like, that's cool. That's great. But no, just sticking to his true vision of the art.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, and I mean, I'd i'd say that yeah you mentioned Nirvana. I think it was, i mean, that Nevermind came out 91. And to circle back to an earlier point, Charlotte was saying when they were about to quit, when he was trying to get frustrated, he put out Propeller. That's the name of the album, I think, that came out in 92.
00:27:41
Speaker
And I think he was quoted as saying, i I'm just going to put all my best songs on this one, and that's going to be it. and then that's the one that kind of got some people's attention and then b thousand came there was one in between propeller and b thousand um but time b thousand came out they were pretty i mean you remember like spin magazine sort of the alternative to rolling stone like that that kind of environment and and scene i guess uh sort of really picked up on them and I mean, there's a story. I mean, they they they did the Lollapalooza one year. I think they were like on the second stage of Lollapalooza, but there's a great story. His brother was the one who played basketball, but he was in the band at the time with Bob.
00:28:28
Speaker
And there's a story where like they beat the Beastie Boys in like a three on three game at Lollapalooza. That's very cool. I mean, they they they were, and I mentioned that mostly because, I mean, like, this is where they were at the time. And, like, the Beastie Boys were huge in, you know, 93, 94. And so they were in that same environment. They did not, yeah, they didn't penetrate the zeitgeist. They weren't, like, the the big band of the era.
00:28:58
Speaker
but you might for a few years they were you know if you had your ear kind of to the yeah ground i guess you definitely knew who this which i think is part of the appeal right like you're a true musical follower liker like you know there's something about finding the band versus it being fed to you but you had mentioned before like they're They're not going to be on Saturday Night Live. Okay. But like, that's the, some of the appeal and also what allows them to be guided by voices.
00:29:35
Speaker
And for fans to keep on being able to follow them because they're still like the band that they fell in love with. I saw that in the mid nineties, that Sassy magazine, you remember Sassy, Yeah. which is like the cool teenager girls magazine yep that they said that um i think they had cute band alert is what i saw and it was guided by voices which is so funny because none of them are like stereotypically attractive you know yeah i feel like sassy they always had to do something a little different they're like well
00:30:14
Speaker
17 will choose someone else, but worse at me. Well, I mean, they weren't like some sort of buzzy young rock man. i mean, they were blue-collar guys from Ohio who liked to hang out in their basement or garage and drink beer and write songs. And so, yeah, I mean, that that wasn't their MO to sort of be the glossy cover boys of some sassy magazine, but... I'm sure Sassy was probably like, we need like an edge to this particular episode. Sassy was a little more edgy than like 17 or teen. Right.
00:30:55
Speaker
Patty said something just saying, go I was going to mention that. I've been reading this book this week called called Mood Machine by...
Music Discovery in the Digital Age
00:31:04
Speaker
Liz Pelly just came out last year, but it's about the history of Spotify and yeah how it's kind of grown into this conglomerate, just soul-sucking corporation that is more... about making money and you know in music essentially but to your point i mean like a lot of what she's writing about is this nowadays like how you know people go to spotify and it's like and she keeps using this expression of passive listening and you're sort of like you're waiting for like music to come to you and you're not going out and looking for it you're just sort of you're a consumer just sort of letting it drift and out of you
00:31:45
Speaker
and I mean, it's a fascinating book. I don't use Spotify for a lot of reasons, but a lot of the reasons are, you know, what she talks about in the book. But I'm just reading this and thinking, like, nowadays, this is sort of conventional way to go about consuming music, you know, learning about music.
00:32:05
Speaker
And again, like, when I was getting into this band, it was like, I'm picking up a book and reading something about it, and I'm taking a chance and buying a CD. And it's just that... you This idea that you're talking about of like discovery and sort of just finding things, and you don't really know what any of this is. And like I said last time, I didn't know what these people looked like. I didn't know anything about this. And I actually listened to B-1000 this afternoon to also get prepared for this, and I was still amazed by just sort of like, yeah, I mean, this...
00:32:36
Speaker
Sounds, I mean, I love the thing, but it just sounds to me still like this. Like it doesn't sound like things that I i hear nowadays. And I can imagine just like, you know.
00:32:49
Speaker
15 year old me hearing that and just sort of like even being more blown away by it because I found it and i went out and looked for it and it was just this entire thing and maybe that's just because I still do that kind of stuff but I just reading that book this week and kind of getting ready for this I was sort of amazed of like I don't know. I mean, it just kind of, it feels like I'm fortunate to be able to still have that curiosity and imagination when it feels like a lot of times people either don't have that or they don't want to use yeah that anymore.
00:33:26
Speaker
Absolutely. Especially when it is so easy for you to still consume in a passive manner. Right. And I was listening to an episode of a podcast. It's called Plain English. Yeah. But they had an episode where they were talking, he was talking to this guy.
00:33:45
Speaker
We'll put a link in the show notes. I think it's like Adam Masciani. Anyway, um but he talks about this idea of like cultural stagnation that we're you know a period of cultural stagnation where a lot of different areas of culture either there's not as many new or weird things or we're really into the older things. And he talks about music, like, yeah, there's people doing like different stuff with music, but there's so many people listening to music from like the seventies 80s, and And he has like all these theories, but like one of them is... Well, not all these theories. I think the main theory is we're more afraid of dying because we're safer and less likely to die than ever before. And also afraid of dying like social deaths. So we try to like stick with safe stuff and known stuff. And so maybe musicians and other...
00:34:46
Speaker
people in general just aren't being as weird and experimental with some of what they're doing as a whole. Like there's still probably plenty of individuals, you know, who are, but overall it's that plus like knowing immediately what's popular. Like if you put ah out a song, you're going to know immediately what's popular. how many people are listening to it, what they respond to. There's going to be like computer programs that tell you like this type of thing is popular right now or computer programs that can make songs that appeal to the ear. So i thought that was really interesting because then if you listen to b thousand it's like,
00:35:33
Speaker
There were times where I was like, are my are my headphones working? is this Is this a sound that's supposed to be happening? Because it's just like up ah a straight up mistake. Why can't hear the lyrics?
00:35:45
Speaker
A mistake that they kept in on purpose, you know? That is so interesting because, Charlotte, when you said that at first, I was going to be like, i don't I don't know if I agree because how can you say that there's nothing? You know, not that he's saying that there's nothing, but like that there's so much less weird out there when anybody can be an artist and anybody can put their stuff out there. It is so much easier. But that also then...
00:36:08
Speaker
how do you get through is by being potentially, if that's your goal, is by being good at whatever the masses are telling you they like, you know, versus this weird thing that some people might be able to find, but then how do they find you when there's so much more? That is, that is really... It's interesting. Yeah. Interesting. Well, and what you're just saying, like, He does say, because let's say movies, the reason that one of the reasons probably why studio, big studio movies are basically just sequels or prequels or stuff that we've seen before is because so many people can make original stuff that like the only thing that they can do that other people can't is Marvel movie.
00:36:55
Speaker
That's huge. yeah. Well, it seemed it seems like a long time ago, and I don't know how a long time ago this was, but there probably was a time where we all thought like the internet and technology was this gateway to sort of...
00:37:11
Speaker
learning about a lot more things you know like you had the literal world wide web in front of you and you could learn about whatever you wanted to you could go and search whatever you wanted to and for a while we did that and you know charlotte's point it kind of feels like at some point we stopped discovering so much and we sort of got stagnant with what we were comfortable with and and generation to generation it can change but it's a lot easier to agree with someone and to like something that someone else likes and to find that bond than it is to I'm going to do something completely different and I'm going to not do what everyone is doing this is
00:37:58
Speaker
human nature. know we We want to be liked. We want to be accepted. And i think a lot of times people go the easy route in doing that, whereas you can go out and find whatever it is you're into, and there's going to be somebody out there who is going to like him that as
Personal Music Journeys
00:38:16
Speaker
well. Totally. and Especially on the web. It's like you can find things that are so niche that other people are into. So it feels like that should be easier to find. Right. And I mean, like I don't know what everyone else does, but I mean, it's just...
00:38:33
Speaker
I mean, I woke up at 2.30 this morning, so like I had a lot of time to to do like stuff this morning. So in between reading and trying to go back to sleep, I'm like, have my computer looking at stuff, and I'm just you know reading about sports and going around. it like I'm still sort of like, what else is out there? like know there's There's a limit to where I'm going to go, but it's just, you know, there's, what is it? You're supposed to learn something new every day. I mean, like, you know, what is that? What what are you learning every day? And there's there's that idea of like, are you learning what you already knew? are you really truly, you know, opening up your mind and
00:39:10
Speaker
letting something new sort of filter in. And i suppose as we get older, a lot of people don't want to do that. I'm sure you can think of like elder relatives, parent, grandparents, or someone, and you know, there's like, that's somebody who has kind of stopped and doesn't really want to learn or or pick stuff up anymore.
00:39:32
Speaker
And i guess to go back to the intention of the podcast, like the band itself is something to me and and music in general that is like there's always going to be something i haven't heard and whether that is from 15 years ago or something that's going to be out in two weeks i want to soak that in i want to listen to it um i want to i want to read a different book i want to i want to watch something and just sort of like The drive is still there to to experience art in its many facets. And Guided by Voices and and Bob Pollard to a degree, sort of for me, just sort of crystallized that idea a lot.
00:40:15
Speaker
And that's what keeps me, probably keeps him going. Yeah. I was thinking about with his fans, if, you know, it it feels like some of the appeal to them in particular, and I'll say Robert Pollard, but all in all of his iterations, but guided by voices, is that...
00:40:39
Speaker
His songs are poetry or short stories like fables. There is no, ah some of them are, they're all short, but some of them are a a repetition of sorts, but it's not like there's this hook like, okay, got it. Now I'm singing along. There's no singing along. um But then there's also ah so such a sense of humor and wordplay that it feels like he really appreciates using words.
Defining 'Rock' and Audience Connection
00:41:11
Speaker
Clearly he makes up entire 100 bands for the suitcase. And that there's like this sense of humor and inside joke that the the fans really appreciate kind of being a part of. And and yet he is this rowdy onstage performer showing that all of these poetry songs are sense of humor can also be cool because we rock out on stage.
00:41:40
Speaker
And so one thing, we have a write-in question from miette from a listener. You mentioned that they rock. And so like there was something, clearly that word means something, and it was mentioned by two of the people in the podcast that podcasts that I was listening to as well.
00:42:01
Speaker
What, in your opinion, is the significance for guided by voices when you're using that word, they rock.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah. but the
00:42:16
Speaker
I think, i think I mentioned this before Patty, I will respond. There are, i there's a lot of singing along. i was singing. I mean that when I was listening to B-Founder today, like i I, don't know. I pray and a while since I listened to that.
00:42:34
Speaker
And I, every single word, I'm like, sometimes I'm singing along. Sometimes I'm like mouthing the words. I was eating an early dinner. So I'd be ready for this. I'm like eating and I'm like, I'm,
00:42:47
Speaker
You know, like and I said before, like you you got like your fist up and you're just sort of like in this exuberant sense of unbridled joy and life, you know. And I think music in general is is a sort of an attempt, I guess, at like turning a spirit spiritual, philosophical thing into a an actual thing you can hear. in You mentioned poetry earlier. I mean, poetry is, you know, you you ask someone who doesn't read, and like, well, poetry is just bunch of words that rhyme. And then you ask someone who's reading poetry, and you're likere like, man, this is so deep. And, you know, like, they they there's this layer upon layer of meaning. And
00:43:33
Speaker
And, you know, there's this digging for something of feeling like of what does this all mean? And i think rock music, to some extent, is that with like, you know, a jetpack strapped to the back and like a bunch of fireworks going off at times. I mean, that's just sense of...
00:43:54
Speaker
joy and excitement. And as I said before, sometimes you had a bad day and you can have like this sad song that still makes you want to like, you know, scream out the lyrics and pound your fist.
00:44:07
Speaker
I mean, that's, that's, that's what rock music is. I think, I don't think it rock music is just corporate kiss concert, like 94.7 FM, the Fox,
00:44:19
Speaker
christmas ball with oh you know not that' not that's not what i'm talking i Charlotte probably knows us, but I try to go to a lot of concerts. Seeing people on stage doing that and seeing people interact with one another on stage. We went to a show in Austin last week, kind of this country rock musician. He tours the country, but when he's in town, him and his parents play in Austin.
00:44:45
Speaker
And there's probably like 50, 60 people there and small venue. And it's like, you're watching. And I've seen this guy before perform live and it's on a bigger stage, but when you're seeing it in like that small room and you see like watching their eyes at times and seeing how they're playing off of one another, it's like,
00:45:05
Speaker
This doesn't happen if one of them doesn't do what they're doing. It's a collective sense of creation and expression. And I guess like going to a restaurant can kind of be like that. Only it's not as kick-ass.
00:45:22
Speaker
I mean, you can't sing along with a nice meal, but you can certainly sing along with a pretty good rock song. And but there's a blossoming or bursting inside of me when all this happens. And it's just something that I don't think I'm ever going to stop, you know, enjoying that kind of thing.
00:45:41
Speaker
that a suitable answer to the question? Oh, absolutely. Great answer. Okay. Yeah. It rocks. Because I do think there's something about the energy of the person who's performing and the people who are performing that adds to rocking.
Concert Experiences and Music Appreciation
00:45:56
Speaker
Because this is going to sound really But...
00:46:00
Speaker
but I don't think I know how to watch music or listen to at like go to a show and like, you know, sometimes I'll enjoy it, but sometimes I'm just thinking way too much. And I want to know, like, how do you all enjoy concerts? Are you listening to the lyrics? Are you just, is is your brain going, you're not thinking at all? Like what's, what's that like?
00:46:31
Speaker
Also, I'm short. I can't see a lot of the time. That's a whole other... But sometimes I'm like, this is awesome. This is amazing. And like I feel connected to everybody around me.
00:46:42
Speaker
Well, I mean, what I would say is you I go to a lot of shows of groups who i i I know already. So like I know the songs. And some bands and groups and artists do this better than others. Bob Dylan's really great at this, but...
00:46:58
Speaker
you hear a different version of the song. I mean, I've been to Bob Dylan concerts where like, it takes me like 30 seconds to be like, Oh yeah, I know this one. I didn't know what you were doing there. And it's like this re-imagining of this thing.
00:47:13
Speaker
And so like the song is the song, the recording is that that's one piece of art, but then there's the performance of it and seeing how, you know Sometimes it's not the same people. The people who are performing it live aren't the ones who were on the recording. And so there's a different environment. There's a different relationship between each person, that person with the song.
00:47:38
Speaker
But I mean, i I generally, I mean, when I can, I'm close. like i I just take it all in And I mean, what I usually do is I watch the drama.
00:47:50
Speaker
Because I don't know how to play drums very well. I know how to play the guitar. So I don't, I mean, I'm not as interested in the guitar, but the drum, I'm always sort of like, what's the beat? How are they playing it? And typically the drummer's the one that's kind of keeping the whole thing moving.
00:48:06
Speaker
And once you, or once I kind of get into that, I can start to see times where like, you know, the drummer's looking at someone and then like, you just catch these little straight glances and you, a good band will start to play off of one another a little bit.
00:48:20
Speaker
And it's not like obvious all the time, but, and then there's just other times where somebody like screws up or something and they all laugh and just like, ah, you screwed up. And it's like, it's a rock show. not supposed to be perfect. And so it's different every time, but it's just that performance of it. That's,
00:48:39
Speaker
You're never going to get the same thing every time. So it's ah it's a different thing. Yeah. I don't have a very good answer to that, Charlotte, but I do love st singing along to music. And so one of the things that I noted about GBV is that this is so one of those that I would have pulled out the CD jacket and sat down and read through the lyrics and tried to memorize up, you know, and like thought through it. Like that is so what I would have done with this group partially because
00:49:13
Speaker
I couldn't hear the lyrics as well in some in some recordings. And, you know, I get that there's that part to it that's lo-fi, but I was surprised. It's like there's clearly such emphasis put on the the lyrics and importance, and yet that I'm like, well, why
Comparing Musical Styles
00:49:32
Speaker
can't I hear it better? And again, i can't hear out of my right ear, so I did say well maybe some of that is just my own issue right now.
00:49:40
Speaker
I usually, when I'm at a concert, I like to be singing or dancing along. And I hate when I'm at a show and people are like, I came to hear them sing, not you.
00:49:51
Speaker
People have said that to you. Well, people have said it to the crowd. like yeah And I'm in there. You're like way to enjoy this experienced person.
00:50:04
Speaker
But I do get very like, don't touch me. don Why is this person standing so close? barr it You know. But yeah, if it's a band that I love their music, then i am just like happy to hear them sing the songs I want to hear.
00:50:21
Speaker
But I think it's when it's like, I don't know, like some bands, it just maybe it is the the element of rocking. Like, am i getting caught up in it because they're getting caught up in it? Or is it sort of like they're playing their songs because that's what you do?
00:50:41
Speaker
I felt like, ah so I listened to to the albums, like we said. I really thought when I was listening to B-1000, I was like, oh man, they have a very Oasis sound to them at times. um Specifically, what was it?
00:51:00
Speaker
What's the story morning glory that was one of the songs like one of the albums that I was like obsessed with you know early early when I got a CD player my two best friends Chris and Joey we all got one got Oasis one got um ah Green Day and one got Bush and we would like each take a week with one of the CDs so Oasis was one that I would like listen to crazy on repeat.
00:51:25
Speaker
But then when I was listening to some of their other stuff, I Am A Tree, I heard a couple people mention that song. And so I was like, well, I love trees. And so let me, and like, as their entry, they were like mentioning that as their entry song. So i was like, let me listen to that. And I was like, oh, he sounds like Paul McCartney, like, but solo Paul McCartney. And so then later when I heard that he was inspired Or like listened to the Beatles, at at least maybe their white album quite a bit.
00:51:52
Speaker
um I was like, oh, that makes sense. And then also I was brought back to this, while listening to this, this movie Angus had come out in 95 and I was obsessed with it. And it was kind of another one of those where the movie was like not blockbuster hit,
00:52:12
Speaker
I don't even remember how I found it, but it was like on VHS when I found it. And then I like loved the story. And it was about this kid who was like kind of a loner loser in high school and how that works out at the school dance and blah, blah, blah.
00:52:28
Speaker
And it had a great soundtrack and the soundtrack felt so of this, you know, where, where all of those, like even, um, green days um,
00:52:42
Speaker
ah song was on it. So it wasn't even like, and it was not when it was like a big hit, you know, there was the the Smoking Popes or the Riverdales or the the the Muffs. It's like all of these, this music that felt very similar of, ooh, I might have discovered something and the importance of kind of the lyrics and in it and that lo-fi feel. um so it was really fun and nostalgic for me to be listening to all of this and to be intentionally listening to it. Like you said, Brian, like not just letting something kind of be served up to me, but like seeking it out and paying attention to like, okay, wait, wait, which one is this?
00:53:27
Speaker
because sometimes it was hard for me to even notice when one song went into the next you know i was like yeah did that okay that ended okay hold on let me think about that you know um so those were my other kind of thoughts and observations oh and i liked 2000 much more than rich and delicious me too you like that yeah Specifically, i really liked the Goldtop Mountain.
Favorite Albums and Tracks
00:53:55
Speaker
Wait, Goldtop Mountain Top Queen Directory. so and yeah Queen Directory. And I really liked um Gold Star for Robot Boy. Gold Star.
00:54:06
Speaker
And then not on any of those albums. I also really enjoyed, it was one where I was like, oh, Liar's Tale. Super like echoey and kind of haunted. Yeah, I couldn't hear the lyrics, but I really liked the music. so That starts out with, let me tell you story.
00:54:26
Speaker
me When listening to, those are two interesting lyrics. Album choices because it's like the one of the first ones, you know, and then one, the their very most recent one. So I was wondering if it would be a situation where you listen to the most recent one. You're like, oh, no, he's lost it or yeah lost it. But no, I still enjoyed that one. And I do think that maybe there's something about.
00:54:56
Speaker
the constant switching of band members and changing things up that like has probably helped to keep the music not not stagnating and not to call out you two or anything but let's call out you two like they've had the same band members the entire time and they're more recent stuff i just i can't really listen to haven't actually listened to anything they've done in a while so yeah i think getting different perspectives is has been helpful and i think i read
00:55:31
Speaker
that bob pollard said that that is like one of the things that he has tried to do well y'all have listened to maybe two albums and like i said i think thick rich and delicious was their forty third so they changed um 40 there's another forty And then all of the side projects and the box sets and stuff. So it is as endless as you wish it to be. About four years from now, we'll do another follow up where we it talk about the whole thing after we've listened to all of it.
00:56:07
Speaker
Someone said that l fifty seven that's the Alpha Omega, like where you just sit and you listen through all of it. The author of the book um said that he's done it twice in his lifetime, where you don't have any interruptions of anything else that you listen to during that time. And it's even his solo side projects. And you you listen to it in order?
00:56:30
Speaker
And are you allowed to like sleep? Yeah, think so. Yeah. Just keep on going. From the very first song recorded to the the most recent thing, yeah. And then you die.
00:56:42
Speaker
no because he's done it twice and he's still alive. The other thing, though, Charlotte, about your point of like, oh, getting worried, like listening to a more recent one, is it going to be so different?
00:56:53
Speaker
The other thing that I found interesting in one of these podcasts, when trying to recommend, it's not, oh, well, this this is the album that everybody loves. It's kind of like...
00:57:03
Speaker
oh man it's really hard because it's all good which made me worried for you charlotte because you are a completionist and you get overwhelmed when there are like too many things that you need to like yeah it's either binge or avoid flip yeah
00:57:23
Speaker
and it's a laugh and a cough or yeah i got a little bit love right now Well, become a completionist. I would. i I did really like the the music. And they do have a, because, you know, I love the Mountain Goats. And Brian, you love the Mountain Goats. And they, to me, there are some so a lot of similarities in like the sheer number of songs and albums that they they haven't put out as many, I don't think. And the lyrics are all, I don't know. There's so many words. There's so many words.
00:57:59
Speaker
So like storytelling yeah very much storytelling. Funny you mentioned that because the way I learned about the Mountain Goats was I was visiting a friend in Dallas many years ago.
00:58:11
Speaker
I met a friend of hers and he we were talking about guy by voices and he's like you should check out this band that kind of sounds similar to what you're describing and that was the mountain goats so that's how i out that's cool so yeah that was 20 something years ago now so yeah that that's how that how that works you start talking about something clicks and someone's like oh that sounds like something else you might like this patch nearby that Brian gave me one time i think it's what is it it's I only listen to the mountain goats which sometimes I get that way like I'll just listen to the same thing over and over and over and over again and it's the mountain we'll get you a patch that says I only listen to the guy that I'll have to yeah
00:59:08
Speaker
When you get into that, we'll get you the patch. So should we talk accessibility on this? Let's do it.
Accessibility and Musical Diversity
00:59:17
Speaker
Well, as incredibly, yeah, yeah. I mean, i was able to listen for free, you know.
00:59:24
Speaker
What did we say? Okay, Brian, you you had mentioned this was not in the last episode, but you had said this afterwards that band camp, you can listen to the albums for free up until I think, I don't know, like, how many times can you listen to it before it'll try to charge you?
00:59:44
Speaker
That's a good question. I think it's different for each band. But Bandcamp is typically ah an artist-supported site, so the bands typically are the ones who are getting any money that is paid for that material. so it's I don't know how much of their stuff is on Bandcamp, but they definitely have a lot of it on there. and If people want to listen and perhaps purchase that's probably one way to go about doing that pretty there's a there's about a billion albums on here and in this then thick rich and delicious if you were to actually purchase it is nine dollars so pretty good deal great deal yeah
01:00:29
Speaker
And the fact that they're still touring, so you can still potentially see them live. Hopefully, yeah. Yeah. One thing that that I did think is like, it's not like an accessibility thing as in like being able to hear the music or go to concerts, but is that they're all they're all white dudes as far as I could tell, for the most part.
01:00:57
Speaker
That's like, I wonder... I don't know, I wonder how it would have changed up their music if they had changed up who is in it. But it seems like a lot of the people who came and went from the band were like family members, friends, people that they grew up with, um which then will limit hello who comes into the band from Dayton, Ohio. I'm thinking about, let's see, accessibility besides that.
01:01:30
Speaker
don't know.
Song Structures and Hidden Gems
01:01:31
Speaker
feel like
01:01:35
Speaker
it's like you can listen to a song in 30 seconds if you wanted to. you know.
01:01:43
Speaker
i know especially like on thick rich and delicious. Yeah. There were a couple of them that were so like little shorties. And I was like, Oh yeah, that, yeah that felt of a time too, which I loved like where there would, or where there would be, it didn't have this as far as I could tell, but do you remember if there would be a hidden song at the end, like you let a CD just play, play, play, play. play And then all of a sudden there'd be like a song at the end. Oh my God. Yeah. I gotta say theres there's like one or two songs on there. This happens occasionally where it's like it,
01:02:14
Speaker
They're almost like suites. If you know what a song suite is, where it's like one song, but there's like two or three parts to it. So they they're more of like a musical thing, but you have like one part and then like another part. Oh, okay. It's one song, but it's a couple of short pieces that are sort of tied together. Yeah.
01:02:35
Speaker
I remember that from Smashing Pumpkins, the two CD album. Melancholy and Sadness. Sadness? Uh-huh. Yeah.
01:02:48
Speaker
And then how about for your lowest score? Likely of integrating... Integration grading score. I'm going to say...
Future Listening Habits
01:02:57
Speaker
I'm gonna it 65 because i so there's still so many albums and songs and things to listen to Like, I feel like,
01:03:07
Speaker
I haven't gotten a full picture of what the music is is really like yet until I've listened to more. So I'm going to say the high likelihood that I'm going to keep on listening. Yeah, same. And especially because I'm trying to do less.
01:03:24
Speaker
I know I can't do less listening. That's too high of like just of things. That's too high of a goal for myself right now. So I'm trying to do more listening to music versus podcasts podcasts.
01:03:38
Speaker
Yeah, podcast. And so this is going to be helpful in kind of filling my ears and being intentional about what that is. so And, yeah, I want to rock more and then in this year. we just want to rock. Yeah.
01:03:56
Speaker
Yeah.
01:03:59
Speaker
Yeah.
01:04:04
Speaker
She's sitting up straight, hardly moving. would like to rock more. I want to rock more. yeah Won't be hard. Well, Brian, thank you so much for bringing this interest into our lives and sharing with us your time. Thank you all for giving giving me the time. This was ah it's fun. A great way to put thoughts into words and words into thoughts. Yeah.
01:04:34
Speaker
i am that is uh one thing this year i'm gonna try to buy a cassette player nice that's a small goal not not a not a big picture thing but when i get tape player this year get some tapes that's a good one and then patty you're gonna do an underwater flip kick and i think i posted this on our instagram i'm planning on um Oh, developing an almost delusional sense of self-confidence.
01:05:03
Speaker
Yeah. That sounds like the type of person who's going to rock. so Rock harder once I get that sense of self-confidence. All right.
Conclusion and Gratitude
01:05:11
Speaker
Stay interesting. And stay interested. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
01:05:17
Speaker
Thanks for listening to today's episode. Please subscribe, comment, and like the podcast. Follow us on Blue Sky Social at CanWeInterestYouIn. Send us an email at CanWeInterestYouIn at gmail.com. And join us next time.