Bob Pollard On GBV Reunion, Praying, Alcohol, Mike Patton And ‘Alan Iverson’

We asked Bob Pollard some questions. He gave us some answers. Since the interview was mostly boring, we’ve decided to attempt to make it somewhat interesting by randomizing our questions and his answers. So try to see which answer matches up with which question. Or don’t. We don’t care.

There were also some typos and such, but since we fear correcting teachers - he used to school fourth-graders - we’ve left them intact.

Questions:

Would you rather open for Dylan or Brian Wilson? Why?

If there were to be an album of Robert Pollard covers, who would you most like to see as the participating artists?

What other hobbies/mediums do you dabble with, in order to break away from music?

Baby-boomers mostly had a set of shared favorite artists growing up: Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin. Talking to music fans who are under age 40 or so, it doesn’t seem unusual for each of them to identify a different favorite artist of all time. Is this contributing to the compartmentalized, individualized nature of contemporary culture - iPods, playlists, etc.?

GBV reunion: Maybe never, probably never, never or never-ever?

How do you stay clear-headed enough to write coherently, have enough memory-recall to perform spontaneously at shows, etc.? Do you exercise, meditate, read, pray?

Do you worry that the value of rock history is being lost with the wide-ranging digital dispersion of music?

Have you talked with Mike Patton about forming a project?

Do you agree with Pete Townshend’s position on earplugs and campaign against headphones?

Can you go into detail about the Elephant Jokes artwork?

Do you like any heavy metal at all, and if so, which bands?

Do you still enjoy touring?

If you had to play a show tonight, how would you feel about it?

Are you planning to perform live again?

Answers:

“Not really, but I’m not entirely ruling out the possibility. I would have to see an increase in current interest, or maybe an upswing in the economy where people will come out again or possibly some short festival package where we only have to play a short set and it pays well enough to make it worth practicing for. I don’t like practice. I’m like Alan Iverson [sic].”

“I enjoy it, but it’s difficult at my age. You know…a 3 hour drunken set. Every night. It’s fun but rough.”

“Fine, as long as I didn’t have to prepare for a month and obviously I wouldn’t have to, since the show would be tonight. That would give me about 12 or 13 hours to learn the lyrics and this shit ain’t Johnny G. Goode.”

“I make collage art. It may or may not be directly tied to my music. The process is basically the same. I use bricolage. What ever bits and pieces of music, lyrics or imagery I have lying around I combine and recombine until I come up with something I deem interesting. I have no strict working process. Some times ideas come spontaneously.”

“Well, if you see the front and back cover collages you’ll notice that the imagery comes from different time periods, some of it being very old. I like doing that. It’s sort of anachronistic and surreal. I also like using incongruous fonts. I get images from old magazines, books, pamphlets, posters, what have you. I’ll use pseudonyms in the credits.”

“I occassionally exercise. I rarely pray but sometimes do. I read constantly. I would like to meditate and need to stop putting it off. I drink coffee to write and alcohol to perform.”

“No, I have not.”

“There was a GBV tribute album in the mid-90’s. Thurston Moore and The Breeders were on it. I heard Glen Campbell might be going to cover ‘Window of My World’ for his upcoming album. That would be quite an honor.”

“Brian Wilson but to tell you the truth I don’t think I would be compatible with either one in a live setting.”

“Yes. The love seems to be gone, and music has suffered. It’s far too accessible. When I was young you had to wait until you walked into a record store to see a new release on the wall. With a 12″ cover. And it was Sparks, The Who, Cheap Trick, T. Rex….Now it’s all chopped up in myriad formatting and repackaging and easy accessibility and get it all now, anytime, all thrown in together. No element of surprise or mystery and it’s greatly diluted. And the repackaged classics are thrown into the whole mess.”

“Yeah, I’m not very technologically minded, but I think you can tell how I feel from how I answered the last question. It’s all very impersonal and everyone has access to far too much, simultaneously, so it’s too difficult to zero in on what is worthwhile. There are just far too many distractions.”

“I wear headphones and I don’t use earplugs, so yes, I disagree with Mr. Townshend from a personal standpoint. Then again, I don’t hear very well. I just like it loud and clear and I know he does too.”

“I used to like heavy metal in the 70’s. Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath, UFO, ACDC, Aerosmith.”

“I would say probably never. I have an interesting idea on a variation of the possibility though, which I won’t disclose at this time.”