ON THE RECORD: ROBERT POLLARD

It can be tough to keep pace during a conversation with the silver-tongued Robert Pollard, but what else would you expect from one of the most prodigious recording artists of his time? “I’ve been popping out records, much to the chagrin of some people who think that’s overkill,” he concedes during what must be a rare break to discuss the new Guided by Voices album, Motivational Jumpsuit (due February 18 on GBV Inc.). “I’m already sick of it, even though it’s not out yet,” he says. “That’s pretty much the way I operate.” Between GBV and his solo and side projects, Pollard has released more than 80 albums to date—and he’s only 56. “I don’t make a record and then sit around and tour for two years,” he says. “It’s a process that doesn’t have any breaks. That keeps the inspiration flowing.” For Jumpsuit, however, he developed a new songwriting process, something he calls “the multiple hook formula,” during some downtime on a recent (mostly sold-out) Guided by Voices tour. (The band started in Dayton, Ohio, in 1983, broke up in 2004, reunited in 2010, and has been releasing roughly an album a year ever since.) “I’d turn the television down low and write titles and phrases that I thought I’d heard, but probably didn’t,” he explains. “I kept a notebook, and after about two months, I decided to write lyrics from all these cool lines. Then I wrote the melodies a cappella—I sang them into my boom box. It was kind of the way I started writing songs when I was a kid.” And it’s no surprise that he’s still nostalgic for the music he loved from that time.