On Branching Out Solo Again with Doug Gillard

Photo Credit: LeStudioNYC

We had the chance to interview Doug Gillard, guitarist of Guided By Voices about his latest solo LP, ‘Parallel Stride’! Check out what he had to say!

Parallel Stride is your first solo LP in a while! What about these songs and melodies spoke to you to branch back out for a solo effort?

“I’d started recording a small batch of songs at the start of the pandemic, and already had a couple done that I hadn’t yet released. I decided to write more and make it an album and just felt it was about time to have one out again.”

You’re known as a great collaborator, having worked with numerous bands such as Guided By Voices and Nada Surf, just to name a few. What are the challenges and what do you enjoy most about writing and recording solo work, as opposed to your more collaborative efforts?

“When I start writing, I usually hear everything else happening in a song. If not and it’s just a guitar or piano progression with a melody, it doesn’t take too long before I have a vision of what the feel or sound should be. I also love having the chance to play around with melody & harmony. Its easier & quicker most times for me to just play parts I’m hearing and not feel like I’m telling someone what to play, which I feel undermines their creative freedom etc…On the other hand, its fun to throw a demo out there and see what ideas others have. As these things occur, the challenge is having to make the decisions & choices, down to the lyrics and even song sequence & album art. It’s nice to be a player/collaborator and not have to worry about that.”

“ The music, how a song goes, how it’s mixed is much more important to me than most of the other decisions. For instance, I never have a font/typeface in mind, but i guess I know what I don’t like when I see it, if that makes any sense.”

I love your vocals on this LP! You’re really known as a multi instrumentalist, and especially for your guitar abilities. That said, how long have you been singing and how did you find your “voice”?

“Wow, thanks a lot. I would make up songs as a kid and have my mom record them, vocals and guitar, or maybe just a drum, on a reel-to-reel we had, until I learned it myself. After that, I wasn’t singing all that much until I sang backups for bands I was in just out of high school. I’ve never had a strong voice, but on the last couple albums I tried to sing as well as I could.

In our Hamburg-era Beatles band Bambi Kino, (2010-present) we all sing lead as well as harms on a few songs in each set, so that’s helped keep it in shape somewhat, I think.”

You were brought up in Cleveland, a city known for rock and roll, I mean it has the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! What impact has Cleveland had on your sound and you as a musician?

“Great radio stations, first and foremost. There were two great progressive/AOR stations throughout the 70s and early 80s, but one of the real assets was great college radio. There were at least four or five very strong college stations with great record libraries, program directors and smart dj’s/volunteers, and that really shaped a lot of what I was into. I had my own show on two of these stations, and was listening to them constantly anyway. The punk and underground scene in NE Ohio was amazing at that time, and being able to be a part of that was pretty great.”

You had the opportunity to co-produce Parallel Stride with Tom Beaujour. What was it like co-producing on this effort?

“Tom has an ear for arrangement, and being a guitarist himself, has an arsenal of amps, pedals, and guitars there and is a really great judge of takes both musically and vocally. He knows if I sang something that could be better, and works quickly. He also did what I wanted as far as mixing; if I had a strong feeling the solo needs to be screaming loud, for example. He also nudged me to put a guitar in a section that needed it; something I hadn’t thought of, but he was right. He’s also a world famous author. Check out his books on hair metal (Nöthin But A Good Time) and most recently one on the oral history of Lollapalooza. He’s also amassed a vast collection of squirrel-related items for some reason.”