Robert Pollard, the Guided by Voices frontman, has launched innumerable side projects over the decades, and ESP Ohio marks one such effort that pairs him once more with longtime associate Doug Gillard on guitar. An Ohio native like Pollard, Gillard had previously appeared in the glam-tinged punk band Death of Samantha and the pop-leaning side project Gem before co-founding Cobra Verde in 1992. Following a creative standoff with his Guided by Voices colleagues in 1996, Pollard dismissed the lineup and recruited Cobra Verde to back him on the 1997 album Mag Earwhig! and its supporting tour. Although he declined to retain Cobra Verde permanently, Gillard remained as Guided by Voices’ lead guitarist until the group disbanded in 2004. Pollard and Gillard first collaborated on the 1999 release Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department, then issued two further albums as Lifeguards—Mist King Urth in 2003 and Waving at the Astronauts in 2011. After Pollard formed a new Guided by Voices lineup in 2016, guitarist Nick Mitchell’s abrupt departure days before a Cincinnati festival led to Gillard’s one-off recruitment while he was still performing with Nada Surf. Gillard soon accepted the role as Mitchell’s permanent replacement, prompting Pollard and him to develop fresh material that became ESP Ohio. Alongside Pollard on vocals and Gillard on lead guitar, the band included bassist Mark Shue, another member of the 2016 Guided by Voices roster, and drummer Travis Harrison. ESP Ohio debuted with two singles in October 2016—“Lithuanian Bombshells” b/w “She Wrote Well (To Tell)” and “Woah Nelly,” and “Royal Cyclopian” b/w “I'm In Shock (Hit Me with Tonic)” and “A Mallard Pushing.” The full-length Starting Point of the Royal Cyclopean followed in November 2016 on Pollard’s GBV Inc. label.
